Adriana Lima, Cléo, Steven Seagal: These are the stars who got Serbian citizenship. But, have they earned it?

A Hollywood actor Steven Seagal yesterday became a citizen of Serbia, and this act reminded us of other famous people who have been given the benefits of being a resident of Serbia.

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No one can touch us anymore: Steven Seagal got Serbian passport and became a resident of Serbia!

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This Aikido master, acknowledged even in Japan who brought this martial art to the big screen (or it brought him), got our citizenship due to his sympathy towards Serbia, since he considers it to be his homeland.

After he visited Belgrade and the meetings he had with City Council members and the mayor Siniša Mali, long-term relationship was agreed.

The goal of this was to promote Serbia in the world and to repaint our international image.

The Government of Serbia stated that Seagal is a person of special interest for the country, which sped up the process of getting our passport.

Foto: Marko Todorović

Steven now has the same rights like our citizens, including the one of getting employment, health and social care, and we in return may expect the opening of his Aikido club in Belgrade.

In the case of Timothy John Byford, a British director, screenplay writer and actor, this process lasted for more than 3 decades, even though he spend 43 years in Serbia and eventually died in Belgrade due to grave illness.

His child series "Neven" and "Poletarac" (which were awarded at the World Festival in Munich 1980) and his movie "Babino unuče" served as a role model for many generations of Serbian kids, got him the special citizenship only in 2004 even though he left BBC for pure love for his wife and this country.

Foto: Tanjug/Tanja Valič

Brazilian model Adriana Lima proved in 2009 that the path to this privilege lies not in the interests of Serbia, as much as being a "star", since her only title was that she was married to a Serbian basketball player Marko Jarić.

Foto: Tanjug/AP/Evan Agostini

In May 2009, a meeting between this couple and the vice president of the Serbian Government back in the day, Ivica Dačić, resulted in an agreement about humanitarian work and the process of granting the Serbian citizenship to Adriana.

Change of heart in their relationship put out her wish to remain the citizen of Serbia: the woman who is considered one of the most beautiful models in the world announced the return of Serbian passport, but that turned out to be impossible since she never went to take it.

It was stated in the press that "the applicant, after the initial procedure never took interest in our citizenship", and this is one of the necessary things if you want to get it.

With somewhat more enthusiasm, some months later, this privilege was given to a Russian judoist Aleksej Nefedov, who was then competing for the Belgrade judo club "Slavija".

Like his two predecessors, he had emotional attachment to Serbia apart from his status documents.

Foto: partizan.rs

A football player from Brazil, Cléverson Gabriel Córdova was the last person who got Serbian citizenship before Seagal.

The player came to our shores in 2008 to become a player of FC "Red Star" Belgrade.

According to the law, the decision about him becoming a citizen of Serbia was given due to the proposition of the Department of Interior Affairs and the Department of Youth and Sports.

Tell us what you think: Are famous people worthy of getting a Serbian passport just because they are famous and plan to promote Serbia, or should they put some effort in it?

(Telegraf.co.uk)