NATIONAL IDENTITIES 529 principles set out in the Bolzano and Ljubljana Guidelines, it will become even easier to design ethnically preferential over-inclusive citizenship acquisition laws. Examples of ‘ethnic’ preferentialism in European citizenship regimes The European Convention on Nationality, the most important citizenship policy harmonization document in Europe and beyond, reflects the citizenship attribution realities of European countries. As I have explained above, the ECN on the one hand bans discrimination on the grounds of ethnic and national origin, without clearly defining what ‘ethnic’ and ‘national’ mean. The ECN, on the other hand, finds it legitimate that countries offer facilitated citizenship for specific groups. One example of such preferentialism mentioned by the ECN is fast track naturalization of citizens of a specific country. A brief survey of the citizenship framework in Europe shows that several countries implement policies in order to assist targeted groups of resident individuals in becoming full members of the host society. As I have shown elsewhere (Pogonyi, 2017), European Union member states often offer simpler naturalization for individuals with citizenship in other EU countries or even in the European Economic Area. The Nordic states as well as Latvia introduced favorable naturalization laws for immigrants from the same region. Former republics of dissolved federations ease the requirements for applicants who are citizens of countries that used to be part of the same federation. In the case of former colonial powers, preferential laws are extended for citizens of former colonies outside the European Union. Such practices are not uncommon in traditionally ‘civic’ citizenship regimes, either. Turkey too requires less years of residence in Turkey at naturalization if the applicant has citizenship in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In all these cases, eligibility for facilitated citizenship is determined by territorial criteria and/or formal citizenship status. Therefore, these laws do not formally qualify as ‘ethnic’ as they legally codify belonging to the core national group either in terms of culture or ancestry. Individuals from the targeted countries are all eligible to fast track citizenship, regardless of their ‘ethnic’ background. Socialization-based preferential acquisition is another broadly used distinction in acquisition policies. These special rules target individuals whose integration into the country is presumed on the basis of socialization. Typically, minors who attend school and have resided for several years within the country are also offered easier access to citizenship. Such preferential acquisition policies serve the formal inclusion of individuals whose life circumstances clearly prove factual integration, and therefore they are also in line with basic liberal democratic norms. These naturalization rules are grounded in the assumption that those residents who are eligible for fast-track naturalization are already familiar with the national language as well as the national culture, and so there is no need for further tests of their social and cultural integration. In France, discretional naturalization is available for persons who belong to the cultural and linguistic French entity, while graduates of French schools are eligible for citizenship after two years of residence in France – three years earlier than regular applicants.2 Similarly to preferential treatment of citizens of specific countries, socialization-based preferentialism targets resident populations who have genuine ties to the respective countries. One may criticize these laws for linking membership to the completion of integration and knowledge of the national language, but as long as similar requirements are part of standard