Scandinavia’s Nordic Passport Union

Scandinavia’s Nordic Passport Union

written by A. L. Hart Havens on June 1, 2021

The region of Scandinavia is one that Liberated Services admittedly affords very little attention to, and it is nearly always in an unfavorable light when that occurs. Contrary to the mainstream media narrative portraying the region as offering the world’s most desirable lifestyle, the Scandinavian countries are in many important regards among the worst jurisdictions in the entire developed and developing world.

Looking past the romanticized notion of the quaint, compassionate, and ultra‑safe Nordic society will reveal a much uglier side to the modern Scandinavian way of life. An outrageously high cost of living, the world’s highest taxes, mass immigration, and extreme political correctness undoubtedly rule the day in Europe’s far north.

There are nonetheless some intriguing benefits to obtaining citizenship in this region, among which is Sweden’s reluctance to fully jump aboard the coronavirus hysteria bandwagon.

The Nordic Council

The Nordic Council was founded in 1952 with the aim of boosting economic, political, and defense cooperation among its members – Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and the autonomous territories of Greenland (Danish), the Faroe Islands (Danish), and the Åland Islands (Finnish).

The newly established organization wasted no time in creating the Nordic Passport Union, a groundbreaking arrangement calling for the elimination of passport controls at the mutual borders of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The Nordic Passport Union is viewed as a precursor to Europe’s Schengen Agreement.

Further‑reaching integration was achieved in 1954 when citizens of these four countries were permitted to relocate to and engage in gainful employment in any of the other three countries without any requirement to obtain a residency permit. Iceland joined the Nordic Passport Union a decade later.

As an aside, the Copenhagen‑based Nordic Council should not be confused with the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum headquartered in Tromsø, Norway encompassing the countries of the world that hold territory within the Arctic Circle.

Rather than pursuing political or economic integration, the eight‑member Arctic Council focuses on resolving problems and potential conflicts related to military activity, oil drilling, and the environment in the Arctic region. It encompasses all five Nordic Council countries plus the United States, Canada, and Russia.

Lucrative Residency and Citizenship Opportunities

Although all of the Nordic countries and territories are also part of the European Union and/or the Schengen Area, citizens of the Nordic Passport Union countries enjoy additional privileges within Scandinavia that extend beyond those afforded by EU or Schengen Area membership.

Taking the EU member countries of Denmark and Sweden as an example, it is noteworthy that a Danish citizen has the right to move to Sweden indefinitely without any obligations other than registering with the Swedish tax authorities. By contrast, citizens of the Netherlands, France, or Austria, all of which are also EU countries, are not allowed to relocate to and remain in Sweden indefinitely under such favorable conditions.

Citizens of both EU and non‑EU countries outside of Scandinavia are typically subject to a seven‑year residency requirement before becoming eligible for naturalization in any of the Nordic countries. However, citizens of Nordic countries qualify for the citizenship of any other Nordic country after only two years of uninterrupted residency. An exception to this rule is Iceland, which imposes a four‑year residency requirement for other Nordic citizens.

The Benefits of Scandinavian Citizenship

In addition to the drawbacks of life in Scandinavia highlighted at the beginning of this article, it should be emphasized that sadly all Nordic Council countries are members of the European Union (Denmark, Sweden, Finland) and/or NATO (Denmark, Norway, Iceland).

In spite of the downsides, however, the perks afforded to Scandinavian citizens by the Nordic Council and the Nordic Passport Union should not be overlooked. The opportunity to relocate to another Nordic country with practically no bureaucratic obstacles and to become eligible for citizenship in only two years is quite remarkable.

And although a Swede who obtains Danish citizenship will not achieve much in the way of political diversification, he will nonetheless unquestionably be better off with two citizenships and passports in his repertoire as opposed to only one.

With this in mind, the Nordic Council’s structure inadvertently provides Scandinavians with a minor diversification opportunity, as three of its members are in the European Union (Sweden, Finland, Denmark) are two are not (Norway, Iceland).

Thus, a Norwegian who obtains Swedish citizenship would gain access to the European Union’s freedom‑of‑movement arrangement and could leverage that in order to more easily relocate to one of the bloc’s more conservative countries such the nearby Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, or a Central European country like Hungary, Poland, or the Czech Republic.

By contrast, a Dane who obtains Icelandic citizenship would be achieving a degree of political diversification outside of the European Union, and would thus have the luxury of quickly renouncing his Danish citizenship in the future without becoming stateless, for example in the event that an onerous EU‑wide citizenship‑based wealth tax is introduced.

And as all Nordic Council countries permit dual citizenship, it is not necessary for a Scandinavian citizen to renounce upon naturalizing in another Nordic country.

Sweden as a Potential Safeguard Against Mandatory Vaccinations

For all other citizens, particularly those of the major English‑speaking countries, it simply does not make much sense to pursue citizenship in a Scandinavian country in most cases. However, Sweden’s firm opposition to the coronavirus scaremongering to date has been refreshing albeit downright bewildering, as the Swedish government is certainly not known among libertarians and conservatives for embracing sensible policies.

In spite of Sweden’s numerous faults, Swedish citizenship – or Swedish residency by virtue of holding a different Nordic citizenship – would thus provide long‑term access to what could potentially prove to be one of few places of refuge in a world that is seemingly dead set on imposing endless mask mandates, demeaning quarantines, and compulsory vaccinations.