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Local Sweden
4 days ago
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Inside Sweden: Why was Swedish media silent on citizenship freeze?
The Local's reader Patrick Henry Gallen argued convincingly in Dagens Nyheter (and The Local) this week against the unjust way new citizenship rules are being applied. It was a small victory, but why did the Swedish media ignore the citizenship freeze? Advertisement The Local's reader Patrick Henry Gallen argued convincingly in Dagens Nyheter (and The Local) this week against the unjust way new citizenship rules are being applied. It was a small victory, but why did the Swedish media ignore the citizenship freeze? When The Local reported on May 14th that the Migration Agency had been unable to approve citizenship applications in standard cases for a month and a half, we thought it was a fairly big story. When a post-Covid surge in passport applications led to similar delays, after all, there was uproar in the Swedish media. We shared the story with Sweden's main newswire and one of the newspapers. "You are quite right, this needs to be brought to public attention," one reporter wrote back. "I'll look into this and tell you if I get a bite." Ten days later, it looks like she didn't. Her editors, like others before them, apparently didn't see the big deal. Perhaps they judged that Sweden is only bringing its citizenship regime in line with those of its Nordic neighbours, ignoring the point that it's not so much what is being done, but how. Advertisement So it was gratifying to see The Local's reader Patrick Henry Gallen's call for transitional arrangements, which also drew attention to the near two-month citizenship freeze, get published as an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter (and The Local) this week. He argued that a grace period was needed to ensure that the increase in the residency requirement from five to eight years, and other new rules, did not affect people who had already applied. I hoped the article might generate at least some media reaction, but so far it hasn't and I wonder why. As a journalist with a niche audience, you risk looking a bit ridiculous railing against the national media for ignoring a story that, from your narrow perspective, is earth-shakingly important. But I do think that a near two-month freeze on citizenship approvals should at least have warranted a mention. It's not as if there's no coverage of citizenship reforms in the Swedish media. When the government this week launched a follow-on inquiry on how to strip Swedish citizenship from dual citizens who commit serious crimes, it was widely reported and debated. Is it because this will require a change to the constitution, or because of the populist appeal of stripping gang members of their passports? Or is it, perhaps, that people who already have Swedish citizenship have a greater news value than people who are only trying to get it? Advertisement What else have we been writing about? The first letters were sent out this week inviting citizenship applicants to book a 'personal appearance', which is the last stage in citizenship applications since new security arrangements were brought in on April 1st. A reader shared a copy of the letter they had received with us, so you can know what to expect. We also updated our article on how these new in-person ID checks will work. We interviewed Sasan Kazemian, the Iranian doctor who has been ordered to leave Sweden after a mix-up over his work permit application, despite passing all the language and medical knowledge exams required to practice in Sweden. It's the season of hemmafix or DIY in Sweden, when people in Sweden spend their weekends repairing, renovating and upgrading their houses and summer houses. We looked at why this is such a defining feature of life in Sweden and ran through the vocabulary you'll need to participate. It's the Stockholm Marathon this Saturday. We ran through everything you need to know about how to watch it and how traffic is being affected. More bad news on the employment front, with Volvo announcing its plans to lay off 3,000 people, mainly in Sweden. In this week's Politics in Sweden, I covered plans to realise the Sweden Democrats' plans for an idealised Sverigehus, a brawl in Brussels involving a Swedish MEP, and more besides. Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Richard
Local Sweden
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
OPINION: No transitional rules in new citizenship law will be an insult to Sweden's reputation
If the government is serious about its pledge to attract international talent, including transitional rules when Sweden rolls out next year's far-reaching citizenship reforms is the only way not to undermine that goal, writes migration researcher Patrick Henry Gallen. Advertisement The most drastic tightening of Sweden's citizenship law is set to go into force around this time next year. To a large extent, it is not the content of the new law, but how the government decides to implement that will mean everything. Since the Tidö government came into power in 2022, tightening Sweden's comparatively loose citizenship law has been a priority. Finally, in January of this year, the release of the inquiry revealed the contours of the new law: an almost doubled residence requirement, in practice a near-elimination of an easier pathway to citizenship for spouses of Swedish citizens, and new requirements for language competency, successful completion of a civics test, and economic self-sufficiency. These changes should not come as a surprise: the governing coalition – and to some extent even the Social Democrats – have long criticised the few and loose requirements for acquisition of Swedish citizenship compared to most other European countries, and especially our Nordic neighbours. In many ways at least some of these changes can be seen as reasonable: it is admittedly shocking that it is in theory currently possible to acquire Swedish citizenship without speaking or understanding a word of Swedish or knowing anything about the country. On the other hand, the extension of the residency requirement – without providing expedited pathways to citizenship for those foreigners that demonstrate a high level of integration – can appear simply as an attempt to deny hard working people basic democratic rights to appease the hard right. However, what is a surprise is current Migration Minister Johan Forssell's apparent unwillingness to follow the strong recommendation of the special investigator behind the new citizenship law for robust transitional rules. His claim, echoed by some other members of the current government, is that transitional rules would pose a security risk: if prospective citizens are allowed to have their applications assessed according to the current, looser rules after the new framework comes into force, there is a risk that criminals or even terrorists could be afforded the rights and protections of Swedish citizenship, giving them access to sensitive jobs and, most notably, permanent protection from deportation. This comes off as a compelling argument, especially as the security situation in Sweden is undoubtedly worse than it has been in decades. But a closer look at this argument reveals a number of critical weaknesses. Advertisement For one, while there are legitimate security concerns around granting citizenship, the Migration Agency has long had comprehensive security routines in collaboration with Sweden's security police, Säpo, to track and respond to potential threats and, most importantly, deny citizenship to individuals that they believe could or in fact do pose a threat to Sweden's national security. Moreover, since the government directed the Migration Agency to step up security routines in the spring, additional, comprehensive measures have been put in place: all current applicants now must report to one of the Migration Agency's units to confirm their identity in person and must respond to a comprehensive multi-page questionnaire intended to identify any additional security risks or other reasons that could make an applicant ineligible to receive Swedish citizenship. Implementing these new routines has effectively resulted in a full freeze on application approvals in the past two months, with only six applications being approved in April – an over 99 percent reduction compared to the Migration Agency's original prognosis before the measures were announced. The consequences of this order are not short-lived: the Migration Agency's annual prognosis for processed applications for all of 2025 has recently been reduced by 26 percent. Advertisement Moreover, the government has argued that most intensive security checks are generally necessary given that Swedish citizenship is irrevocable. But that, too, is set to change if their efforts to amend the Swedish constitution are successful. If the reform is implemented, those who are deemed a significant threat to Sweden's national security could have their citizenship revoked at any point in the future, undermining much of Johan Forssell and his government's argument against transitional rules. There is another crucial aspect here: failure to implement transitional rules would mark a huge departure from well established practices and support for rule of law in Sweden. Virtually every other European and Nordic country that has undertaken similar tightening of their citizenship laws have provided for robust transitional rules, including Switzerland, which Johan Forssell recently visited, namely to learn from the country's uniquely strict citizenship regime. Refusing to implement the new law with transitional rules would not only set Sweden apart from its neighbours, but also signal that rule of law is not a concern of the government, setting an extremely dangerous precedent for further changes that could curtail foreigners' rights and damage Sweden's reputation for commitment to principles of fairness and openness. There could also very well be knock-on effects of this course of action that undermine all of the government's expressed intentions of making Sweden a top destination for attracting and maintaining international talent. Why choose Sweden, with its already comparatively low wages, high taxes, and longer work week, when its leaders are now also signalling a willingness to trample on your rights and ability to settle in the country long-term? Advertisement The practical consequences of failing to implement the new law with transitional rules are likely the most striking: tens of thousands of applicants, the overwhelming majority of which are hard working, well-integrated people who love Sweden, stand to have their applicants summarily denied – some after up to six years of waiting for a decision – simply because a case worker might not manage to get around to their cases before the new law comes into force. These unfortunate applicants won't just have to suffer the denial of democratic rights and opportunity for permanent settlement, but may also face extra financial punishment since the government has as of yet not said a word about whether the 1,500 kronor applicants paid to have their application processed will be refunded or credited to the nearly doubled fee that is set to accompany the new citizenship law. Without transitional rules, the government will with one hand deny hardworking people democratic rights they would otherwise be eligible for and with the other effectively commit mass theft. Advertisement As recently enforced security measures are either already in full effect or on the horizon and the weight of legal convention and international examples abound, there is no reasonable argument for refusing to implement the law with transitional rules. The only explanation is that the government is bending to pressure from its right-wing populist coalition partners or has an interest in making an extremely costly and legally dubious political statement. If the government truly wants to make Sweden an international talent hub and wants to clearly signal the importance of Swedish citizenship, as the migration minister has claimed time and time again, implementing the new law with the recommended transitional rules is the only way to not undermine its stated goals. Patrick Henry Gallen is a researcher in geopolitics, migration and foresight. He is based in Malmö and is currently waiting for Swedish citizenship.
Local Sweden
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
This petition wants your help to stop new Swedish citizenship rules applying retroactively
Patrick Henry Gallen, an American futurist based in Malmö, launched the "No retroactivity in the new citizenship law" petition on Monday, with the online appeal receiving nearly 1000 signatures in the first day. The petition calls for Migration Minister Johan Forssell, the parliament's justice committee, the government and the parliament to follow the advice of the judge Kirsi Laakso Utvik, who led the inquiry into tightening citizenship rules. Utvik called for a "transition period", with applications submitted before the new rules are proposed to come into effect in June 2026 assessed under the previous citizenship rules. Forssell, however, last week said that he intended to ignore this advice and make the new rules apply to all citizenship applications outstanding when they come into force, regardless of when the initial application was made. Respecting her call for a transition period, Gallen wrote in a post on LinkedIn, would "ensure that tens of thousands of upstanding people are not denied crucial democratic rights and that Sweden remains a country that respects the rule of law and that supports much-needed foreign talent". Pushing ahead with the current plan, he continued, would mean that tens of thousands of applicants, many of whom who have already been waiting more than three years for a decision from Sweden's Migration Agency could be forced to wait an additional seven to eight years. The impact would, he warned, be felt by Swedish companies, who are already seeing skilled labour leave the country to go and work in countries such as Germany. "While we can't currently identify the specific reasons people are leaving, several recently published articles have identified lack of long-term work opportunities (in part due to a botched tightening of work permit requirements that might soon be rescinded or significantly re-loosened) and increasingly strict requirements for citizenship," he wrote.
