INDEKS <<

Press Release -16.2.2009:

Dual citizenship debate on Thursday,
19 February 2009 in the Danish Parliament!

Today, more than 90% of people in the European Union have the right to become dual citizens. Only 47 million EU-citizens (i.e. 9.57%) out of 495 million do not have this right.

They live in Denmark, Holland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

If people in these countries apply for citizenship in a country to which they have moved, their native countries automatically deprive them of their original citizenship based on outdated, decades-old legislation from the pre-globalization era.

Not having the possibility to obtain dual citizenship puts these EU citizens in a worse position when they live and work outside of their native countries.
Certain jobs can only be held by citizens of the country in question just as certain countries do not allow non-citizens to own property or even be on the board of their own companies.
In some instances, the right to inherit and to receive social benefits depends on the person having a citizenship of the country where resources are to be paid out.

Those EU citizens who cannot obtain dual citizenship, including Danes living abroad, do not even have the basic, democratic right to vote anywhere.
Under the Danish Constitution, Danes lose their right to vote in Denmark after having lived abroad for two years.

With the threat of being stripped off their original citizenship if applying for citizenship in their new countries, many Danes and other EU citizens abroad chose not to become naturalized and hence cannot vote or run for office in their new countries of domicile.

Furthermore, citizens with no right to dual citizenship only have the rights under the immigration laws which are in effect in their new countries at any given point in time.
However, such laws are non-static, which results in significant insecurities in the non-citizens' lives.

The lack of ability to obtain citizenship on par with the rights of approx. 90% of other EU citizens results in the same consequences for non-Danish citizens as Denmark also requires these to renounce their original citizenships when naturalizing as Danish citizens.

Full integration for Danes abroad and for foreign nationals in Denmark requires full civil rights, which only can be fully guaranteed by naturalization!

Since 2000, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg and Belgium have allowed dual citizenship without any limitations.
In 2007, Germany allowed dual citizenship for German citizen living in other EU-countries and in Switzerland.

None of these countries have reported any problems in connection with allowing dual citizenship.

In all countries, children with parents of different nationalities have the right to become dual citizens.
In Denmark, over 40% of foreigners who obtain Danish citizenship are currently also allowed to keep their original citizenship.
Today, only adult Danes living abroad who really want to maintain their roots are forced to give up their nationality when they apply for citizenship in the country they live in.

The campaign "statsborger.dk" wants Danes to get the same legal rights as other Europeans.

We thus released our second report on dual citizenship this Tuesday 10th of february.

The report is in Danish and can be downloaded from www.statsborger.dk >>.

Highlights from the report

"Dual citizenship from an international perspective" (by Marianne Dellinger, Eva Ersbøll, Tina Thuesen):

The reports documents how European nations to a greater and greater extent chose to let their citizens keep their original citizenship when becoming naturalized in other countries.

The report also shows that the inability to obtain dual citizenship for Danes abroad and foreigners in Denmark means very uneven living conditions, legal rights and opportunities for a growing number of EU citizens.
This also means that many citizens cannot be integrated 100% in their new countries of domicile.

Denmark lags behind the vast majority of EU nations when it comes to dual citizenship and does not follow the visions set forth in its own 2006 government "Globalization Report."

Experiences with the many existing dual citizens worldwide and the great opportunities for regulating the way out of possible problems arising in connection with dual citizenship have led to a much greater acceptance of dual citizenship all over the world.

This furthermore reflects the migrants' complex connections and ties to other countries in an increasingly globalized world.

Instead of leading a fight against dual citizenship which cannot be won, energy should be spent on implementing appropriate and correct regulation of issues which may arise in connection with dual citizenship.

The clear recommendation of the report is for Denmark to adjust its legislation to the documented dual citizenship trends so that Danes can obtain the same rights as other citizens in the nations with which Denmark compares itself and cooperates.

statsborger.dk is available for further information,
comments or interviews:

Marianne Dellinger - USA (Eastern Standard Time, currently 5 hours behind Central European Time) +1 340 277 4625 (Danish, English).

Tina Thuesen - Schwitzerland - +41 79 635 48 16 -(Danish, English, Deutsch)

Charlotte Sylvestersen - Italy - +39 348 32 35 269 (Danish, Italiano)