Parliamentary commission selects draft text for Russian oath of allegiance

The idea to introduce an oath-taking ceremony into the process of receiving Russian citizenship was proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in June. Lawmakers then prepared about 10 different texts, and on Friday, the deputy head of the State Duma Committee for Legislative Work, Mikhail Yemelyanov, told reporters that the specially instituted group of lawmakers had selected the text written by the head of the committee, MP Pavel Krasheninnikov.

RIA Novosti quoted the approved text from Yemelyanov’s words: “While voluntarily and knowingly accepting citizenship of the Russian Federation, I solemnly swear to observe the Constitution and the Laws of the Russian Federation, the rights and freedoms of its citizens, to care for the wellbeing of the state and society, to defend Russia’s freedom and independence, to be loyal to Russia, and respect its culture, history, and traditions.” 

The MP then explained that the State Duma Committee for Legislative Work will look into the draft on the next Tuesday, after which the document will be forwarded to leaders of all four parliamentary caucuses. If they approve it, they will all draft it in parliament as a bill.

He also mentioned a plan to conduct public opinion polls before the final vote on the bill in order to better understand the publics’ attitude to the project.