Let us recall that at the moment the total number of late resettlers and members of their families has reached 4 million people in Germany. According to information from German embassies, currently only in Russia and Kazakhstan about 1 million people are waiting for permission to resettle to Germany.
Naturally, such ideas could not fail to cause, to put it mildly, bewilderment among those resettlers whose relatives and close ones are offered to “wait in the hallway” for better times for repatriation. Readers outraged by such ideas ask: how real is the possibility of stopping the admission of resettlers, and what other “surprises” in this area can be expected from Berlin deputies?
The scandalous “Stadler project” on the pages of “Russkaya Germaniya” was commented on by a person who knows the problems of “Russian” Germans in Germany well - Dr. Ingo Wolf, head of the parliamentary faction of the Free Democratic Party of Germany in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.
- Dr. Wolf, how do you assess Max Stadler’s proposals to stop the influx of Germans from CIS countries for three years?
- I believe that the document in question was drawn up as a draft, and it contains a number of inaccuracies. As far as I know, it gives an incorrect number of people waiting for permission to enter Germany: instead of 2-3 million, it should be about a million. Furthermore, I do not consider the proposal to stop the entry of Russian Germans into Germany for three years by amending the Constitution to be correct. As it is, the entry quotas amount to, if I am not mistaken, 50.000 people per year - at such a pace, a million resettlers would be able to enter the country only in 20 years. Rather, one should try to somehow shorten this period.
- But is that possible?
- One should not forget the capabilities of each individual federal state to accept new citizens of the country. Nevertheless, if one thinks carefully about this idea, some prospects may appear.
- You have just expressed it very accurately: “new citizens of the country.” Many Russian Germans in Germany have the impression that they are not distinguished here from foreign immigrants. The latest immigration bill contains some provisions concerning Aussiedler - but they are not foreigners, they have German citizenship...
- First of all, I want to emphasize: personally, I have never confused these things. Yes, for many years many German citizens did not distinguish Russian Germans from immigrants. But I, as the head of the district administration, always tried to correct this situation here. Unfortunately, I find these inaccuracies also in the “Stadler document.” However, with your help, I hope to eliminate this misunderstanding. Also, the immigration law planned by the SPD and the Green Party should take this problem into account. As for the mentioned bill - as you know, it was proposed by the “red-green” government. The liberals are against its adoption, however, for somewhat different reasons than those you mention. But on this issue we are on the same path, aren’t we? Moreover, the arguments you have given give us the opportunity to join them and redirect the criticism to the author of the bill - the Federal Minister of the Interior, Otto Schily.
- Does this mean that the FDP could support the demands of the Landsmannschaft to return to the old procedure for admitting resettlers from the CIS?
- Do you think it is so easy to change the law? I believe this will require significantly more time than you imagine. Moreover, the liberals support, say, the introduction of a language test. I myself consider this rule necessary! And understand me correctly: in this case, we are not talking about the desire to create a couple more administrative barriers on the way of Russian Germans to Germany. People who receive German citizenship must be able to communicate in German, and quite tolerably. Otherwise, the resettlers themselves will inevitably face a severe cultural shock, alienation, the formation of closed communities, and as a result - increased contradictions between the newcomers and the native Germans. Language is the key to everything. But, unfortunately, in recent years, fewer and fewer people who consider themselves Russian Germans come to Germany knowing the language.
- There are many reasons for that...
- And they are known to me. However, you will agree - almost 15 years have passed since the collapse of the USSR. And you cannot tell me that Germans in Russia or, for example, in Kazakhstan are still forbidden to study their native language. Or are they forbidden?
- As far as I know, no. However, not all German language courses in the CIS countries are recognized by German authorities. And the number of language courses financed by the German government has sharply decreased in recent years. Getting a place at the Goethe Institute is almost impossible.
- So we are slowly getting to topics that can be discussed. You know, there is a proven legal truth: if the parties begin to argue about details, then the conflict will most likely be resolved peacefully.
You are right - this is a vicious circle. It is difficult to learn German in the CIS countries at the level required by German authorities, because there is not enough money for teachers recognized by Germany, and without passing the exam you cannot get to Germany. However, one can immediately imagine, for example, the following scheme: official German bodies establish a certain level of requirements for German language courses in the CIS and offer them something like licensing. I believe that schools and private firms will want to impart this knowledge. I think it is not necessary to send a German to the CIS countries if there is a local teacher who can teach German at an appropriate level. Thus, it would be possible, firstly, to increase the chances of success for those who need to pass a language test at the German embassy, and secondly, to save money on maintaining training centers in the CIS countries and, perhaps, even German language courses in Germany - if the licensing threshold is high enough.
With this example I only wanted to demonstrate that if we get together and seriously think about solving some specific problems of resettlers, we might well come up with something sensible. And here is something else important: integration is not a one-sided process. Integration, growing into a new society, does not happen at the behest of big bosses from the government or local administrators. It is known that many newcomers, literally "deafened" by the new living conditions and new social orders, withdraw into themselves, stick exclusively to their own circle and form closed communities, trying to create a familiar microclimate. But one must find the courage to "go into Germany", communicate with new fellow citizens, grow into German society, rather than create a "post-Soviet" one in a new place. The local way of life differs greatly from that which is customary in the countries of the former USSR. But it should be adapted to by those who rightly consider themselves Germans in Germany. After all, this way of life will not change because a small part of resettlers does not want to adapt to it. Rather, this small part will be involuntarily subject to a reaction of rejection.
One should also remember something else: the children of resettlers growing up here, one way or another, already perceive new rules, and this leads to a much more acute than usual conflict of generations in families where parents try to build their lives in the old way. In general, moving to Germany is a step that is perhaps much more difficult than many expected. However, I appeal to the newly arrived: did you have enough determination to come here? Then show the same determination and try to become your own here! I assure you, then many problems will disappear by themselves.
- That sounds, of course, great, but it seems to me that you are forgetting the other side of this process: there is, as you correctly noted, also a "reaction of rejection" among native Germans, and it is not necessarily due to the behavior of the "newcomers", but rather to ordinary conservatism mixed with xenophobia. I don't need to tell you how this manifests itself: hackneyed clichés about the "Russian mafia", about "widespread alcoholism and drug addiction", about the "overwhelming majority of social welfare recipients". These clichés are voiced even by politicians at the highest level. This somehow does not reconcile with your call to "go to the people". Or am I wrong?
- I believe that this is the same exaggeration as talk about "widespread alcoholism" and "crowds of social welfare recipients". Nevertheless, this shows that the contradictions are great and they must be overcome while it is still possible. After all, we have to live side by side with each other, and we are all citizens of one country.
- If we are to talk about young people, there is another important topic for conversation: many young Aussiedler were greatly offended by the law on "green cards". Indeed, if there is such an acute shortage of specialists that they have to be invited from abroad, then why not offer these positions to "Russian" Germans? Many of them arrived having a higher education, many received it in Germany. And those very jobs for which the government is ready to invite specialists from India and China often remain inaccessible to them.
- I see the reason for this precisely in the confusion that reigns in the heads of many native Germans and some officials when it comes to resettlers. When such a person comes to apply for a job, he is perceived as a "Russian", that is, as a foreigner. However, his passport is German, which means that the law on "green cards" does not apply to him. But since the applicant is a "Russian", perhaps he still needs a "green card" to get a job... Rather than racking his brains over whether a Russian or a German came to him, the employer prefers to continue searching abroad...
- But let us return to the original topic of our conversation: tell me, do you also believe that those who are waiting for permission to enter the Federal Republic of Germany should have left much earlier?
- Almost 15 years have passed since the collapse of the USSR. At the same time, Germany has reached the limit of its integration potential, and, of course, I ask myself the question: for what reasons have not all Russian Germans who have the opportunity to do so still filed applications to leave?
- I will try to answer, although there are many more reasons than I can list. First, there are still many obstacles to the departure of Germans: these obstacles are not administrative in nature, as in Soviet times, but rather economic and everyday. Nevertheless, they are just as difficult to overcome. Second, in recent years the German state has done everything to make it more difficult for resettlers to enter Germany - take, for example, the problem of language courses already mentioned today. Third, the geographical homeland is still the homeland, just like the historical one. And leaving it is not so easy... No, I really cannot list all the reasons.
- Yes, I understand what you want to say. Agreed. The argument is withdrawn.
I state in all seriousness to you and your readers that I am ready to conduct a political dialogue with Germans from the former Soviet Union countries and ready to solve political problems together. It would be very good to make this dialogue permanent, rather than meeting occasionally on "burning" issues like today's. I know that so far the resettlers have mostly stuck with the CDU/CSU. However, the times of Helmut Kohl are over, and the modern conservative bloc is far less friendly towards Russian-speakers than it used to be. I will not speak about the ruling coalition - their immigration bill speaks for itself. We, for our part, are open to suggestions. Let us take a step towards each other - after all, one has to start sometime, and unfortunately too much time has been lost to continue inaction.