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FACT CHECK: Are Germans more liberal or conservative?

Germany is renowned for its social safety net and for welcoming refugees in 2015. But just how liberal or conservative are Germans about certain hot-button issues – from dual citizenship to cannabis legalisation, abortion and guns?

People draped in rainbow flags take part in the Christopher Street Day demonstration in memory of the Stonewall Riots during Pride month with Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in the background.
People draped in rainbow flags take part in the Christopher Street Day demonstration in memory of the Stonewall Riots during Pride month on July 23, 2022, with Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in the background. Germany on Friday launched a plan to protect LGBTQ rights. Photo: DAVID GANNON / AFP

Germany’s current traffic light government is busy enacting all kinds of progressive-leaning legislation, whether to legalise cannabis, allow dual citizenship, or slightly liberalise abortion laws. Much like the fact that Germany only legalised equal marriage just over five years ago – the country can sometimes feel quite behind its neighbours when it comes to enacting certain reforms.

Are Germans just a conservative bunch? Or is government catching up with public opinion? We took a look at recent polls on a host of social issues and how Germans feel about them.

Dual citizenship and immigration

Germans are pretty split on the governing coalition’s plans to allow dual citizenship and shorten the time someone needs to be in Germany before they can apply for citizenship. That wait time is currently eight years and the government is looking to reduce that to five, amidst other planned reforms.

Cem Özdemir, then Green Party Chair, pickets CDU headquarters in 2013 with other Green protestors, demanding the right to dual citizenship. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Michael Kappeler

One poll by public broadcaster ARD finds a slight majority in favour though: 49 percent agree with the government’s plans to make getting German citizenship easier and allowing dual nationality, while 45 percent are opposed.

READ ALSO: What do Germans think of plans to allow dual nationality?

Gun laws

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser currently has her hands full.

In addition to the new citizenship law, Faeser is working on tightening German gun laws. A 48-page draft law has proposed banning semi-automatic weapons and requiring licences for blank pistols and crossbows. German law already bans private ownership of fully automatic weapons.

Assault rifles from World War II in the armoury of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Rampe, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Assault rifles from World War II in the armoury of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Rampe, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Jens Büttner

In particular, the government has the AR-15 assault rifle in its sights – a weapon that’s been at the centre of gun controversies in the United States in recent years. There’s about 225,000 of them in Germany, of which 60 percent are in private hands.

Germans, for the most part, don’t have the same strong division on guns as Americans.

A December 2022 Civey poll found around 57 percent of Germans support tightening gun laws. Nine percent are undecided and just over a third are opposed.

Legalising cannabis 

The cannabis legalisation debate has been one of the most fascinating discussions in German politics since the traffic light coalition took office in late 2021. A key priority of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), party leader Christian Lindner promised Germany would pass a legalisation bill this year with sales likely to start in 2024.

Man smoking cannabis

A man smokes at the ‘Global Marijuana March 2022’ at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

Even Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a Social Democrat (SPD) reportedly skeptical of legalisation at first, has changed his mind on it since entering government.

But has the average German?

According to one December 2022 poll, half of Germans are in favour of legalising cannabis, with younger people much more likely to be in favour.

Around 34 percent of people in Germany are opposed and 16 percent are unsure.

READ ALSO: German Health Minister lays out next steps for cannabis legalisation

Liberalising abortion

Although legal abortion is available in Germany, it remains more tightly restricted than in many other European countries.

The current traffic light government only got rid of restrictions on advertising it – a law dating back to the Nazi era – last year.

This often meant that doctor’s practices that performed abortions couldn’t put information on their websites or brochures about the procedure. Someone looking to have one done would typically have to go in and ask the doctor if they did the procedure.

A pro-choice counter protester at the "March for Life" demo against abortion in Berlin in September 2020.

A pro-choice counter protester at the “March for Life” demo against abortion in Berlin in September 2020. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

Abortion remains restricted to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and women seeking one often need to go through counselling before getting the procedure.

At around 68 percent of regular Germans polled in 2021 though, most say that abortions are acceptable. Sixteen percent say they are sometimes acceptable and sometimes not. Only around 15 percent of Germans say abortion is completely unacceptable.

READ ALSO:

Gay marriage and gender self-determination

In 2022, transgender rights activists celebrated after Germany passed a self-determination law, allowing for an easier process to change gender legally.

At the time it passed, Germans were still divided on the law, with slightly more in favour of it than not. Forty-six percent of Germans were in favour at the time the gender self-determination law passed in June 2022, while 41 percent were opposed.

People wave flags at gay pride in Cologne on July 3rd.

People wave flags at gay pride in Cologne on July 3rd. The Cologne CSD is one of the largest events of the LGBTQ+ community in Europe. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Marius Becker

READ ALSO: Germany plans to make legal gender change easier

Germany was one of the last major western countries to legalise marriage equality.

Having only passed legislation in 2017, after Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats repeatedly blocked marriage initiatives in parliamentary committees, Germany was beaten to the punch by the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, and Brazil – among many others – in providing full marriage equality to gays and lesbians.

Despite conservative opposition, by the time marriage equality passed, German society had already become markedly accepting of it.

Seventy-five percent of people in Germany polled in 2017 supported marriage equality, including 53 percent of church-going Christians – signalling that even this community had changed its opinion on gay marriage over time. Support among religiously unaffiliated Germans or non-practicing Christians stood at over 80 percent in 2017.

READ ALSO: Germany legalises gay marriage in historic vote

What’s the conclusion?

As the polls show, Germans are largely split on many of the social issues the government is currently debating, including dual citizenship. However, at the moment the more liberal governing coalition means the country is heading in a progressive direction.

The cautious debate around certain topics, such as abortion, however, shows that Germany has a strong conservative pull in its politics, which is likely linked to the country’s religious roots.

On many issues though, whether on abortion or gay rights – Germans, even religious ones, are fairly liberal.

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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

Elation and worry as German citizenship law passes final hurdle

With dual citizenship set to come into force at the end of June, foreigners in Germany are feeling overjoyed - but there are fears that the country's notorious bureaucracy could stand in the way.

Elation and worry as German citizenship law passes final hurdle

For those who have never been asked to renounce their citizenship, the shift to a new set of rules may not seem like an overly important one.

But for millions of people who live in Germany without the right to free movement or the right to vote, allowing multiple nationalities feels like a paradigm shift that could change their lives forever.

Though the government has been clear about its intentions to remove hurdles to citizenship since the start – including lifting a ban on dual nationality for non-EU citizens – some were unwilling to believe it would ever become a reality.

So when the news emerged that President Frank Walter-Steinmeier had finally signed off on the law on Tuesday, March 26th, the excitement in the air was palpable. 

For Hakan Demir, a Social Democrat (SPD) politician who helped draft Germany’s citizenship reforms, the change is all about “recognition, co-determination and belonging”. 

READ ALSO: What do I need to apply for German citizenship under the new law?

“Many people in Germany have been waiting for this law for a very long time because they finally want to participate,” Demir told The Local. “In future, they will be able to play a greater role in shaping our society, vote and be elected. In this way, we are strengthening our democracy.”

Hakan Demir, an MdB for Berlin-Neukölln, serves as SPD rapporteur on the new German draft law to allow dual citizenship.

Hakan Demir, an MdB for Berlin-Neukölln, serves as SPD rapporteur on the new German draft law to allow dual citizenship. Photo: Photothek

This was also the view of Demir’s colleague, Greens MP Filiz Polat, who worked as a rapporteur on the legislation.

Not only is the citizenship law “a step towards a modern migration society”, Polat said, but also “an important step for our democracy”.

“At a time when the AfD and right-wing extremists are spreading anti-constitutional deportation fantasies, we are strengthening fundamental rights and cohesion with this law.”

Stephan Thomae of the Free Democrats (FDP) welcomed the news that the reform was on its way, but emphasised that only those who shared German values could naturalise under the new conditions. 

“We are making naturalisation easier for all those who have no criminal record, speak our language and can support themselves,” Thomae explained.

“At the same time, we are making it clear that criminals, anti-Semites or people who do not share our values will not be naturalised.

“Corresponding checks will be significantly tightened.”

READ ALSO: Why Germany is shaking up citizenship test questions

‘Great news’

For those involved in drafting the bill, the end of the long parliamentary process is a major step forward. But it’s foreigners in Germany who are most excited – and nervous – about the change.

British in Germany, a group who campaigned to secure the residence rights of Brits after Brexit, said they were thrilled that the new law would put all UK citizens in Germany on an equal footing.

With EU citizens allowed to hold multiple nationalities under German law, British citizens had previously been able to obtain dual nationality only before the end of the transition period, while others were faced with difficult choices. 

“This is great news for those of us in the British community in Germany who were not able to apply for dual citizenship before the end of the Brexit transition, unlike the some 70,000 of us who have already become British Germans,” said BiG’s Matt Bristow.

A British and German passport.

A British and German passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Britta Pedersen

“We know there will be a big increase in citizenship applications and not just among those with a British migration background. Now the challenge is for the authorities to have the resources to respond to their desire to become Germans.”

Satya Kasindla, a British citizen who lives in Leonberg near Stuttgart, agreed that the passing of the bill was “good news” for immigrants in the country.

Nevertheless, Satya believes the law will have a limited impact if the authorities aren’t able to process applications at the speed required.

“It would help all the immigrants if the government gives a clear guideline for processing these applications by observing six months as statutory limit,” he told The Local.

“Without clear guidelines on processing times, this law doesn’t change much for the immigrants who are eligible now and also who are actually in the queue. And it only will help only new arrivals if the government takes necessary action on staffing to process the applications within the six-month deadline.”

READ ALSO: Foreigners in Berlin furious over German citizenship delays

The fears about the endless waiting times for applications to be approved – and the influx of future applications – was one shared by several foreigners on social media.

Referring to the long backlogs faced by applicants in Berlin, one X user said he was concerned that older applicants would be deprioritised the second a new influx of applications came in. 

A citizenship applicants reads the German constitution.

A citizenship applicant reads the state constitution in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Marijan Murat

Another worry for migrants is that some conditions of the law – and most notably restrictions on claiming benefits – could create a two-tier system between privileged and less privileged applicants. 

This was the concern of Zeynep Yanasmayan, head of the migration department at the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research. 

However, despite the bill’s shortcomings, the symbolic impact of easing citizenship rules remained important, she said. 

“While the concrete impact of the law will very much depend on individuals’ national and socio-economic background, it certainly sends a strong message of recognition and acceptance to people of migration background,” Yanasmayan told The Local.

Of course, not everyone in German political life is happy about the changes. 

The Local approached the right-wing CDU/CSU parties for comment, but at the time of writing had no received a response.

However, the view of the long-term opponents of dual nationality can be summed up by Alexander Throm, a specialist on domestic issues for the CDU.

READ ALSO: How long does it take for your German to be good enough for permanent residency and citizenship?

In the final Bundestag debate on the legislation, Throm claimed that people who gain dual nationality “lack a fundamental commitment to our land.”

For politicians from the far-right AfD, the fears are even more extreme. According to AfD MP Christian Wirth, “Our proud nationality is about to be flogged off.”

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