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GERMAN CITIZENSHIP

Germany’s dual citizenship law ‘could be passed in January’

Germany’s hotly anticipated draft law allowing dual citizenship for all has cleared another hurdle after the three governing parties ended a dispute over several migration laws.

Bundestag debating chamber
The German Bundestag passed a landmark citizenship reform bill on January 19th, 2024. However, it still must pass the country's upper chamber and is expected to go into effect only from spring 2024. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

Following long negotiations, the traffic light parties of the Social Democrats, the liberal Free Democrats, and the Greens say they’ve ironed out the final provisions of their upcoming draft law allowing dual citizenship for all applying to naturalise as German.

Parliamentarians now say the law could pass sometime after the Bundestag returns in January after Christmas break.

The draft law was originally expected to hit the Bundestag over a year ago but has been beset with delays due to disagreements between the three governing parties on everything from whether welfare recipients should be able to naturalise as German to what anti-Semitic offences should bar someone from taking German citizenship.

After being passed in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ministerial cabinet, parliamentarians finally put it through its first reading in early December.

READ ALSO: German politicians clash over dual citizenship law at first debate

Green, SPD, and FDP faction leaders in the Bundestag Wednesday called the newly agreed law something that “does justice to a modern immigration society and the principles of humanity and order.”

The three governing parties continue to agree on the broad aims of the law: that all people naturalising as German will no longer have to give up their old passports, and that citizenship should be possible after five years in Germany rather than the current eight.

The renegotiated draft is expected to limit the ability of the unemployed or those on benefits to naturalise as German – however, a hardship clause is expected to be put in place to allow for certain exceptions.

The coalition also agreed on new deportation measures, shortening the period of mandatory detention before deportation in an effort to prevent those issued with deportation orders from simply disappearing and living in the country illegally.

Analysis: Will Germany’s citizenship reform still pass?

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2024 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

Germany will ‘not hold snap election’ after EU vote

Germany will not follow France and hold a snap election despite a dismal performance from all three parties in the ruling coalition in the European parliamentary election, a spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.

Germany will 'not hold snap election' after EU vote

“The regular election date is next autumn. And that’s what we plan to do,” Steffen Hebestreit told a government press conference, referencing the next planned federal vote in Germany. 

Scholz’s coalition suffered a stinging defeat at the European elections Sunday, with all three parties in his government trailing the conservatives and the far right, preliminary results showed.

The Social Democrats (SPD) scored its worst result in history with 13.9 percent, third behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on just under 16 percent, and well behind the conservative CDU-CSU bloc’s 30 percent.

READ ALSO: What the EU elections say about the state of politics in Germany

The Greens recorded around 12 percent while the liberal FDP took five percent.

The result sparked calls from opposition parties for Scholz to follow the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron and call a snap election.

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, said Germany had “voted out the chancellor” and the government.

“There is now only one task left for Scholz: clear the way for new elections – instead of governing for another year against a large majority of the population,” Weidel wrote on X.

Markus Söder, the leader of the conservatives in the southern state of Bavaria, also called for new elections as soon as possible.

The three-way coalition “no longer has the support of the population”, Söder told the RTL broadcaster, calling for Germany to follow in the footsteps of France.

Macron has called snap elections for June 30th and July 7th after his centrist alliance lost to the far right in the EU elections.

AfD top candidate excluded from delegation

Meanwhile, the top candidate for the AfD at the EU polls will be excluded from the party’s delegation at the European Parliament due to a string of scandals, the party said on Monday.

Maximilian Krah has been accused of having suspicious links to Russia and China, while comments that he made minimising the crimes of the Nazis’ notorious SS also prompted the AfD’s expulsion from the far-right group within the European Parliament.

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