Scholz blasts conservative rival's stance on German citizenship rules

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has blasted his conservative rival's call for a rollback of recent reforms that makes it easier to obtain German citizenship, as the campaigns for next month's national elections heats up.

Scholz, speaking at an event outside of Berlin on Tuesday, said he was "very upset" by Friedrich Merz's suggestion because it represented "a step backwards when Germany has just made great progress."

Dual citizenship has been easier to acquire in Germany since last year after Scholz's government passed a reform to the Nationality Act. The measure also allowed well-integrated residents to acquire German citizenship more quickly.

Merz - the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc's candidate for chancellor in the early elections on February 23 - had told the Welt newspaper that dual citizenship should be harder to get and reversible in case of criminal offences.

"We are bringing additional problems into the country," said Merz. "It should at least be possible to revoke German citizenship at the same level if we recognize that we have made a mistake with people who have committed criminal offences."

Speaking at the campaign event in the town of Ludwigsfelde, Scholz pointed to the shortage of skilled workers in Germany as a reason to welcome new citizens.

"We need the possibility of getting great people from other countries to help us in Germany in the future," said Scholz, from the centre-left Social Democratic Party.

At the same time, he said, irregular migration must be further limited.