Political Debate Heats Up Over Dual Citizenship in Germany

Union politicians have questioned Germany’s policy on dual citizenship. “We must ask ourselves as a country whether we still want general dual citizenship and whether we can still afford it,” CSU lawmaker Stephan Mayer told Bild on Wednesday. He said a “fundamental reform of citizenship law” was necessary. The CSU politician also called for stripping violent offenders, serious criminals, enemies of the constitution, antisemites, and those who hate Germany of their citizenship if they hold two passports.

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“It cannot be that we grant people the privilege of citizenship and they then trample on our values and on us,” Mayer emphasized. CDU domestic policy expert Cornell Babendererde shared a similar view, telling Bild: “Dual citizenship should be the exception, not the rule. If 80 percent of those naturalized in 2023 wanted to keep their old passport alongside the German one, we have to ask ourselves, is the love and identification with our country perhaps not that strong after all? Or is it more about keeping the advantages guaranteed by a German passport?”

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In 2024, around 292,000 people were naturalized, a 46 percent increase compared to the previous year and a new record. About one in four (28 percent) of them came from Syria. Of the roughly 200,000 people naturalized in 2023, more than 80 percent kept their previous nationality, meaning they now hold dual citizenship.

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Meanwhile SPD domestic policy expert Sebastian Fiedler has rejected the proposal from the CDU/CSU coalition partner to abolish dual citizenship. The CDU/CSU and SPD agreed in their coalition agreement to maintain the rules on dual citizenship, Fiedler explained on Wednesday in response to an AFP inquiry. This commitment was then reaffirmed three weeks ago during the vote in the Bundestag on the amendment to the Nationality Act.

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"Even the members of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group who are now speaking out have agreed," Fiedler explained. "According to our Basic Law, German citizenship is fundamentally inviolable." He added that even today, in exceptional cases, there are a number of legal avenues for dual nationals to lose their German citizenship – for example, if it was acquired through deception or coercion.

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