Europe's shift to the right creates an 'unwelcoming environment' for all foreigners

Amid a mood of tightening immigration policies and hardening political rhetoric, governments and opposition parties across Europe are outlining proposals to tighten the rules for new and old arrivals — both legal and illegal. Across Europe in recent weeks and months we have seen governments taking steps to make it harder for foreign residents to gain citizenship and residency rights.

Some of the policy prescriptions now made in 2025 would have been unimaginable, or certainly politically unpalatable, at least, a decade ago. Whether it be the AfD in Germany, the Sweden Democrats or Spain's Vox, surging far-right sentiment across the continent has shifted the debate rightward and that has consequences for all migrants.

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Professor Michelle Pace, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House and Professor in Global Studies at Roskilde University, tells The Local: "Surging anti-migrant politics in Europe is making it harder for legal migrants to achieve long-term integration by creating longer and more difficult citizenship and residency pathways.

"This affects legal migrants through stricter language and civics requirements, increased scrutiny of their status, and potential social exclusion, even as the political focus is more often on irregular migration.

"Overall, this is contributing to a more unwelcoming environment, despite some countries acknowledging the economic contributions of migrants," she adds.

Pace feels that the last decade has seen the "entrenchment" of far-right politics in the political mainstream, noting that the radical-right is in power in Hungary and Italy. It's also featured in coalitions in Sweden, Austria, Finland and Holland, and make up key opposition parties in France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Portugal.

In Sweden, the government — which depends on a parliamentary deal with far-right Sweden Democrats as part of the Tidö Agreement — has pledged to retroactively remove permanent residency from over 100,000 people, mirroring rhetoric from Reform UK about ending indefinite leave to remain.

Whereas in the past the migration debate was mostly focused on illegal immigration, the normalisation of wider anti-migrant politics is now a worry for all foreigners abroad. As The Local France's editor Emma Pearson recently outlined in the French context, Europe's anti-immigrant drift affects us all.

Many governments are now not only focused on illegal migrants but legal migrants too. In France, with his fragile government seemingly in perma-crisis and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally looming, President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government has purposefully moved to get tougher on immigration and strengthen integration requirements. It's moving forward with new civics tests and tougher language requirements for residency and citizenship.

This drift rightward is even reflected in countries with supposedly left-wing governments. In Denmark, for example, the government is fronted by Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen but the policy platform includes an ever-stricter approach to granting citizenship, offshore processing for asylum seekers, and ongoing skepticism over inviting skilled foreign labour despite a shortage in many sectors.

Similarly, Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is one of the few European leaders to make the case for immigration, and he has repeatedly stated that the Spanish economy and pension system will depend on millions more migrants in future decades. The Spanish right, however, is likely to form the next government and has recently outlined a number of immigration measures. Losing voters to Vox, the centre-right People's Party has toughened up its stance and proposed a points-based visa, a 'commitment letter' foreigners must sign, and new language requirements on residency and citizenship.

Yet even the Spanish left aren't immune from anti-immigrant rhetoric. In Spain, the Spanish right is mostly concerned about North African and sub-Saharan migration, whereas for the Spanish far-left the problem is guiris — largely white, wealthy, western immigrants pricing out locals — as seen by attempts to ban foreigners from buying property and the scrapping of the golden visa scheme. The message to foreigners is clear: whether from the left or right, someone isn't happy with you being there.

READ ALSO: Spain's far-right Vox rises in the polls at expense of centre-right

In Germany, the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has long been used as a bellwether for extremist rhetoric in Europe, so perhaps it's no surprise that Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently admitted that the AfD will be the CDU's "main opponent" at the next election, while a migration expert told The Local how "Germany's mixed messages on migration are driving skilled workers away."

And what of Italy, where the hard-right is already in government? Despite some claims that Meloni's Brothers of Italy has moderated since winning power, her government is still leading Europe's drive to offshore illegal migrant processing and is changing the process for overseas citizenship claims. This follows previous rule changes that particularly impact our American readers, limiting to two generations the possibility to obtain citizenship by ancestry.

The new politics of immigration is being driven from the right. Whether it be from opposition, like in Spain or France, in government, like in Italy, or even the threat of the far-right in the polls pushing policy debate (Germany and France come to mind) immigration rules are being tightened across the continent.

Both political momentum and polling suggests this is unlikely to change anytime soon.

"Integration policies will face challenges due to persistent barriers in employment and housing for migrants, and debates will continue around the link between integration, citizenship, and naturalisation processes," Pace says, adding that "in the next few years, Europe's immigration politics will likely see continued emphasis on border control and securitisation."

However, with the debate shifting ever further rightward, more extremist rhetoric like Vox's pledge to deport millions of second-generation migrants or the Sweden Democrats' idea to remove permanent residency from thousands of people could become increasingly common.

In both cases, neither of the proposals are likely to ever make it onto the statute books. But it doesn't matter: their political value is that they reinforce core messaging and force other parties to react on their terms. Like with Reform UK promising to scrap indefinite leave to remain, that these sorts of policy proposals are even debated, no longer only on the fringes but within government in some countries, shows just how far rightward the Overton window has shifted in recent years.

As Professor Pace puts it: "In a fragmented political landscape marked by intense competition on the socio-cultural right, mainstream parties are also deliberately choosing to make this issue important in their campaigns."