Russia's 'passportization' and the pitfalls of 'personal annexation' in the post-soviet space : recasting the limits of nationality attribution in international law?

Abstract

‘Passportization’ refers to the en masse conferral of derivative nationality to the population of a foreign State within a relatively short time span, typically accompanied by the symbolic distribution of passports. The term has been used to single out a systemic policy of extraterritorial naturalizations involving the Russian Federation and its alleged kin minorities resident in the post-Soviet space, especially in the contested regions of Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Moldova (Transnistria), and Ukraine (Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea). Apart from responding to nationality demands of non-resident populations with close ties to the conferring State, passportization can have a systemic power-enhancing dimension when tailored to create objective criteria for extraterritorial jurisdiction. Although the attribution of nationality has been traditionally considered as part of the domaine réservé of States, only modestly limited by international law, the allegedly exorbitant scale, speed, and extraterritorial effects of Russia’s passportization raise questions on its compatibility with the principles of sovereign equality, self-determination, and non-intervention, and others. While passportization can be a maneuver aimed at ‘weaponizing’ citizenship to foster instability and patronage, it can also constitute a legitimate expression of greater integration between the conferring State and its kin minorities in the near abroad. The present paper seeks to investigate what elements shape the limits of nationality attribution and condition the legality of Russia’s passportization in the post-Soviet space, while also identifying grounds of ‘credible’ norm contestation in a trilateral relation involving the interests of the conferring State, the nationality-aspiring population, and the affected State where they reside. The present analysis also pays heed to the ‘civilizational’ dimension of the competing iterations of international law on nationality attribution, which may be currently undergoing a recasting process in the experimental post-Soviet space.