Azerbaijan Has Low Citizenship Index QNI

London / 20.04.18 / Turan: The creators of the World Citizenship Index (The Henley & Partners - Kochenov Quality of Nation Index, QNI) ranked the citizenship of the countries of the world on the basis of various indicators in the period from 2013 to 2017.

In the published rating the first place went to France (81.7%). Germany - the leader of last year's ratings - fell to second place (81.6%). The countries in the first ten of the Index remained practically unchanged: Iceland, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria. The only change is Ireland which replaced Spain in the top ten, so Spain moved to 11th place. The list is closed with Afghanistan (14.6%) and Somalia (13.4%).

In the rating of 2017, Azerbaijani citizenship received 28.3%, repeating the indicator of the previous year. In the overall ranking, Azerbaijan shared the 110th place with Tunisia. Last year, the country took 107th position. For five years, the index of Azerbaijani citizenship in the Index has worsened by 0.5%.

Georgia and Ukraine have become countries where the growth in the value of citizenship was most noticeable over the year. They rose in the ranking by 20 and 19 positions respectively. The main reason is visa-free access to the Schengen countries.

Countries in which citizenship can be obtained through investment in the economy of the country traditionally occupy high positions in the rating. Among them, the most valuable is the citizenship of Austria (10th place with an indicator of 78.9%). Malta occupies the 23rd place with 74.9%, followed by Cyprus with 73.3%.

"The QNI index makes it possible to assess the practical value of the citizenship of a particular country. Citizenship directly affects freedom of travel, business development prospects, security, living conditions and opportunities for self-fulfillment," Christian Kelin notes. - Weak citizenship is a serious obstacle that can radically change the life of the passport holder. Often, citizenship unreasonably limits our potential and ambitions. Talented and uncommon people become hostages of the country of their birth."

QNI is the first rating that takes into account both internal factors (the scale of the economy, development of human potential, public order and stability) and external ones (visa-free access for temporary trips and the possibility of visa-free living and working in other countries), affecting the quality of that or other citizenship.

QNI analyzes an array of statistical data to provide an objective picture of the possibilities and limitations of citizenship. The combination of data from the World Bank, the International Air Transport Association, and the Institute of Economics and Peace is a product of Professor Kochenov and Henley & Partners.

Christian Kelin is a specialist in the legal aspects of immigration and citizenship, as well as the chairman of the Henley & Partners group of companies.

Dimitry Kochenov is professor of EU constitutional law at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and Chairman of the Council on Investment Migration (Switzerland). He advises governments, European institutions and international organizations on the issues of citizenship and constitutional law of the EU. -02D-