Current German IC Events
[Author: Michael Scott Moore March
24, 2006. Der Spiegel Online]
THE WORLD FROM BERLIN
“Want To Be German? Better Brush Up On Your Schiller.”
Integration of immigrants is a hot topic right now in Germany, particularly in light
of a proposed citizenship test. Friday's commentators are not all convinced it is such a good idea.
When
the German state of Hessen announced plans last week for a strict citizenship test -- with questions on German artists and
philosophers that even some native-born Germans can't answer -- immigration became (again) a burning topic in Germany. Which
is odd, considering that fewer people than ever actually even want to become German: Since 2000 the number of immigrants
applying for citzenship halved.
The
German state of Baden-Württemberg got the whole debate rolling in January, when it announced a new citizenship test.
At the time it was criticized by many as anti-Muslim. But now, ahead of three state elections on Sunday, German
politicians from the left and right are falling over each other to declare the controversial exams a good idea.
But
which exam? Because of Germany's de-centralized
federal system, individual states are preparing different "citizenship tests" that threaten to make German immigration rules
into a minefield of contradictory rules. Peter Struck, parliamentary leader of Germany's left-leaning SPD Social Democratic
Party, has agreed with more right-leaning Germans that the country should have a single clear immigration process. "Because
there's no such thing as citizenship of Hessen or Baden-Württemburg," he told the Süddeutscher Zeitung on Thursday. "Only
of Germany."
The
debate is fashionable in Europe right now. After recent outbreaks of violence -- last year's French riots, this year's
cartoon riots, the murder of Vincent van Gogh -- every level of European society, from the smallest provincial town council
to the EU, is wondering how to test newcomers for their acceptance of western values.
