Political parties in Sweden have agreed that dual citizens who threaten national security could be stripped of their passports for the first time.
A cross-party committee said the "fundamental change" in Swedish law could cover grave offences such as terrorism, espionage and involvement in war crimes. A proposed immigration crackdown could also include making migrants wait eight years for a Swedish passport rather than five.
But parties failed to agree on stripping Swedish nationality from members of criminal gangs, a step demanded by right-wing politicians amid shootings and bombings linked to an Iran-backed underworld. Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer warned this week that tackling gang violence was a "critical democratic issue".
At the moment Sweden's constitution only allows citizenship to be removed from people who were born and live abroad and have few connections to the Nordic country. The committee said this makes Sweden an outlier among neighbouring countries in Europe.
Under its proposals, people could lose their Swedish nationality if they "seriously threaten national security" or are convicted by the International Criminal Court. It said certain crimes could be seen as demonstrating "gross disloyalty to the Swedish state".
Sweden's minority government and its backers, the far-right and anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, won the 2022 election on a promise to keep reducing immigration and gang crime, which they say are linked. "The background is that Sweden is dealing with three parallel and very serious threats to our internal security," Mr Strommer said. "Violent extremism, state actors acting in a hostile manner towards Sweden, as well as systemic and organised crime."
Some politicians wanted the loss of citizenship to cover people who threaten Sweden's "vital interests" but the opposition Social Democrats said that wasn't specific enough. A constitutional change must be ratified by two successive parliaments either side of a general election due in 2026, making cross-party agreement important.
Swedish citizens with no other passport would not be affected. The committee acknowledged that Sweden might not always be able to deport someone stripped of their nationality, because of other legal obstacles such as a risk of torture or execution.
The door would also be opened to cancel a grant of citizenship if it is found there was bribery or impropriety involved. At the moment such a decision "can never be reconsidered, no matter how great the shortcomings", the committee said in its 416-page report.
Waiting period
Proposals are also on the table to raise the bar for acquiring Swedish citizenship from five years living in the country to eight. A commission said requirements for migrants to have an "honest lifestyle" before and after arriving in Sweden could be made more stringent.
Germany last year cut the waiting period in the hope of boosting integration into its labour market, but allows citizenship to be stripped when people are involved in foreign terrorism. Britain's Home Secretary can strip certain people of their nationality for the sake of the "public good".
Security services believe Sweden is no longer the focus of extremist propaganda that it was a year ago, after a series of Quran-burning incidents. However, there are fears of radicalisation linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
"Iran recruits perpetrators from Swedish gangs, and sends SMS messages to thousands of Swedes calling for acts of revenge against people who burn Qurans," Mr Strommer said. "All of these threats represent a new reality – and we must face them innovatively, forcefully, and together."
