ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on extraterritorial naturalization–that is, granting citizenship to citizens of another State residing in that State–as a measure in the toolbox of Russian foreign policies. It covers the issue before the escalation of many of these measures within the Ukraine crisis since 2013 and has essentially changed the approaches of all parties involved. Passportization will generally be seen only as a legal measure if the citizenship is conferred according to the individual's will. There are various backgrounds against which passportization has been practised within the last century. Russia has been using passportization as its trans-border policy in five breakaway regions of other former Soviet republics, namely Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Moldova's Transnistria and Ukraine's Crimea and the Donbas region. The chapter describes in more detail the process of passportization in all of these five regions.
