The transition found the newly established Third Greek Republic burdened with unbearable inherited weights and constraints in many areas. Among the most critical was that of citizenship. The status of being a citizen in our country has been a field of dispute and state repression for many decades. The consequences of the Civil War, especially the "paraconstitution," distorted the institution and transformed it from a pillar of guarantees into an authoritarian hub for controlling dissenters.

The young democracy, with slow steps, began to restore institutional order and primarily to include more and more excluded population groups in the political body: first the "deprived due to anti-national action," then the marginalized Roma, followed by the political refugees of the Civil War, and then the diasporas from the "Eastern" countries.

Globalization led to the opening of the country to incoming migrant flows and posed a dilemma to society, political forces, and the state regarding the integration into the political body of individuals who were not ethnically Greek. Again, with slow steps and setbacks, we began to discuss and institutionalize.

Who "is entitled" to be a Greek citizen? Are you born Greek or do you become one?

The entire tumultuous journey of Greek citizenship from the transition to today is recorded and commented upon in the present study, seeking to shed light on it and contribute to the already open discussion regarding the future and quality of our Democracy.