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In August, various news outlets reported a rumour that former UKIP leader Nigel Farage had applied for German citizenship and passport. That allegation was rubbished by ‘sources close to’ Mr Farage:
Significantly, although a UKIP spokesman rubbished the rumour, when challenged Mr Farage refused to deny that he had been applying for a passport and is not on record doing so since:
In a worldwide exclusive, the SKWAWKBOX can reveal reports that not only did Nigel Farage apply for a German passport, but he did so on the day after the EU referendum – and is under police investigation for allegedly providing false information.
Mr Farage was reported to the police by a concerned German citizen with an interest in British politics, who knew of the application and believed it could not have been made legitimately.
German law normally requires 8 years residency – with only minimal absences – in order to qualify for a passport. For those with a German spouse – Mr Farage’s wife is German – the length of residency is reduced to 3 years’ continual residency. Mr Farage has not, according to the complainant, come anywhere near meeting those requirements but, on the application form, used the Hamburg address of a relative of his wife to claim residency.
The fact of the application and of the subsequent allegation and police investigation can be found in these confirmations from Hamburg police to the complainant – the first being the initial confirmation of receipt and case number and the second a response to a request for an update:
The SKWAWKBOX has spoken to the Hamburg police station PK24 and, while unwilling to discuss details of the case, the officer confirmed that the case reference, which is highlighted in the first image above, concerns a live and ongoing case 3 months after the complaint.
The ongoing police case puts beyond doubt the question of whether Nigel Farage made an application for a German passport.
The information from the complainant makes clear that he did so immediately after the EU referendum, which means that while celebrating his ‘win’ to take Britain out of the EU, he was making plans to retain EU citizenship.
The ongoing police investigation also raises an interesting possibility about Farage’s frequent appearances with US President-elect Donald Trump.
According to the German Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (Nationality Act), an attempt to obtain German naturalisation under false pretences is a serious offence with serious consequences:
Could Nigel Farage’s eagerness to cosy up to Trump and rumoured attempts to gain US citizenship be driven by a desire to be out of reach of the potential consequences if he were found guilty, given the difficulty of extraditing US citizens to other countries to face trial?
Whatever the truth about Farage’s recent fondness for the US, it now appears that the then-UKIP leader was campaigning to take Britain out of the EU while intending to retain EU citizenship for himself. Draw your own conclusions about that and what it means for him and whether his supposed disdain for the EU was anything more than ego-driven posturing to support a vanity project.
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