In Austria, the leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), Herbert Kickl, is calling for an immediate halt to the granting of Austrian citizenship to people who are granted asylum in the country.
In the FPÖ leader’s view, there is a ‘tsunami’ of new citizenships being granted in Austria, reports Heute.
His political demand is that asylum should provide temporary protection against persecution, but must ultimately lead to return to the country of origin, and not to Austrian citizenship.
Kickl’s move is aimed at the People’s Party (ÖVP), which, in the FPÖ’s view, must tighten its immigration policy, not least with a view to possible government cooperation following the next election.
With 29 per cent of the vote, the Freedom Party emerged as the clear winner in the 2024 election, whilst the People’s Party came second with 26 per cent and the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) third with 21 per cent.
Coalition negotiations between the FPÖ and the ÖVP broke down after the election, as demands that Kickl should not be allowed to join the government – on the grounds that the ÖVP considered him too radical – were rejected. Austria thus ended up with a coalition government comprising the People’s Party, the Social Democrats and the liberal party NEOS.
Since then, the FPÖ has climbed to nearly 40 per cent in the opinion polls, whilst the ÖVP, as the second-largest party, has fallen to 20 per cent. This means that Kickl expects such a clear-cut election victory that the FPÖ is a shoo-in to join the government after the next election, which must be held by autumn 2029 at the latest.
ÖVP leader Christian Stocker was among those who wanted nothing to do with Kickl in 2024, and the FPÖ leader will therefore put pressure on the ÖVP to adopt a tougher stance on immigration than its current leader, who is the incumbent chancellor.
Kickl cited the naturalisation figures as justification for his demand. According to him, more than 25,000 people resident in Austria were naturalised in 2025 and in the first half of 2026. Syrians and Afghans accounted for almost a third of these.
In Norway, 35,000 citizenships were granted in 2025. The largest group of new citizens were of Syrian origin.
Source: Table 04767 in Statistics Norway’s (SSB) statistics bank.
