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From Cologne to Dresden,
Tübingen to Kiel

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– hundreds of
thousands of people

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in Germany have been
taking to the streets.

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To stand up for our democracy
and against right-wing extremism.

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I was one of them, at a large
demonstration in Potsdam,

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where I live.

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Because what we are currently
seeing here in our country

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really does affect us all,
each and every one of us.

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Let me say it
clearly and firmly:

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right-wing extremists are
attacking our democracy.

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They want to destroy
our sense of unity.

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At a secret conference,
these extremists discussed

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how to expel millions of
people from our country.

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Families who have been living
here for many years, for decades.

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Our neighbours,

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colleagues and school friends.

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Women and men

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who work in our
hospitals and care homes,

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who own the restaurant
or bakery on the corner,

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who teach at our schools or
do research at our universities.

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Thinking about this plan
sends a shiver down your spine.

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And I am trying to imagine
how the over 20 million citizens

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with migrant backgrounds
must be feeling.

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They know – “These
right-wing extremists mean us.

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We would be directly
affected by this evil plan.”

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Some of them are wondering

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whether they still have a
future here in Germany.

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That is terrible.

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And that’s why I
want to say to you all

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“You belong with us.
Our country needs you!”

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The Bundestag has just
enshrined precisely that in law.

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With the new law on nationality,

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we are telling
everyone who has lived

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and worked in Germany,
often for decades,

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who obeys our laws,
who is at home here

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“You belong to Germany!”

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People who are providing for
themselves and their families,

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who decide to stay in our
country and who share our values,

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can in future get a German
passport after five years,

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instead of eight as before.

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And no one who lives here

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and contributes to society
needs to deny their roots.

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In the United States, for example,
it’s entirely normal to say

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that you’re a German American.

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In Canada it’s normal to say
you’re a Chinese Canadian.

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I believe this sense of being
both German and Italian,

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or German and Turkish,

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exactly reflects how a lot
of people in our country feel.

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Recognising this is
a matter of respect.

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Especially in relation to those

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who came here right at the start,
as “guest workers”.

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You helped create
Germany’s prosperity.

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Our country owes
you an immense debt.

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That’s why we will recognise
your lifetime’s achievements

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as part of the
naturalisation process.

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At the same time, everyone
acquiring German citizenship

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must make a clear commitment

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to the fundamental values
of our democratic constitution.

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Racism, antisemitism
and other forms of hatred

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are incompatible
with naturalisation.

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No tolerance of intolerance.

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The right to asylum is also
part of our constitutional order.

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We will help anyone
suffering political persecution,

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anyone fearing for their life.

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And at the same
time we expect those

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who find refuge here to
contribute to life in Germany.

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By learning German.

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And by taking up a job.

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The job centres have been given clear
instructions to help them find work.

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But it is also true

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that not everyone who comes
here is fleeing war or persecution.

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In recent months we have significantly
tightened checks at our borders.

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The number of illegal
entries has already dropped

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quite substantially as a result.

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With another law
also adopted this week,

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we are making repatriation
easier and faster.

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Anyone who does not have a right to
stay will have to leave our country.

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After all, our constitutional 
order also means

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that our authorities
enforce the law and ensure order.

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That is what the citizens
rightly expect our state to do.

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That’s what I expect too.

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It’s good that we
have found a fair,

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sustainable way to split
the cost of taking in refugees

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between the Federation
and the Länder.

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We must manage migration
better than we have done.

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Pragmatically and, above all,
without hatred or prejudice.

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A large number of demonstrations

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against the right-wing
extremist enemies of our democracy

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are planned for
this weekend again.

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This, to my mind,
is right and good.

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If there’s anything that must
never again find space in Germany,

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it’s the ethnocentric, racist
ideology of the National Socialists.

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The extremists’ disgusting
resettlement plans

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are an expression
of nothing else.

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They are an attack
on our democracy –

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and therefore an
attack against us all.

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That’s why we
are all called upon

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to take a clear 
and firm stance.

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For unity. For tolerance.

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For our democratic Germany!