ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Seegers has told a television talk show that second generation immigrants should have to chose whether they are Dutch or their other nationality.

Seegers, who was appearing on the Pauw chat show to talk about his new book, referred to the issue of Turkish Dutch dual nationals who, he said, could end up being called up by the Turkish army to fight.

While it is difficult for first generation immigrants to make such a choice, second and third generation immigrants should have to chose which nationality to keep, Seegers said.

The measure will be part of the ChristenUnie manifesto heading into the next election, he said.

Junior justice minister Mark Harbers told MPs last September that the government aimed to publish proposals in the first quarter of 2019 for reforming dual nationality legislation, but that has still not happened.

The government pledged in its 2017 coalition agreement to take steps to change the restrictive Dutch laws on nationality. In order to become Dutch, most people have to renounce their original nationality, unless they are married to a Dutch national, and Dutch nationals who take another nationality also lose their Dutch passports.

Harbers said at the time the modernisation process will be in two parts. One will ‘expand’ the possibility of having more than one nationality for first generation emigrants and immigrants.’

At the same time, there will be a compulsory choice for the following generations which will not allow them to hold more than one nationality, which would mean the children of Dutch nationals living in another country or foreigners in the Netherlands would have to choose which nationality to keep.