The law of Finland also accords with the 1961 Convention in requiring that renunciation of nationality not result in statelessness. Section 35 of the country’s Nationality Act provides that: “A Finnish citizen who also holds the citizenship of a foreign State or who wishes to become a citizen of a foreign State may be released from Finnish citizenship on application... If the applicant is not yet a citizen of a foreign State when the decision is made on the application, he or she may be released from Finnish citizenship only by a decision whose entry into force requires that the applicant produces a report on the acquisition of citizenship of a foreign State within the time limit mentioned in the decision. After the report on the acquisition of citizenship of a foreign State has been produced, a certificate will be issued of the requirement being met”.72 Finland quite appropriately protects applicants against statelessness by requiring them to produce proof of having acquired another citizenship. Laws that allow renunciation or loss of nationality by persons “deemed to have a claim to” another nationality, or when “State authorities are satisfied that” such a person can acquire another nationality, do not go far enough in safeguarding against statelessness. Based on the standard set by the 1961 Convention, persons should be released from their current nationality only upon secure possession of another. The 2013 Law on Citizenship of Turkmenistan may be considered another useful model, with its clear and consistent provisions for the avoidance of statelessness. Its Article 5 establishes “the prevention and reduction of statelessness” as one of the “basic principles of Turkmenistan citizenship”.73 Article 7, entitled “Citizenship of Turkmenistan at contraction or dissolution of a marriage”, then provides for independent citizenship rights for spouses and children, without regard to changes of marital status. Furthermore, Article 16 provides that an “application from a citizen of Turkmenistan for the renunciation of Turkmen citizenship shall not be processed if he or she… becomes thereby stateless”. In accordance with international principles on the rights of the child, Chapter IV of Turkmenistan’s citizenship law sets out special safeguards for children. Article 18(2) in that chapter states that: “If the parents ([or] the only parent) of the child renounce Turkmen citizenship or lose Turkmen citizenship, the child shall also renounce Turkmen citizenship if he or she does not become thereby stateless”. Article 19(2) provides that “If one of the parents of Turkmenistan acquires Turkmen citizenship and the other parent continues to be stateless, the child shall become a citizen of Turkmenistan regardless of the place of his or her residence” No emphasis evident. Finally, Article 23 requires that any change in a child’s citizenship – flowing from a change in the parents’ citizenship or from an adoption – be made pursuant to the explicit and voluntary consent of the child. 72 Ibid. 73 Turkmenistan: Law of 2013 on Citizenship, 22 June 2013, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/527235634.html. 27