A European country renowned for its awe-inspiring landscape, nature and rich cultural history requires those who want citizenship to pass tough requirements including a test
One of the most inclusive cities in the world was last year named as Europe’s friendliest place but it’s surprisingly hard to get into if you want to live there.
When it comes to top destinations for winter breaks there’s one place that scores highly with most. In this Scandinavian country, you can marvel at the incredible snowy landscape, stay in an ice hotel, delve into its rich cultural history and even see the Northern Lights. But Sweden is a great place to visit during the warmer months too. Sunny, long daylight hours make it perfect for plenty of exploring the beautiful country. At this time of year you can wander at the midnight sun in the Lapland region with very little dark hours.
It has more than 100,000 lakes for wild swimming enthusiasts, many of which are located in magical forests. There are also 29 national parks for nature lovers that are free to access – the country’s public right to access nature is called allemansrätten.
Although Sweden isn’t really thought of as a beach holiday spot, these are its best kept secrets, with some stunning, clean beaches and sandbanks in southern Sweden along the coast of the crystal clear Baltic sea. Its capital city, Stockholm, is an archipelago where you can take boat trips around the 14 islands which comprise it.
Each district in the city has its own character blending the modern and historical and it’s renowned for its inclusivity and tolerance. Every year it welcomes thousands from the LGBTQ+ community from around the world to the Stockholm Pride festival.
Last year travellers named Stockholm as Europe’s friendliest city in Conde Nast Traveller ‘s Reader’s Choice Awards. It wrote: “Swedes are open-minded, polite and cheerful, so Stockholm’s title as the friendliest European city is well-deserved.”
However it’s not as easy as you might think to become a citizen of Sweden and tough new rules will make it even harder in the future. The government is tightening requirements as part of its immigration policy aimed at upholding Swedish values.
It has recommended a test on Swedish society and a language exam for anyone wanting citizenship. It also wants tighter requirements on ‘honest living’ so it will be harder for anyone who has committed a crime or who has unpaid debts to gain nationality. Currently anyone wanting citizenship must have lived in Sweden for five years before applying but it wants to raise this to eight.
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