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Berlin (dpa) - The scientific services of the Bundestag question the legal opinion of the Foreign Office that the King of Thailand does not need a visa for his private stays in Germany.
"The visa exemption for private stays of the Thai king in Germany can in any case not be justified by the application and interpretation of the relevant laws", it says in a legal opinion that the services on behalf of the Left MP Sevim Dagelen and that of the German press agency present.
The Courts Constitution Act does not clearly regulate whether representatives of another state also enjoy immunity during private stays in Germany.
Only in this case would they be exempt from the visa requirement under the Residence Act.
In a response to Dagdelen’s request in December, the Federal Foreign Office expressed the legal opinion that the residence law for monarch Maha Vajiralongkorn no longer applies since he ascended the throne in 2016.
As crown prince, however, he was still dependent on a visa during his frequent stays in Bavaria.
There has been anger about these stays for months.
In essence, it is about the question of whether the monarch rules his country from German soil or not.
He owns a villa in Tutzing on Lake Starnberg and stayed temporarily in a luxury hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen during the first Corona lockdown in spring.
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Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) had threatened the king last year with consequences in the event that illegal behavior was found during his stay in Bavaria.
The king has been back in Thailand since mid-October, where there have been demonstrations against the government for months, including the head of state's visits to Germany.
Whether and when the king will come to Germany again in the new year is open.
The left-wing foreign politician Dagdelen calls on the federal government to use the loophole described in the Bundestag report and to refuse the king a new entry.
"The federal government must stop pretending its hands are tied and start using the leeway in the right of residence to prevent the despotic rulership of the Thai king from Germany."