On Monday, Minister of Immigration and Integration Morten Bødskov of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet) announced in a press release that the government would introduce bill L98.
This was the bill that had been introduced in January that would see 2,055 citizenship applicants (and their dependents) naturalised. However, as is protocol, the bill lapsed when the general election was called for March.
The Ministry initially said it would not reintroduce L98 until after a new political agreement on naturalisation was reached (with negotiations not starting until 2027). However, pressure from coalition partners forced Bødskov to change his stance.
Now, DR can reveal that the reintroduced L98, which is expected in the first half of 2027, will be expanded beyond just the 2,055 from the original bill.
This has elicited very sharp critique from the opposition who have criticised the decision to reintroduce L98.
Statesless people added
In a written answer to Folketinget’s (the Danish Parliament) Naturalisation Committee, Bødskov wrote of the planned reintroduced L98, “The bill will include the persons who were included on the lapsed bill, and the Ministry of Immigration and Integration will, prior to its introduction, once again ensure that the persons still meet the conditions of the citizenship agreement from 2021.
“The bill will furthermore include a number of stateless persons born in this country, whose applications the ministry has been processing on an ongoing basis. Likewise, the bill will include a number of persons born out of wedlock to a foreign mother and a Danish father after 11 October 1993.”
The addition of stateless people and people born out of wedlock is the significant development that had not been previously revealed.
Potentially breaching the law
Over the weekend, DR ran a series of articles on the citizenship freeze, herein one where legal experts suggested that the freeze could be in breach of international law due to its impact on stateless people.
In a written answer to DR, Bødskov explained the addition of the new groups, saying, “This is very simple: the cases concern our international obligations, and we must comply with them.”
Like the applicants who were on L98, additional checks will be conducted on the additional names added to the upcoming naturalisation bill, to ensure applicants still fulfill requirements for citizenship.
In an interview with DR, the Social Democrats’ spokesperson on immigration Thomas Skriver Jensen said, “The people who are being granted citizenship now are the most thoroughly vetted and scrutinised citizenships ever granted in Denmark.
“And we intend to go even further by introducing a screening model. But we still believe that Denmark must live up to the international obligations we have.”
Unhappy opposition
That has, however, not been enough to satisfy the opposition in the right-of-centre blue bloc of Danish politics.
Leader of the Denmark Democrats (Danmarksdemokraterne) Inger Støjberg has said that, This is quite a bombshell. And it is not something the government has spoken openly about.
“It is bad enough that over 2,000 citizenships are being granted to people whom they had otherwise said they would first screen for their views. But that more are being added on top is a bombshell under immigration policy.”