Several German states are considering making a change in the citizenship law, which would particularly impact candidates who commit anti-Semitic crimes.
The interior and integration ministers of the federal states want to make it lawful for holders of dual citizenship who commit anti-Semitic crimes to have their German citizenship revoked, Schengen.News reports.
Some common forms of antisemitic crimes include hate speech and threats against Jewish individuals and their symbols, vandalism, physical assaults, as well as desecration of their religious sites. Since October 7, 2023, when the Israel-Hamas conflict occurred, there are increasingly more cases of anti-semitism reported in Germany.
6 Big German Federal States Push for Revoking Citizenship to These Individuals
According to a query by Focus, directed to 16 responsible interior ministries of the individual federal states, six of them are in favour of introducing tighter rules for those holding dual citizenship.
Bavaria, Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse and Rhineland are the states that do want dual citizenship holder to have their German citizenship revoked if they have committed crimes against the Jewish population. Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia are some of the most populated German states by Jewish population.
The same told Focus that the Federal state had submitted a Federal Council initiative on this matter back in January of 2024. Still, the application was postponed by the red-green states, which could include Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommers, Brandenburg, Saarland and Rhineland, as well as the Baden-Wurttemmberg.
Lower Saxony’s Interior Ministry, however, disagreed with the proposed changes, saying that the revocation of citizenship is “not the right instrument in the fight against anti-Semitism.”
Germany Facilitates Rules for Obtaining Citizenship – Also Includes 12 Questions for Judaism & Israel
Since June 27, 2024, when the German government announced new citizenship rules, candidates who wanted to become German citizens have had it easier to achieve their goals.
The new rules included the possibility of holding dual citizenship, which was not possible earlier. In addition, candidates who wanted to obtain German citizenship no longer had to be residents of the country for long periods of time.
Five years of residency suffice for someone to be eligible to obtain citizenship, while foreign nationals who are married to German citizens can obtain citizenship in four years.
However, the new requirements for citizenship include a broader exam that includes more aspects of citizenship. The list of questions included in the naturalisation test has been expanded to include questions on anti-semitism, Israel and Jews in Germany.
The majority of these questions are related to the Jewish culture and religion, their history and the reasons why Germany has a special responsibility for Israel.
Source: https://schengen.news/german-states-discuss-revoking-citizenship-for-dual-nationals-who-commit-anti-semitic-crimes/
