Sweden: stricter requirements for citizenship acquisition by young people and stronger protection against involuntary renunciation

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Since the refugee reception crisis of 2015, a host of restrictive changes to the Swedish Law on Citizenship (2001:82) have been announced by the current and previous governments. On October 1st, the first of these changes came into effect (SFS 2024:423). The amendment consists of one change to the terms of citizenship acquisition through declaration for long-term residents under the age of 21 and one change to the conditions of citizenship renunciation for people in vulnerable positions. In this short blog post, I first describe these changes and explain their immediate implications, and secondly, discuss their meaning against the backdrop of recent political developments in Sweden. Read More …

Kin-State Intervention and the Securitization-Minority Policy Nexus: Hungarians and Russian-Speakers in Central and Eastern Europe: Minorities Caught between States and the Effects of Kin-State Involvement on the Securitization-Minority Policy Nexus 

Zsuzsa Csergő, Kristina Kallas and Tamás Kiss,
Kin-State Intervention and the Securitization-Minority Policy Nexus: Hungarians and Russian-Speakers in Central and Eastern Europe: Minorities Caught between States and the Effects of Kin-State Involvement on the Securitization-Minority Policy Nexus,
Journal of Global Security Studies,
2024. Read More …

Italy’s new surrogacy law could leave children at the risk of statelessness

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On 16 October 2024, Italy passed a law that would make it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby through an international surrogacy arrangement. The law, approved by the senate with 84 votes in favour and 58 against, would make surrogacy a “universal crime” and could fine couples up to one million euros and a two-year jail sentence. Italian lawmakers have claimed that the law is not intended to harm children but to penalise parents who have engaged in this activity. Yet, since the practice of surrogacy became illegal domestically in 2004, couples have faced an increasing number of challenges when attempting to register their children at local municipalities – affecting these children’s ability to acquire Italian citizenship. Read More …