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Calls to end to dual nationality following Turkish referendum
The weekend’s referendum in Turkey in which president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won support for widespread new powers for his office has renewed calls in Belgium for an end to double nationality for non-EU residents. The latest call came from member of the federal parliament Hendrik Bogaert (CD&V).
Turkish voters living in Belgium voted 75% in favour of the constitutional referendum, the largest percentage of “yes” votes in the world outside of Jordan and Lebanon. In Brussels, almost 70% voted “yes”, while in Antwerp the number of was nearly 80%.
Double nationality has long been an issue raised by Open VLD and N-VA, with a debate launched in parliament just weeks ago by two N-VA members. The party’s Theo Francken, also the federal secretary of migration, tweeted that Bogaert’s suggestion was “a good idea”.
Bogaert is not representing party policy, said CD&V president Wouter Beke. While it is “logical”, said Beke, for a person to have only one nationality, “the choice of a new nationality is a positive choice. It is a sign of integration and of attachment to a country, to a place where you want to build a new life and take part in society.”
On the other hand, he said, there are practical concerns. Some countries, such as Mexico, Morocco and Argentina, do not allow their citizens to renounce their nationality, which would block them from ever becoming Belgian citizens. And there would be the question of Belgians living abroad who have double nationality.
Photo: An Antwerp woman votes in the constitutional referendum, which replaces Turkey’s parliamentary system to a presidential system ©Anadolu/BELGA
Comments
How can you end dual nationality when another nation imposes nationality on your own citizens and makes that citizenship ecpensive and difficult to renounce? Case in point, the USA.
You should think about this fact earlier. I think now is the problem the fact how they voted. In case they vote against or NO then you will not think to change anything I suppose since that is a good image of EU.
Now we are against Non Eu Citizens then later against Eu citizens also.
Another thought for those who think they can just ban dual nationality. It is a basic human right enshrines in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that a person should be free to come and go from their country of origin, but how does that person do that when another country, say Belgium, refuses to allow that person to keep their original nationality? And again, if losing the curse of US citizenship was as easy as Belgium banning it for Belgian nationals, I could organise a street party.