Germany has announced it is making it easier for the descendants of those persecuted by the Nazis to regain German citizenship.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced plans on Thursday to revise the Nationality Law to create new categories of eligibility, such as for descendants of women who were forced to emigrate after marrying non-German men.

Speaking to Deutsche Welle, Mr Seehofer said: “Germany has to live up to its historic responsibility towards those who, as descendants of Jews persecuted by the Nazi regime, have suffered from disadvantages pertaining to Nationality Law.

“This is especially true for people whose parents or grandparents had to flee the country. With the decrees ... we will create an efficient arrangement allowing those affected to apply immediately for German citizenship."

The move comes partially in response to the work of the Article 116 Exclusions Group, a UK-based campaign group that lobbies the German government for the liberalisation of citizenship laws for the descendants of those persecuted by the Nazis.

Article 116 refers to the part of German nationality law that dictates the restoration of German citizenship. Loopholes in the law have, in the past, deprived many German Jews of reclaiming their citizenship.

The group welcomed the announcement but said it should have been through legislation, rather than decree.

“It was put forward by the ministry as if a decree was faster than getting legislation through. But an application through StAG 14 (the Nationality Law) might take two to three years to be approved. For our group members in their 80s, that can be a long time," their co-founder Felix Couchman said.

The move also raises hopes for those seeking to obtain European Union passports in the wake of Brexit.

Many previous applicants who wanted to maintain ties to continental Europe after the 2016 referendum had their requests rejected. This decree would now allow them to reapply and get approval.

The proclamation comes less than a year after Austria began a similar citizenship measure for the children and grandchildren of Holocaust victims.

In November 2018, former-Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in an exclusive interview with the JC that “it is apparent that many still have strong ties to Austria and perhaps also that they have found peace with the country where their parents or grandparents were born, lived, but also had terrible experiences and had to leave.”

But a bill on the law was subsequently voted down by Austrian MPs earlier this year.