Welcome to the website of the civil initiative Nansen Passport 2.0

Because we’re helping Ukrainians who became victims of the criminal war, and because we are voicing opinions that contradict official Russian propaganda, we’ve become renegades and traitors in the eyes of Russian authorities. We’re in danger of criminal prosecution: under the criminal laws recently introduced in Russia we face up to 20 years in prison for our support of Ukraine. Contacting the Russian authorities for any reason - e.g., to renew a travel passport or a national ID card, get a birth certificate for a child, etc. - carries a significant risk. Even visiting a Russian consulate, which enjoys extraterritorial status, could put us in danger. We have grave and reasonable concerns that our residence permits could be canceled because Russia could refuse to issue us new travel documents. Also, when our Russian passports expire, our bank accounts could be blocked, our medical insurance wouldn't be extended, etc., etc. It means that we might be forced to go back to Russia, where we could face trials and prison sentences. That’s why we’re calling the governments of our countries to grant us a legal status that wouldn’t be tied to the Russian passport. We want to keep living, studying, working, doing business without being afraid for our lives and our futures.

We believe that the specifics of the legal status depend on the legislation of individual EU member countries. Currently, the supporters of our initiative in various countries are consulting local MPs and lawyers. For example, our action group in Slovakia proposes to change the Slovak law on foreigners to introduce a “foreigner passport” for holders of temporary and permanent residence permits. For an EU-wide solution, we propose to reintroduce Nansen passports introduced by the League of Nations in 1922 for refugees from the former Russian Empire escaping the Bolshevik regime, named after the world-famous explorer, scientist and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen.

No, we aren’t by any means asking for preferential treatment. We’re legally studying, working, doing business, paying taxes, and we want to keep doing it while following all legal norms of the European Union. We aren’t asking the EU or the countries we’re living in for any subsidies or economic and social benefits. We’re asking only to protect our lives and our freedoms that are currently in danger due to the aggressive criminal actions of Putin’s regime.

European MPs and other officials we’ve been talking to believe that the best option would be a EU-wide solution, like the Nansen passports, which were introduced on Intergovernmental Conference on Identity Certificates for Russian Refugees in 1922 and approved by 53 states and, after that, by the League of Nations, the predecessor of the UN.

Our initiative brings together active people living in Europe and all around the world. You can contact our activists in your country and discuss with them the ways you can help. If there’s no action group in your country, you can create one yourself ― we will explain how to do it and help you with it. If you work in mass media and want to tell your audience about us, contact us and we’ll provide you with all the necessary information.