Chancellor Scholz promotes easier naturalization
Anyone who lives and works in Germany in the long term should also be able to be elected, be part of the country and belong with rights and obligations – regardless of origin, skin color or religious belief, says Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). He has no problem with multiple nationalities.
Bundescancer Olaf Scholz (SPD) promotes easier naturalization in Germany. “A democracy lives from the opportunity to have a say,” he said on Monday in Berlin at an event entitled “Germany. immigration country. Dialogue for participation and respect.” “This is how legitimacy is created, this is how the acceptance of state decisions grows.” That is why politics must be concerned “that the population and the electorate do not fall apart,” said Scholz.
The Chancellor pointed out that nine million citizens lived and worked in the country without having citizenship. Scholz emphasized that anyone who lives and works here in the long term should also be able to be elected, be part of the country and have rights and duties – regardless of origin, skin color, religious beliefs.
Referring to the previous principle of avoiding multiple nationalities, the Chancellor said he had never understood why this had been insisted on. Belonging and identity are not a zero-sum game. Even today, 60 percent of those who were naturalized kept their first citizenship. Dual citizenship is viewed with skepticism, especially in the Union.
The Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Reem Alabali-Radovan (SPD), described the reform of nationality law as “long overdue modernization”. She criticized the “stubborn inertia of the conservatives, as the quotes from ancient drawers and mothballs showed again these days”. She announced a naturalization campaign so that “everyone knows the requirements and can optimally prepare their applications.”
According to plans by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), the length of stay in Germany before the possibility of naturalization is to be reduced from eight to five years. In addition, in future it should generally be permitted for people to have multiple citizenships.