Norway doesn't want Russians buying property in the country

The war between Russia and Ukraine continues to worry the countries of northern Europe. In fact, the conflict accelerated the process for Finland, which shares a border with Russia, to join NATO in April 2023.

But the other bordering countries are also observing with concern the development of the conflict and the intentions of Vladimir Putin, and respond by taking precautions and “sanctioning” measures.

Norway, for example, is studying limiting the sale of properties to Russian citizens, who must go through an approval process to acquire a property.

The idea is inspired by a housing law passed by Finland that requires all citizens not belonging to the European Union and the European Economic Area to obtain a permit to buy real estate in the country, as Euronews explains.

Finland has made this decision, convinced that Russia continues to be the greatest threat to its internal security, as reported last March by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, collected by Euronews.

This proposal is not trivial. In fact, these countries intend to prevent Russian citizens, or foreigners linked to the Kremlin, from acquiring homes and properties in strategic areas.

In the case of Norway, as reported by Euronews, some reports showed that people linked to the Putin regime bought cabins around crucial military areas.

"Since we took office in autumn 2021, an important issue for the Government has been to strengthen regulations, improve national security and ensure that we have the opportunity to stop property sales if necessary," said Minister Emilie Enger Mehl. of Justice and Public Security of Norway.

Although regulations like those in Finland do not exist in other countries, for years the European Commission has warned about the dangers posed to the security of the countries of the Union by offering residence to those who invested large amounts of money in the country, for example to buy a home.

This happens with the golden visa in Spain, for example. However the Spanish government recently decided to eliminate this instrument, that allowed you to obtain official residence after having purchased a home with a minimum value of 500,000 euros.

Photo: Vita Vilcina / Unsplash

In Spain, according to a Transparency International report cited by the newspaper El País, Chinese and Russian citizens have been the main beneficiaries of the golden visa, although the country stopped issuing them to Russians after the outbreak of the war.

The most symbolic measure for the EU, and one of the first taken after Russia's invasion, has been the freezing of Russian assets and properties in member countries.

Now the debate is on about how to use these funds, which include different assets such as bank accounts, stocks, bonds, luxury assets, real estate and other investments.

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