The number of citizens who have renounced Kosovo citizenship still remains high. The main reasons for this phenomenon are related to the non-permission of dual citizenship in various countries, mainly in the European Union (EU).

The Ministry of Internal Affairs tells KosovaPress that from January 1 to November 30, 2024 alone, 1 citizens have renounced their citizenship.

Meanwhile, for the period from 2020 to 2024, MIA data shows that this is about 17 thousand 752 citizens.

According to sociologists and economic experts, this process has negative effects on the social, demographic and economic aspects of Kosovo.

"The number of citizens who have renounced citizenship from January 1 to November 30, 2024 is 1. Meanwhile, the number of citizens who have renounced citizenship in 291 was 2023. The reason why people renounce the citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo is because many European Union countries do not allow dual citizenship, including some countries that are not part of the European Union. Considering that a large number of our citizens have already lived in these countries for years, and a large number were born in these countries, they have acquired the right to citizenship and are obliged to be released from their previous citizenship if they wish to acquire the citizenship of that country. So, the main reason is the prohibition of dual citizenship in many countries," the written response from the Ministry of Internal Affairs states. 

Sociologist Genc Xërxa, in a statement to KosovaPress, says that this phenomenon is not a good signal for Kosovo, because it affects the overall population. 

He emphasizes that visa liberalization may be one of the reasons why there has been a decrease in the number of citizens who have renounced citizenship. 

"The reasons are, as a preliminary condition, almost the same, but now we have a decrease in renouncing Kosovo citizenship. Perhaps the reason could also be the liberalization that has made movement within different countries, whether European or other, more accessible or possible. Then the reasons may be different. Some countries only allow one citizenship. If they live for years and are integrated into those societies, then the question arises that in order to keep one, in most cases they give up Kosovo's," says Xërxa. 

In addition to these, Xërxa also mentions unfavorable living conditions as a reason that can lead to the removal of citizenship. 

Meanwhile, economic expert Mustafa Kadrijaj sees this phenomenon as a bad image for Kosovo. He says that in addition to the social and demographic aspects, renouncing statehood also affects the economy. 

For KosovaPress, Kadrijaj emphasizes that this also reflects in the reduction of consumption, for which he mentions that businesses remain in the market by having consumption. 

"It is not a good image for the state of Kosovo, because when citizens give up citizenship, it is seen that those citizens have not seen themselves and their perspective to remain citizens of Kosovo. They have seen something better and by also becoming citizens of another state that unfortunately we know that the level of inhabitants that we have is 1 million and 600 thousand, if we start with this kind of trend, this will shrink. The Republic of Kosovo from the point of view of the inhabitants, this should be a concern for the state and government of Kosovo. Also, there is a demographic impact. There is a social problem," Kadrijaj said. 

"In 2020, 3.633 were released from the citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo. In 2021, 4.938 were released from the citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo. In 2022, 4.792 were released from the citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo. The number of citizens who renounced citizenship in 2023 was 3. As for the question of which municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo they are from, we inform you that we do not have these statistics available," the Ministry of Internal Affairs' response to KosovaPress states. 

According to reports, Germany is the country with the largest number of citizens from Kosovo. In June 2024, this country introduced a new citizenship law, which allows multiple citizenship for all immigrants./Z.Zeneli