A German politician, Andreas Bovenschulte, the mayor of Bremen, has expressed criticism over the planned tightening of the state citizenship law. According to Bovenschulte, people with dual citizenship may “get the impression that their citizenship is less valuable and they do not truly belong.” This, he said, is a “big problem”.
In their exploratory paper, the leaders of the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party had agreed that individuals can lose their German passport if they call for the abolition of the freely democratic basic order. “Who carefully reads and sees that it is about terrorists, extremists and anti-Semites, might think: no problem” Bovenschulte said. However, he emphasized that one must also “see the message that a law tightening sends to the five million people in Germany who live with dual citizenship and who have well integrated into our society.” These individuals could “feel stunned”.
As a representative of the Social Democratic Party at the coalition negotiations, Bovenschulte stated that he, like many in the party, has “substantial reservations against a tightening of the state citizenship law”. He relies on the agreed-upon constitutional review of the plans.