4 ms·

I had not thought about it that way. It's not such a great deal if you feel you belong wherever you are living now in Europe, and view yourself a quasi-citizen

I had not thought about it that way. It's not such a great deal if you feel you belong wherever you are living now in Europe, and view yourself a quasi-citizen and European (even in case if there's no realistic path to citizenship due to your personal circumstances).

Stevvo 2y ago
What's a "quasi-citizen"?
- fweimer 2y ago
  Someone with pretty much all the rights of citizenship (including that deportation is only a very distant possibility), except for voting rights and the formal recognition of citizenship status. Kind of what you get if you move within the Schengen area, maybe except for the deportation part.
pas 2y ago
Can you explain this in a bit more detail? Or maybe with a hypothetical example? What do you mean by no path to citizenship? Are there historical groups of jews somewhere in the EU without any passport?
- fweimer 2y ago
  Starting in the early 90s, Germany invited Jews from the Soviet Union to settle in Germany, but their ancestry was not considered German. Germany did not strip them of their citizenship during the Third Reich, so that type of right-of-return law did not apply, either. Some would have been hesitant to accept citizenship any way. (This was the time when refugee homes were burning in Germany, and the unconditional right to political asylum was abolished.) The effect at the time was hat professional qualifications weren't recognized, which meant that many did not have access to high-paying jobs. Previous pension contributions or equivalent in the CIS states are not recognized, either. The end effect today is that many among the older generation are dependent on non-pension welfare payments because the German state pension they receive is so low. This makes it impossible for them to obtain citizenship because of the self-sufficiency requirement. Other persons whose ancestors emigrated from the Holy Roman Empire (long before Germany existed as a modern nation state) are considered Germans by blood, so it's not about the time of emigration from Germany. These decisions are arbitrary, and it's puzzling why Ashkenazi Jews are still not treated as having German ancestry.

Stevvo 2y ago

What's a "quasi-citizen"?

fweimer 2y ago
Someone with pretty much all the rights of citizenship (including that deportation is only a very distant possibility), except for voting rights and the formal recognition of citizenship status. Kind of what you get if you move within the Schengen area, maybe except for the deportation part.

pas 2y ago

Can you explain this in a bit more detail? Or maybe with a hypothetical example? What do you mean by no path to citizenship? Are there historical groups of jews somewhere in the EU without any passport?

fweimer 2y ago
Starting in the early 90s, Germany invited Jews from the Soviet Union to settle in Germany, but their ancestry was not considered German. Germany did not strip them of their citizenship during the Third Reich, so that type of right-of-return law did not apply, either. Some would have been hesitant to accept citizenship any way. (This was the time when refugee homes were burning in Germany, and the unconditional right to political asylum was abolished.) The effect at the time was hat professional qualifications weren't recognized, which meant that many did not have access to high-paying jobs. Previous pension contributions or equivalent in the CIS states are not recognized, either. The end effect today is that many among the older generation are dependent on non-pension welfare payments because the German state pension they receive is so low. This makes it impossible for them to obtain citizenship because of the self-sufficiency requirement. Other persons whose ancestors emigrated from the Holy Roman Empire (long before Germany existed as a modern nation state) are considered Germans by blood, so it's not about the time of emigration from Germany. These decisions are arbitrary, and it's puzzling why Ashkenazi Jews are still not treated as having German ancestry.