As 'Russkaya Germaniya' writes, the gradual relocation of many credit and financial institutions of Great Britain to continental Europe, which the leadership of the British Bankers' Association (BBA) informed about, is not the only consequence of the decision to leave the European Union. This decision unexpectedly gave rise to a very special 'caste' of people dreaming of German citizenship. We are talking about Britons living in Germany who fear the bad consequences of Brexit for their homeland.
After June 23, 2016 and until the end of January 2017, only in the large cities of Bavaria, 144 Britons applied for German citizenship. 'This is almost 6 times more than in the same period a year earlier,' said the press secretary of the Munich District Authority (Münchner Kreisverwaltungsreferat) last week.
As an example, the author cites Alison Fry, who lived in Germany for 27 years with a British passport. She is married to a German, and her two daughters have German passports. It had never occurred to her before to naturalize in Germany. But after Brexit, she applied for a change of citizenship. The main argument is that she wants to remain a citizen of the European Union even if the UK leaves the EU. And even if her second argument looks funny, there is something to it: 'It would be strange if I had to stand in the airport queue at the passport control window with the sign 'Non-EU citizens' in the near future, while my husband and my daughters would stand at the window with the sign 'For EU citizens'.'
In Stuttgart last year, 29 Britons applied for German citizenship. According to the press secretary of the city council, Sven Mathis, this is almost 10 times more than in 2015.
An even more striking contrast with 2015 is the increase in the flow of applications for German citizenship from Britons living in Nuremberg. As the head of the Nuremberg Registration Office (Einwohnermeldeamt) Olaf Kuch told the press last week, 23 Britons have applied in recent months compared to one a year ago.
The trend, as they say, is beyond doubt.