The turquoise-green government sees no need to change the citizenship law, as Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen suggested at the start of his Hofburg campaign. In previous interviews, the chairman expressed his incomprehension for the long waiting time. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) said on Wednesday that he saw “no need for change”. Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) added that the government program does not provide for anything like that.
Van der Bellen had stated in the “Krone” that he could envisage naturalization after six years. “I think citizenship is something very valuable, but we shouldn’t pretend it’s something that takes 20 years to earn,” the president said. He mentioned the six years as a waiting period, but without committing himself: “I’m just throwing that out now.”
“High statutory interest”
“I see no need for change,” Karner said on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting. Citizenship is “a high legal importance, it does not need to be improved or changed in my opinion”. Zadic also expressed concerns: “We have not included points in the government program. We are working through the government program step by step,” she said simply.
Sachslehner: Hundreds of thousands of new Austrians in one fell swoop
The rejection of Van der Bellen’s proposal also came from the FPÖ and ÖVP secretary general Laura Sachslehner. According to Sachslehner, automatic citizenship would lead to mass naturalizations. If all people living in Austria for more than six years were automatically granted citizenship without having to meet any further criteria, there would be hundreds of thousands of new Austrians in one fell swoop. Anyone wishing to obtain citizenship must contribute to society and integrate first in Austria.
FPÖ wants president with “spine and attitude”
Liberal secretary-general Michael Schnedlitz said that with this attitude, Van der Bellen apparently wanted to collect points from SPÖ and Green voters. On the other hand, he is boosting voices in the ÖVP and NEOS camps with a discussion of neutrality and the EU military. To counterbalance the black-and-green federal government, a federal president who shows spine and attitude is needed.
SOS Mitmensch approved Van der Bellen’s initiative. According to studies, no other country in the EU is stricter than Austria when it comes to access to citizenship.
Source: Krone
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