According to Giffey, head of the SPD, around 400,000 foreigners who could be naturalized live in Berlin.
Red-Green-Red now wants to tackle the issue more intensively.
Berlin - The SPD, the Greens and the Left in Berlin want to naturalize significantly more people than before in the coming years. This was announced by representatives of the three parties on Monday in the course of their coalition negotiations. So far, around 7,000 people from abroad have received German citizenship in the capital every year, said SPD state chairwoman Franziska Giffey. “From our point of view, that is not enough.” As a long-term goal, she named around 20,000 naturalizations per year.
According to Giffeys, this should be achieved by accelerating, optimizing and digitizing what is currently often a very long process.
"For me and for us it is a very important focus in the next legislature that we tackle the issue of naturalization more intensely, that we organize it better and that we organize it more centrally." At the moment, naturalizations are handled very differently in the twelve districts .
According to Giffeys, there are currently around 400,000 people with foreign roots living in Berlin who would qualify for naturalization.
Some of them have been in the city for many years or even decades.
German citizenship enables such people to participate more and is also "another completely different form of recognition here in Germany."
Green top candidate Bettina Jarasch added that she was on the subject of federal law. “But there is a margin of discretion that the country can use.” Left chairwoman Katina Schubert said that those who have the right to vote are more committed to society. “We want to improve the participation of those who have been living here for a long time.” This also includes making the administration more permeable for people with a migration history or giving them faster access to the labor market.
But the coalition partners also want to expand the welcoming culture for migrants, as all three politicians assured. According to Jarasch, one of the plans is to expand the state admission program for particularly vulnerable refugees such as women, children or severely traumatized people - in direct cooperation with the UN refugee agency. In addition to the “normal” reception of refugees arriving here, Berlin is currently providing 100 places for such people, specifically for Syrians or Iraqis. How many there should be in perspective is still unclear. Giffey spoke of a number in the lower three-digit range.
The SPD, the Greens and the Left have been ruling together in Berlin since 2016 and want to continue to do so for the next five years.
The coalition negotiations began at the end of October.
On Wednesday, the so-called umbrella group will negotiate on the environment, traffic, climate protection and mobility.
According to the announced schedule, the coalition agreement should be in place until November 24th.
After approval of the party committees - or in the case of the left of the members - Giffey is to be elected as the new governing mayor on December 21.
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