NEWS

Norway has long had restrictive rules on dual citizenship. That situation may change after the Storting (Parliament) reconvenes this autumn. Venstre (literally “Left”), the Liberal Party of Norway, is preparing a parliamentary motion that will ease the restrictive rules and make dual citizenship readily available for immigrants resident in Norway as well as for Norwegians resident abroad. In July, Venstre released a position paper on the motion, based on an interview of Sveinung Rotevatn, a member of the Storting and the leader of Young Venstre.

Parliamentarian Rotevatn remarked that “Venstre believes that it’s about time that Norway does as about half the world’s countries have done and broadly accepts dual citizenship. This will strengthen the democratic rights and potential for integration of resident immigrants as well as Norwegians resident abroad.

“More than 10 years have passed since the Equality Committee of the Council of Europe stated in 2004 that immigrants integrate far better when they can obtain citizenship in their new home without having to relinquish citizenship in their country of origin. So changing the Norwegian law on citizenship contributes to improving integration.

“Venstre views this as a democratic problem, as in Norway today, we marginalize newcomers from other countries, in many cases depriving them of their democratic rights, such as voting in national elections. This should not happen in a modern liberal democracy, such as Norway.