ABSTRACT
The main objective of this chapter is to address the implications of kin-state’s involvement in minority protection and non-resident citizenship offered for transborder ethnic kin. First, I outline how in postcommunist Eastern Europe kin-state involvement in minority protection unsettled the international legal status quo prevalent until the late 20th century. Then I discuss why and how the toleration of multiple citizenship became the new normal, replacing the previous international legal regime that regarded singular citizenship as the cornerstone of sovereignty and international peace. Next I briefly sketch how non-resident citizenship in Eastern Europe facilitates the protection of minority rights. In the final section of the chapter I show that despite the inevitable desecuritisation of multiple citizenship and kin-state activism in minority protection, non-resident citizenship in historically disputed territories still incites fears of irredentism and increases hostility towards national minorities.
