Abramovich row prompts Portugal to tighten rules for Jewish citizenship application

Portugal’s foreign minister announced on Wednesday that the country will tighten a law granting citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews, which allowed Russian-Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich to become a citizen.

Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by Western countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, received Portuguese citizenship last year under the law.

Under the provisions of a 2015 law granting Portuguese citizenship to the descendants of Sephardic Jews persecuted in Portugal and Spain by the Inquisition in the 15th century, applicants’ genealogies are vetted by experts at one of Portugal’s Jewish communities in Lisbon or Porto.

His citizenship — which gave Abramovich a European Union passport for the first time — raised questions, because most Russian Jews are Ashkenazi and do not have Sephardic roots. Portuguese authorities are investigating whether the citizenship was properly awarded, and a senior rabbi was detained last week as part of the probe.

Applicants will now have to show an “effective connection with Portugal,” according to the decree introduced on Wednesday by Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, Reuters reported.

The amendments, which Santos Silva said will not be retroactive, have already been given the green light by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and are to come into effect soon, but a date has not been given.

According to Portugal’s Publico newspaper, under the new provisions, applicants would be required to provide additional documents, such as inheritance of a property in Portuguese territory or proof of prior visit to the country.

The EU sanctioned Abramovich as part of a new package of measures targeting Russia, which Santos Silva said Lisbon will join.

However, he said Abramovich could not be banned from entering the country since he holds citizenship.