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Struggling German Greens urge EU to reconsider asylum reforms

Germany's ecologist Greens called on Saturday for the European Union to reconsider its asylum reform plan, despite the fact that it has been approved by the political coalition of which they are a member.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock delivers a speech during a party rally of The Greens (Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen) in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt am Main, Germany
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock delivers a speech during a party rally of The Greens (Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen) in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on June 17, 2023. (Photo by Daniel ROLAND / AFP)

At a mini-congress in the spa town of Bad-Vilbel, Green party leaders put forward a motion calling for “improvements” to be made to the draft agreement, which still has to pass through the European Parliament before becoming law.

The German Greens scored their best-ever election results in 2021, becoming the third-largest party in parliament and entering the government for the first time since 2005. But they are losing ground in opinion polls.

Critics inside the party say it has sacrificed its founding principles to govern in an awkward coalition with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD and the pro-business FDP.

Last week, EU nations reached agreement on a long-stalled revision of the bloc’s rules to share the hosting of asylum seekers and migrants more equitably.

The priority is for EU countries to share the hosting of asylum-seekers, taking in many that arrive in nations on the bloc’s outer rim, mainly Greece and Italy.

It provides for the establishment of fast-track centres at the EU’s external borders for certain migrants, including families with children. The German government has given the text the go-ahead.

Crushing blow

The deal was a crushing blow for the Greens, who had been pushing for more lenient rules for families with children, among other things. The Greens argue that the agreement undermines the right to asylum.

The text has also put Germany’s Green Foreign Minister Annalena at odds with her own party.

READ ALSO: Will Germany introduce border controls with Poland?

Defending the changes, Baerbock had previously argued: “If Germany had rejected the reform or abstained, it would have meant more suffering, not less.”

Speaking to party activists on Saturday however, the former candidate for the chancellor’s post admitted that the project was “not great” and had been a “heartbreaker” for her too.

According to the German press, some party leaders are worried about a wave of departures among the 120,000 members of the party. It has fallen a long way from when it hoped to win the Chancellery in 2021, having dropped to 14 percent in the opinion polls.

“It’s certainly been many years since the situation has been this dangerous for the green party”, said the NTV news channel.

Sliding down the polls

In particular, the Greens are being outmanoeuvered by the far-right AfD party, which has found new fuel for its growth through its stance on asylum and its opposition to climate policy.

The AfD is currently credited with around 20 percent of voting intentions, an unprecedented level of support that pushes the Greens down to fourth in the polls.

That appears to be the price the Green party is paying for its participation in the government since 2021, alongside the Social Democrats and the FDP Liberals.

Their cohabitation with the FDP — champions of budgetary rigour and the German car industry — is particularly delicate.

One Green party member in particular has been rejected by the public: Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.

A target of the far right and of the popular daily Bild, Germany’s most widely read newspaper, he is accused of seeking to curtail Germans’ freedoms in the name of the fight against global warming.

READ ALSO: Germany sees spike in asylum applications from Russian citizens

A philosopher by training and a potential candidate for the chancellorship in 2025, Habeck has been criticised for his attempt to require all new boilers to use at least 65 percent renewable energy from next January

The measure, included in a draft law, has caused such an outcry — against a backdrop of inflation and recession — that the number two figure in the government was forced to scale down his ambitions.

Habeck defended the policy in parliament on Thursday, insisting “the core of the law remains intact”.

But the Die Welt daily described it as a “low point for the once so radiant Greens” and a “resounding defeat” for the party.

It was certainly a hard knock for the Greens, who have had to swallow a lot in recent years, from German rearmament to the reopening of coal-fired power stations and the extension of nuclear power stations.

Political scientist Ursula Muench told AFP: “It’s very disappointing for the Greens to see that they are hardly able to give concrete expression to their own convictions, precisely at a time when the climate crisis is worsening” and a younger generation of activists is stepping up with their own hard-hitting actions.

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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.

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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