“I was thinking about trying to get citizenship so I could also join a bar association” — says Oksana Kiulu “K”. from Ukraine who passed the citizenship exams 1.5 years ago. OUR Korina Lazarkuyk, an English teacher from Romania, explains that her reasons for wanting to become Greek were mostly emotional. Moreover, as a citizen of an EU member state, he did not face much practical problems. “My whole life is here, I feel like a Greek woman,” she emphasizes. Same as Oh Nikos Odubitan, who was born in Greece in 1981 to Nigerian parents but only received Greek citizenship in September 2022. “I think about all the previous elections where I couldn’t vote. I saw my friends tell me that they were bored with the electoral process and I was jealous.” recognizes “K”.

Oksana, Korina and Nikos will vote in this parliamentary election for the first time, having recently received Greek citizenship. OUR “K” spoke to them first. But we also talked to an Armenian Svetlana Russian, who came from Russia to Greece in 1996 and despite passing the citizenship exams in May 2020, will not vote on May 21. “The naturalization application I submitted was rejected because I did not have sufficient income. I really wanted to vote,” he says.

From 2019 (when the last elections were held) until the end of 2021 (latest data on obtaining citizenship from the Ministry of the Interior), 39,402 people have obtained Greek citizenship, and therefore, if they are over 17 years old, they can vote in these elections. 50% of them were born in Greece to foreign parents or attended a Greek school for at least 6 or 9 years, depending on the level of education.

Of the total number of those who acquired Greek citizenship during the 2019-2021 triennium, 6,540 managed to become naturalized Greeks by passing special examinations that have been held twice a year since May 2021. Tens of thousands of foreigners live and work for more than ten years in Greece, but have either not gone through the naturalization process or cannot be accepted due to established criteria.

Oksana Kiulu
Ukraine, 36 years old.
Greece can move forward

“For so many years my husband went to vote alone. Now we will go together,” she describes her joy, and an image of the two of them marching to the polling station forms in her mind. In this election, she will vote for the first time in her life. “I could not vote in Ukraine, I was young when I left “, she explains. As soon as she graduated from law school, at 22, she went on vacation to Italy, where she met her Greek husband. Today they have two children, 10-year-old Dionysius and 6-year-old Eleni. Now that the children have grown a little, “I’m thinking about a career as a lawyer.”

She applied for citizenship in 2017, but when she found out about the exams, she preferred the new system. “With the previous system, they could ask you anything,” he says, adding that “that was not the goal.” Exams; “I knew history and geography from my children, whom I read to them at school.” As for the language, he has been taking Greek lessons since he realized in 2009 that he would be living here. “I wanted to be part of Greek society. When you go to the civil service and show your passport and not your Greek identity card, you are spoken to differently. But if you speak Greek well, the behavior immediately changes,” he explains.

He has decided what he will vote for and is looking forward to seeing the process up close. I ask what the next government would like to do. “I don’t like the image on the streets. Greece is a tourist country. It’s not good when people from all over the world come and see this mess and garbage.” She has seen the worst of times for the country during the economic crisis, but remains optimistic. “Greece is a country that has a lot of beauty, it can succeed, move forward. When I first came I was fascinated, now I know her difficulties. I want to be happy to be here, to say that I live in Greece, and to be envied,” she replies.

Korina Lazarkuyk
from Romania, 45 years old
To change the mentality of citizens

She met her Greek husband in Romania while he was studying law and then medicine. He first came to Greece in 2003, and in 2004 they got married. She studied English and Italian Philology, but was mainly involved in the business she and her husband set up, a tourist shop in Delphi, where they lived for 6 years. “He was doing agricultural work in a neighboring village,” he says. When his work took them to Athens, they also moved the store to Hadrianu Street. Very good moment, I’m watching. “Very good location and exorbitant rent. We closed it during the coronavirus,” he says. Korina was in the first group of people to take the citizenship test in May 2021.

Previously, she applied for Greek citizenship, but 4 years have passed, and she has not received a response. “Didn’t I mind that the system changed? No, it seems normal to me that you have to show that you have joined Greek society in order to obtain citizenship. It needed to be read, but what we started, we must finish,” he says decisively. Now he can’t wait to come to the polls. She has no illusions, she does not think that she can change anything with her voice. “I know that the political system is concrete. But it’s better to try than to do nothing. In the end, hope dies last,” he laughs.

He would like more Greeks living abroad to be able to vote in these elections. According to him, the entire Romanian diaspora votes in the elections in Romania. Everyone can and many do it “because they have misfortune”. He believes that Greek politicians were afraid to give everyone the opportunity to vote, “because they are afraid of the unknown. They don’t know what everyone abroad can vote for.” When I ask her what she would like to change in Greece, she replies without hesitation: “Change the mentality of citizens, not politicians. We pass a toll booth and I see people throwing paper out the window. Possible; And one more thing,” he adds. “Doctors should be paid more. In Romania they are paid twice as much as in Greece. Many were leaving the country, so their salaries were raised so that Romania would not run out of doctors, this was a deliberate step.” I object to her that after Romania’s accession to the EU, salaries there are often compared with salaries here. “But this is not the same thing, we have a different history, you cannot compare the two countries. Romania has survived 50 years of communism. Greece has been in the EU all these years. It’s like flying in an airplane and resigning yourself to the fact that someone who started much later than you on a roller coaster can overtake you.”

Nikos Odubitan
Nigeria, 41 years old.
This precious right

Obtaining citizenship was for Nikos Odubitan – despite being born in Greece to Nigerian parents – a long adventure, a process that overcame every legislative and bureaucratic hurdle he could overcome. When he applied for citizenship in 2010, it turned out that his details had been entered incorrectly at the registry office and his parents’ names had to be corrected. But for this he had to go to Nigeria, and it was not easy. He eventually applied in 2018 and officially became a Greek citizen at the end of 2022.

The first time he votes, he feels a great responsibility. As if he represents all the children of second-generation immigrants who live in Greece and “although they have all the obligations, they do not have the opportunity to be fully active citizens, that is, they cannot vote. Voting is very important, it is a privilege, a precious right.” He studied at the TEI “Medical Instruments Engineering” and works in the organization “Generation 2.0”, which has been recommended by children of the second generation for many years. Has he ever been to Nigeria? “One day in 2017 with my sister. I traveled a lot, so when I got on the plane it didn’t feel like much. However, when we landed, I felt uneasy and trembling. Finally, while I was feeling very comfortable, I quickly realized that my difference was clear, everyone understood that I was a “foreigner”. But when I spoke Yoruba (the dialect of his region), they were shocked.” He laughs out loud. “The same shock as here in Greece when I speak Greek.”

At home, they spoke Greek when they were relaxed, but when their parents wanted to be strict, they switched to Yoruba. There were times when he felt like an outsider everywhere, but now he says he has managed to balance himself and feels lucky. “I step on two boats, I play, but I don’t fall.”

Svetlana Russian
Armenian from Russia, 61 years old.
I feel Greek, I am Greek

“I have been living in Peristeri for 25 years, I am a painted Peristeriotissa,” she tells me, even if it is her shop, a cafe on Agios Meletiou street. He passed the citizenship test and passed. In fact, the Home Office rewarded her for her accomplishments. However, after a few months, her application was rejected because she did not have an income of $7,500 a year, a prerequisite for citizenship. “I was so happy when they told me: “Soon you will become a member of the Greek society.” I really wanted to vote, and now I was denied because I have no income. Do you know how hard it was for me to pay my taxes? Do I have enough income to pay taxes, but not enough to be able to vote?”

She came to Greece in 1996 from Russia with two children. “I feel Greek, I am Greek, I think like a Greek. Russia is my homeland and I love it. But when I go there, I pack my suitcase in two weeks to come back here.” Svetlana Russkaya, Fotini, as she is called in Greece, is full of determination. “I work from 10 am to 10 pm. And if I don’t have clients, I still cut receipts to be able to make a name for myself.”