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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

What do Germans think of plans to allow dual nationality?

Internationals in Germany have been on tenterhooks waiting for the country to ease its citizenship rules - but do Germans in the country feel the same? Here's what the latest polls say.

Published: 9 December 2022 16:45 CET
Dual British and German nationality
A dual British and German national holds up their passports. Under proposed new rules, non-EU nationals will be able to take on German citizenship after living in Germany for five years, while retaining their original nationality. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Holger Hollemann

As the Bundestag prepares to debate the federal traffic-light coalition’s proposed changes to German citizenship laws, the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) are pushing back – saying the public doesn’t agree with the changes.

The party’s leader in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei, told Parliament this month that the traffic light’s plans to allow dual citizenship and shorten the wait from eight years to five – and even to three years if the applicant can prove B2 level German – were at odds with 60-70 percent of the German public.

Frei referred to an online Civey poll showing that 62 percent of respondents saying that becoming German should require someone to renounce their previous citizenship.

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Yet a recent “Deutschlandtrend” poll by public broadcaster ARD shows a more divided picture.

A slim majority of those respondents, about 49 percent, support the government’s plans for an easier citizenship law. Almost as many, or about 45 percent, are against the plans.

Regular Green Party voters are most likely to be supportive at 86 percent, with about two-thirds of Social Democrat voters, and an even 47-47 percent split among regular Free Democrat (FDP) voters. While more regular CDU voters are against the plans – about 44 percent are still in favour.

The same poll finds that the higher education someone has, the more likely they are to support the proposed changes, no matter what party they typically vote for. In fact, 64 percent of respondents with higher education are in favour of liberalising Germany’s citizenship laws.

Parliamentarians working on the law hope for it to pass the Bundestag by summer 2023.

READ ALSO: German business leaders back proposed citizenship reforms

Member comments

  1. Germans did nothing to achieve being so lucky with their rights and freedoms. As long as immigrants pay taxes etc I don’t see the issue regarding dual nationality. Why not? What difference does it make to those already German?

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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

Foreigners in Germany are waiting on tenterhooks for the introduction of the new dual nationality law on Thursday - but the centre-right CDU and CSU say they would overturn the reform if re-elected next year.

Published: 25 June 2024 12:06 CEST
German conservatives vow to overturn dual citizenship if re-elected

“The CDU and CSU will reverse this unsuccessful reform,” Alexander Throm (CDU), spokesperson on domestic policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told DPA on Tuesday.

“Dual citizenship must remain the exception and be limited to countries that share our values.”

Throm also criticised the new citizenship law for reducing the amount of time foreigners need to live in the country before naturalising as Germans, describing the new residence requirements as “far too short”.

“After five or even three years, it is not yet possible to determine with certainty whether integration has been successful in the long term,” he stated.

“The recent caliphate demonstrations and the rampant Islamist extremism, often by people with German passports, must be a wake-up call for us all.”

READ ALSO: Which foreign residents are likely to become German after citizenship law change?

Despite vociferous opposition, the alliance between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party (CSU) was powerless to stop the traffic-light coalition’s citizenship reform passing in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat earlier this year. 

The reform, which permits the holding of multiple passports, lowers residence requirements and removes language hurdles for certain groups, is set to come into force on June 27th. 

But with the CDU and CSU emerging as clear winners in the recent EU parliamentary elections and regularly landing on 30 percent or above in the polls, it’s possible that the party could be on course to re-enter government next year. 

In this situation, the centre-right parties have pledged to try and undo what senior CDU politicians have described as a “dangerous” reform.

“It is not unusual for successive governments to reverse decisions made by the previous government,” Andrea Lindholz, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said in a recent response to a question. 

“We will maintain our position on this and will continue to strive for a corresponding change.”

READ ALSO: What are citizenship offices around Germany doing to prepare for the new law?

Whether the CDU and CSU can secure enough votes at both state and federal elections to change the law in the future remains to be seen.

The parties may also have to compromise on their plans with any future coalition partner, such as the Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) or Free Democrats (FDP), all of whom support liberal immigration laws and the holding of multiple nationalities. 

‘Citizenship devaluation law’

The CDU and CSU parties, which form a centre-right alliance nicknamed the Union, have long been opposed to dual nationality in Germany.

During their years of governing in a so-called grand coalition with the centre-right Social Democrats (SPD), the parties had regularly made reforms of citizenship one of their red lines, citing the danger of hostile nations influencing Germany from within. 

In a recent parliamentary speech back in January, Throm had slammed the bill as a “citizenship devaluation law” and accused the government of trying to generate a new electorate to win votes.

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag

CDU politician Alexander Throm speaks in a debate in the German Bundestag. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

In comments aimed primarily at Germany’s large Turkish diaspora, the CDU politician claimed that people who had lived in Germany for decades but not taken German citizenship had already chosen their old country over Germany.

The majority of Turks in Germany are also supporters of the authoritarian president Recep Erdogan, he argued.

Responding to the claims, FDP migration expert Ann-Veruschka Jurisch said the opposition was fuelling resentments against migrants by claiming the government was “squandering German citizenship”.

In fact, she argued, the reform has tightened up requirements by ensuring that people who claim benefits and cannot support themselves are unable to become German citizens.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Germany’s citizenship law reform

In addition, the B1 language requirements have only been softened in a few exceptional cases, for example to honour the lifetime achievements of the guest worker generation who had few opportunities when they arrived, Jurisch said. 

If foreigners have committed crimes, the authorities will be able to investigate whether these involved racist or anti-Semitic motives before citizenship is granted, she added. 

With reporting by DPA

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