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Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition agreement with the Social Democrats calls for the introduction of dual citizenship in Germany. But what exactly does that mean? Conservatives are now trying to erect hurdles that the center left is wary of accepting.
Aydan Özoguz, a member of the Social Democratic Party, is new state minister for integration and has her offices in the Chancellery. She would like to completely do away with the current system, which forces young adults born in Germany to immigrant parents to choose which citizenship they would like. Özoguz herself was also forced to choose a single nationality. She became a naturalized German citizen in 1989. Merkel's conservatives want to maintain some elements of the current system.
Merkel herself has shown an unwillingness to go too far on dual citizenship. Many within her party are opposed to the idea even as the current coalition agreement includes the possibility that dual citizenship will become a reality during Merkel's third term.
