Next year, Norway is scheduled to accept 100 quota refugees. The SV, Rødt and MDG want 5,000.
This is revealed in the alternative national budgets presented by the parties this week, writes Klassekampen.
On Thursday, they began negotiations with the Labour Party on next year’s budget, and on this issue they are thus far removed from both the government and the fourth budget partner, the Centre Party.
The Centre Party wants to retain the quota of 100. The party also wants to make it more expensive to become a Norwegian citizen. The fee for applying for citizenship is to rise from 6,500 to 10,000 kroner, an increase of 54 per cent.
“We want immigration policy to be strict. Controlled immigration is important for all of us who want a high standard of welfare throughout Norway,” the Centre Party’s deputy leader, Bjørn Arild Gram, told the newspaper.
He points out that Norway has taken in a very large number of refugees in recent years, most of them from Ukraine, and that this has placed considerable pressure on local authorities.
SV’s spokesperson on fiscal policy, Marthe Hammer, disagrees.
“As one of the world’s richest countries, we can afford to take in more quota refugees,” she says.
Five years ago, Norway took in 3,000 quota refugees annually. Since then, the figure has been cut year on year, to 200 in 2025 and 100 this year. Between 2022 and autumn 2024, around 100,000 refugees and displaced people arrived in Norway, the vast majority from Ukraine.
Next year, the local authorities are set to resettle 8,680 people, the lowest number since the war broke out.
Nor is it particularly difficult to obtain citizenship these days. Last year, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) approved 95 per cent of applications. Before you can apply, you must pass an oral Norwegian test and a citizenship test, neither of which is particularly difficult.
The deadline for agreeing on the budget is 30 November. Last year, the parties did not reach an agreement until the night of 3 December. Immigration is far from the only issue on which they disagree. The Socialist Party has a further cut in fuel duties at the top of its list of demands, whilst Rødt prioritises cheaper dental care and the Green Party prioritises cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
