Three of Denmark’s governing parties are pressing the government to resume citizenship legislation for 2,055 approved applicants, breaking with Immigration Minister Morten Bødskov over a pause that experts say may breach international conventions.
Moderaterne, Radikale Venstre and SF all told DR on October 4 that the government’s citizenship policy misses the mark. The three parties want a new naturalization bill tabled as quickly as possible. That puts them at odds with the Social Democrats and with Bødskov, who wants to wait for an expert group.
The 2,055 people at the center of the dispute meet every existing requirement for Danish citizenship. Their names appeared on Bill L98, which only needed a formal vote in the Folketing. A general election was then called, the bill lapsed, and the cases were put on hold.
Why the cases were paused
According to DR, the government suspended the cases while an expert group examines whether applicants can be screened for anti-democratic views. The pause applies not only to future applicants but also to applications already processed. Bødskov declined to comment to DR, but has previously said he expects a finished report before the end of the year.
Mohammad Rona, citizenship spokesperson for Moderaterne, told DR that waiting until December is too long. Radikale Venstre’s spokesperson Magnus Georg Jensen described the applicants’ position as completely unreasonable, noting that they followed the rules in force when they applied. SF’s Kirsten Normann Andersen wrote to DR that this group should have special status regardless of what the expert group concludes.
The Social Democrats’ citizenship spokesperson, Katrine Evelyn Jensen, also declined to comment to DR. She has previously said it is fair to take into account whether the screening model can be introduced. The dispute follows earlier DR reporting that citizenship grants were paused, with the 2,055 among a much larger group of waiting applicants.
The 72 stateless children
DR reported on October 3 that 72 stateless children born in Denmark were listed on the now lapsed Bill L98. Eva Ersbøll, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, told DR that Denmark has an obligation to avoid statelessness. Stateless children born in Denmark have a right to citizenship from birth, she said, so their cases cannot be put on hold.
Asked whether Denmark is breaking the conventions, Ersbøll said she believes it is if case processing is suspended. She added that a court could ultimately decide the question. Rona told DR’s P1 Morgen that he agrees the delay is problematic and that it prolongs the ordeal for those affected.
What the paused naturalization bill means for foreign residents
Danish citizenship is not granted by an agency decision alone. Applications are processed under indfødsretsloven, and approved applicants must then be named in a naturalization bill, a lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse, which the Folketing votes on. Until that vote happens, an applicant who meets every criterion is still not a Danish citizen.
That is the mechanism that stalled here. Because Bill L98 lapsed when the election was called, the 2,055 named applicants returned to a waiting position, and DR reports that the government has kept their files on hold pending the expert group’s assessment. No date has been set for a new bill, and the three governing parties’ demands are political positions, not decisions.
For internationals who have passed the language and citizenship test requirements and been approved, the practical point is that the final parliamentary step is currently suspended. DR reports that Bødskov expects the expert group’s report before the end of 2026, but it is not known when a replacement bill will be introduced or whether the 2,055 will be exempted from any new screening. Families of the 72 stateless children face the same uncertainty, which Ersbøll says raises a question of Denmark’s convention obligations.
