By Sarah Marsh
WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) -Germany’s interior minister on Wednesday backed Berlin’s decision to strip a man of his citizenship for supporting Hamas, saying naturalised citizens should forfeit their nationality when they are found not to uphold German values.
The decision comes as Germany tightens immigration and citizenship rules amid a debate about who belongs in the country and the rise of the far-right.
Many German politicians have voiced concern at the support for Palestinian militant group Hamas and its attack on Israel two years ago among the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived in Germany from the Middle East in the last decade.
Germany’s staunch support for Israel is rooted in its historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust.
“People who have acquired German citizenship, including dual nationals, have declared their commitment to our system of values,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at a news conference.
“If it becomes apparent that this was a deliberate misrepresentation, and that they do not share this system of values … it should be possible to withdraw citizenship.”
German media reported that the Syrian man who came to Berlin as a young child posted a photo on Instagram one day after his naturalisation showing two Hamas fighters, with the caption “Heroes of Palestine”.
Berlin’s immigration office became aware of the case through security agencies and believes it was deceived as he had declared his loyalty to German values, the media reported.
Since the reform of Germany’s nationality law in June 2024, naturalisation applicants must declare their commitment to the free democratic basic order and to Germany’s special historical responsibility, in particular for the protection of Jewish life.
The Syrian man had attracted police attention several times at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, German media reported.
Immigration officials have now told the man they are withdrawing his German citizenship, the media reported. The immigration office did not immediately reply to a request for comment, but Mayor Kai Wegner in a post on X thanked it for its quick action on the case.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, editing by Deepa Babington)
