The proposal comes from the Progress Party, a nationalist party of the Norwegian conservative-led government. The other parties of the majority do not agree though.
Following the Swiss referendum against immigration, another European country – with close ties with the EU but not a Member State, the wealthy Norway, is opening a debate on the possibility of capping immigration quotas for foreign workers entering the country.
Without taking in consideration the reactions of the Union to the Swiss vote, the Progress Party is calling for a referendum in Norway too: ““I won’t take a stance on such a quota system that the Swiss people have voted for. But the idea of a referendum is interesting, and Norway also should have a referendum on immigration,” said Mazyar Keshvari, immigration spokesperson for the Progress Party (FrP), which is part of Norway’s Conservative-led government.
“I am quite sure that there is majority support for tightening immigration across Norway’s political parties. The polls show that,” said Keshvari to VG newspaper. Keshvary himself is a second-generation immigrant (he comes from an Iranian family who took refuge in Norway in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution).
However, Vidar Helgesen, Norway’s conservative Minister of EEA (European Economic Area, to which Norway belongs) and EU Affairs expressed concern about the Swiss vote in a statement of the Foreign Ministry’s website: “This will create problems for the Swiss business sector and the economy, which have benefited greatly from labour immigration from the EEA, as has Norway.” He also wanted to reassure Norway’s partners in the EU: “Norway would like to emphasize the importance of free movement of persons for growth and prosperity in an open economy.”
On the other hand, the FrP party has repeatedly said that Norway should study the EEA Agreement and “use whatever room for manoeuvre there is to limit immigration.”
The parties in the government are now in tough negotiations on measures to limit immigration to Norway, even though the very idea of holding a referendum “has never come to the table,” said Geir Bekkevold from the Christian Democratic Party (KrF), who said that EEA migration “is good for Norway’s economy.”
