Mikita Vorobyov is studying Political Science at Bard University in Berlin and previously studied at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Kyiv-Mohyla Academic National University, the University of Tartu and the University of Zagreb.
On January 19th, the German parliament approved an important bill. Fixes The German government passed the Nationality Act in its second reading. The law will come into force on June 26th. Germany has significantly simplified the process of obtaining German citizenship, trying to address a number of problems that have built up over the past decades. One of the main changes is changing the minimum period of residence in Germany to apply for citizenship from eight to five years. Furthermore, the law allows exceptional cases of successful integration to apply for citizenship after only three years of residence in Germany.
In addition, the government repealed a provision in the law that required applicants to renounce their previous citizenship when acquiring German citizenship, meaning Germans no longer have to renounce their German passports when naturalizing abroad, effectively allowing dual citizenship. The law also expanded the list of offenses that disqualify people from acquiring German citizenship. Both of these changes sparked heated debates among political parties and politicians and became one of the hottest topics of political debate in Germany in recent months.
The proposed amendment most criticised by right-wing politicians is one that would allow people to apply for German citizenship after three years in exceptional cases. The centre-right opposition party criticised such provisions: “The value of nationality as a central motive for integration is being lost. Since integration takes time and is more than work and language, the naturalisation period is not just a waiting period but a conscious test period in which applicants can prove that they have integrated and identify with our rules and values” – Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) Said.
The change is truly revolutionary and will give Germany one of the fastest naturalization procedures in Europe, but legal experts warn that the prerequisites for taking advantage of the accelerated procedure are unclear and the number of people who can benefit will probably be very limited.
The German Ministry of Economy has repeatedly alarm Such reforms could change the situation regarding the shortage of skilled workers that is affecting the German economy. Opportunity to obtain citizenship in three years for those with excellent education and professional talent. Achievementsor social contribution (volunteer work) are attractive shortcuts for skilled professionals. The C1 German proficiency requirement ensures that candidates have the right integration skills and motivation. 1.8 million jobs available in 2023 RemainingThere is a continuing talent shortage across the German economy, so such efforts to attract experts could improve the situation.
Currently, 8,000 foreigners obtain citizenship in Berlin each year. double This figure amounts to 20,000 per year. However, there are some bureaucratic constraints that must be overcome to get there: As of January 1, 2024, more than 40,000 naturalization applications are waiting to be processed in Berlin alone.
The new law addressed the problem of thousands of ethnic Turks migrating to Germany between 1974 and 1990, when the Federal Republic of Germany was attracting manual laborers from abroad. According to the data, hundreds thousand During this period, Turks immigrated to Germany as indentured labourers and contributed to the realisation of Germany’s economic miracle.
Currently, the number of Turkish residents living in Germany is approximately 3000000They make up a large part of German society and are one of the country’s largest immigrant groups. Previously, the law prevented residents of countries that ban dual citizenship from naturalizing without renouncing their previous citizenship. So until the law was approved, mostly EU residents were able to keep their passports from their home countries. Hakan Demir, the Social Democrats’ rapporteur on the law, said: spectrum Geoff Atkinson, a member of the German parliament, believes this judicial loophole needs to be fixed: “There should be no difference between Italians and Turks. Why should there be?”
Loss of citizenship is less subtle than the conditions for deprivation of eligibility to acquire citizenship: “Acts with anti-Semitic, racist or other inhumane motives are incompatible with the guarantee of human dignity in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and violate the fundamental order of a liberal democracy within the meaning of this law.” written The first point sparked a very heated debate on the German Bundestag website, an issue that has divided German society since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. Germany has one of the most pro-Israel positions in the world and has said it does not agree with claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and is ready to condemn it. Intervene In the genocide proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
In the German capital, Berlin, large pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place and public debate over the war remained heated.
The right-wing coalition used the war to argue against dual citizenship. Opponents said: “The general acceptance of multiple nationalities does not promote the unity of our country. On the contrary, it has been made clear time and again that naturalization must be accompanied by a clear commitment to the fundamental values of our country. The most recent example is the horrific anti-Semitic attacks that took place on the streets of Germany after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.”
That is what the CDU Proposed Not only will they face tougher laws and be rejected as applicants, but they could also lose their German citizenship for rejecting Israel’s right to exist.
Saxony-Anhalt (CDU stronghold) Introduced Applicants will have to declare in writing that they recognize Israel’s “right to exist and denounce any attempt to oppose its existence.” Hakan Demir said the federal territories have no right to do so. The law will come into force in the summer, so any nuances resulting from a lack of official clarification will be gone by then. The law provides a binding framework for all federal territories, and Saxony-Anhalt is no exception.
These provisions did not make it into the final law, but in the final draft of the new law manifestations of anti-Semitism remain grounds for the refusal or loss of German citizenship. “Anyone who wants to acquire German citizenship must accept and acknowledge Germany’s history and the responsibilities that flow from it,” Hakan Demir stressed.
The law passed in the second reading with 382 votes in favor, 234 against, and 97 abstentions. One of the two most popular parties, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), either opposed the law entirely or abstained from voting. The far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) followed suit with a surprising anti-immigration rhetoric. The latter stated that “two-thirds of Germans do not want a simplified naturalization process and are calling for the ‘sale’ (Verarschung) of their citizenship.”
In contrast, the socially liberal coalition in the German Bundestag – the leading centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats – voted mostly in favour of these amendments. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a member of the SPD, became one of the biggest supporters of these amendments, saying that this law sends a clear message to people who live and feel at home in Germany that this law is important for Germany. teeth Their home. At the same time, he was suggested The asylum process will be digitized and all applicants who are not granted protection status will be deported. According to Hakan Demir, the SPD recognizes that each refusal of the right to stay in the country is a personal tragedy, which is why the government is trying to develop a path for each individual case, rather than lumping economic migrants and refugees together. These measures will allow the country to accept more people legally. Germany is also urging other European countries to be more tolerant towards refugees.
German Ministry of Economics and Finance Claimed Germany does not have a shortage of workers nationwide, but in sectors where skilled workers are needed. Therefore, through these measures, Germany shows that it is curbing the flow of immigrants into the country and prioritizing highly skilled immigrants. Hakan Demir said that Germany especially needs this law now, because according to data, 7 million people will retire in 2035. Therefore, the government wants to replace the generation born between 1955 and 1966 with other skilled workers.
This new law was a comprehensive solution to the problems of the past decades. Germany focused on sophisticated immigration policies and the naturalization of skilled workers from all over the world who were united by the same values. This law allowed the German government to reform the concept of what it meant to be “German” and who was “German”, making a major change by making the right to become a German citizen not just a matter of chance of birth, but of the will to become a German citizen and adherence to values.
Moreover, recent geopolitical events played a major role in the final version of the law, and it is no exaggeration to say that the law would have been much different had the Israeli-Hamas war not broken out in October 2023.
The proposed amendments are due to be officially implemented this summer, and their results will become clear later. However, the changes they bring and their importance mean that they can already be called revolutionary. The Social Liberal Coalition, led by Olaf Scholz, is committed to liberalizing German law and updating it to current German realities. The new citizenship law is now part of a larger project to give Germany, a country that accepts more refugees than migrants, control over this process.
Olaf Scholz’s term in office has already meant a shift in German political discourse, with his shift from supporting Ukraine with military means to his ideas for liberalizing the legal sphere. Since 2021, when the 16-year rule of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel came to an end, Germany has been undergoing a phase of reforms, and this law, promoted by the Left Coalition, is another symbol of this.
Hakan Demir said the SPD has been adamant for the past 20 years that proper immigration laws are necessary, and now they finally have a chance to turn that dream into reality. Debates within the Liberal coalition have been sometimes messy, such as on the minimum wage required to become a citizen, but through compromises, Bundestag lawmakers have been able to approve some very important legislation.
