MDG wants to grant 30,000 Ukrainians permanent residence in Norway. FrP’s Erlend Wiborg believes the party is pursuing a policy that will cost taxpayers enormous sums – and make Norway a magnet for asylum seekers.

Miljøpartiet De Grønne (MDG) is demanding that the government establish that the first 30,000 Ukrainian refugees will be allowed to remain in Norway permanently. As early as 2027, they will reach the maximum limit of five years for temporary collective protection.

FrP’s spokesperson on immigration policy, Erlend Wiborg, strongly opposes the demand.

– MDG appears detached from reality in many policy areas, and its immigration policy most certainly is. They are pursuing an irresponsible immigration policy that would cost Norwegian taxpayers enormous sums, Wiborg tells Document.

He believes that MDG has forgotten the most fundamental point: Norway promised Ukrainians refuge from war – not a new homeland.

– The Norwegian authorities promised Ukrainians protection from war. We never promised them permanent residence in Norway. That is a significant difference which MDG appears to have forgotten, he says.

MDG party leader Arild Hermstad, for his part, has criticised the government for taking too long to clarify the situation for the Ukrainians, and believes that it is not sufficient that there are areas in the west that are safer.

– What happened with the Bosnians is a good parallel. Those who came to Norway initially received collective protection, and many remained in Norway. The war has lasted much longer than we thought, and the consequences have been greater than we perhaps could have imagined in 2022, Hermstad tells Nettavisen.

Fears a magnet effect

Wiborg warns about the signal such a decision would send. If politicians now establish that temporary protection ends in permanent residence, they will, in his view, remove the entire basis for the scheme adopted by the Storting.

– If one already now establishes that 30,000 people are to receive permanent residence, one sends a signal that temporary protection is, in reality, not temporary. I fear that this will then quickly apply to other refugee groups as well, says Wiborg.

He believes the consequence is obvious.

– If all temporary arrangements are eventually to end in permanent residence, we will see a marked increase in the number of asylum applications to Norway.

Wiborg fears that Norway is making itself more attractive than neighbouring countries.

– I fear that statements such as these contribute to making Norway more attractive than other European countries for people considering where to seek protection. That is not a signal we should send, he says.

– Ukraine needs its own people

For Wiborg, the matter is also about Ukraine. The country is to be rebuilt after the war, and for that it needs its own inhabitants at home – not in Norway.

– Ukraine is going to need its own citizens when the country is to be rebuilt. It is therefore wrong to pursue a policy that is designed to ensure that as many people as possible remain in Norway, he says.

He draws a historical parallel.

– FrP has always been clear that refugees should return home as soon as it is safe. They should then rebuild their country, in the same way that Norwegians did after the Second World War.

Wiborg believes that MDG turns the entire logic on its head.

– MDG speaks as though the war is already a justification for permanent immigration. FrP, on the contrary, believes that the war is the justification for temporary protection, he says.

He questions what MDG is really concerned about.

– It is remarkable that MDG is more concerned with securing permanent residence in Norway than with how Ukraine is to get back the people the country needs in order to be rebuilt after the war, says Wiborg.

The maximum limit will be reached in 2027

Ukrainians who fled following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 were granted residence through the scheme of temporary collective protection. It is renewed one year at a time, but has an absolute maximum limit of five years.

Time spent under collective protection does not count towards the three years normally required to apply for permanent residence. In 2027, the first 30,000 Ukrainians will hit the ceiling. The government has not concluded what will happen then, but is considering transferring them to another temporary arrangement.

MDG leader Arild Hermstad believes that the uncertainty must end now.

– The 30,000 have no idea what will happen in 2027. It is time for the government to remove that uncertainty and establish that they will receive permanent residence, Hermstad has stated to Nettavisen.

In June 2025, nearly 79,900 people had collective protection in Norway.

Wiborg’s conclusion is uncompromising.

– FrP believes that Norway must be crystal clear: Refugees shall return home as soon as it is safe to return home, and rebuild their country, he says.