A kind of 'initiators' of the debates were the heads of the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. They agree that candidates for German citizenship should pass a kind of written exam that includes a fairly long list of questions. Opinions differ on what exactly these questions should be.
The Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Günther Oettinger, recently submitted to the federal government a list of questions for applicants for a German passport, including such as: 'Do you support terrorism?', 'What is your attitude towards women's rights?' and 'Do you think Germany should become an Islamic republic?'
For such a questionnaire, he came under sharp criticism from most parties and political forces in the country. First, they told him, there is a clear 'specialization' of this test, its fixation solely on Muslim applicants. Second, one cannot seriously hope that some treacherous terrorist will sincerely and honestly answer these questions. The Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Stephan Kramer, called Oettinger's idea a 'populist shot from the hip' and said that 'instead of helping integration, a kind of declaration of distrust towards Muslims is being invented.'
Oettinger's colleague, Hesse's premier Roland Koch, proposed a list of questions related to the history and culture of Germany. This idea caused more enthusiasm in the country, but many note that not even every German would be able to pass the list drawn up by the Hesse government. Nevertheless, Koch insists that the test should be quite difficult, citing the example of the Dutch: since 2004, the Netherlands has had a test for citizenship applicants, preparation for which takes on average 300 study hours. If his idea is rejected, Koch threatens, the federal state of Hesse is ready to introduce this test on its own territory.
For this, his conservative colleagues 'scolded' him. For example, the Secretary General of the CDU, Ronald Pofalla, said: 'We believe that the initiative of the state governments headed by Christian Democrats can only be welcomed. We proceed from the fact that people who decide to accept German citizenship do so consciously, and therefore strive to fit into our culture and accept our way of life.'
The CDU's coalition partners, the Social Democrats, are so far refraining from discussions, and the main opponents of the project's authors were the Greens. The leaders of this party believe that even the existing law on granting citizenship is too strict and needs to be softened as much as possible. However, the Greens are known in Germany for their unrestrained internationalism: back in 2002, being partners in Gerhard Schröder's ruling coalition, they, for example, tried to pass a law in the German Bundestag granting political asylum to all Chechens who want to receive it without exception. The bill did not pass because all other parties represented in the German parliament opposed it.
Despite the desire to update and complicate the rules for granting citizenship, most German politicians realize that Germany can no longer do without an influx of immigrants. According to statistics, the country's population is declining by 250,000 people per year, and the average age of Germans at the moment is 54 years. These are the worst indicators not only in the European Union, but also on the entire European continent. About 50,000 foreigners become German citizens every year, but in recent years their number has been steadily declining.