The Statelessness Index remains an indispensable guide for policy makers, legal experts, and advocates working to ensure the right to a nationality and protection for those who are stateless. Now covering 35 European countries, this week’s launch of new and updated data in the Index provides a timely opportunity to take stock of how far Europe has come, and how far we still have to go.
This year’s analysis shows mixed progress. We have seen some incremental improvements, but it also shows how quickly hard-won safeguards can be weakened by restrictive migration policies, political pressures, and the instrumentalisation of nationality rights. While some countries have committed to introducing statelessness determination procedures (SDPs), carry out targeted capacity-building, and made concrete steps to reduce statelessness, others have tightened restrictions or failed to deliver on long-promised reforms. Data from 2025 suggests nationality is increasingly being treated as a privilege, rather than a right to be fulfilled. This editorial offers an overview of the most significant developments and opportunities ahead, and invites all stakeholders to continue the push for a Europe without statelessness.
Glimmers of hope with a new accession to the 1961 Convention
Starting on a positive note, in March 2025, Slovenia took an important step by formally acceding to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, following its public commitment to do so at the Global Refugee Forum in 2023. Despite not previously being a party to the Convention, Slovenia already had safeguards in law to prevent statelessness amongst foundlings, adoptees, children born abroad, and in the context of deprivation of nationality. Nonetheless, accession still represents a significant and welcome step. It will now be important that the Government implements its new obligations by addressing remaining gaps in the prevention and reduction of statelessness in Slovenia. Acquisition of nationality at birth by children born in Slovenia who would otherwise be stateless still depends on the status of the parents, who must be stateless or of unknown nationality, which means children who cannot inherit the nationality of their parents (among others) are still growing up stateless in Slovenia. Strengthening and implementing robust safeguards for all children, as well as addressing remaining obstacles to acquiring or confirming nationality, will be essential next steps for Slovenia.
We hope that this recent accession inspires other States to revisit their international commitments, particularly Cyprus, Estonia, and Poland, which are the only three Council of Europe members that are not party to any of the UN statelessness conventions, as well as the other four member States that have yet to accede to the 1961 Convention.
The worrying trends: closing doors to nationality through stricter naturalisation requirements and expanded deprivation powers
A major trend in 2025 was more countries hardening access to naturalisation, often in ways that risk entrenching statelessness rather than reducing it.
Belgium, France, Moldova and Ukraine all tightened naturalisation requirements, mostly through stricter eligibility criteria and higher fees. The new French requirements could lead to people who have stayed irregularly in the country at any point being refused naturalisation, which could significantly impact stateless people. In Sweden, new provisions and proposals move in a similarly restrictive direction: most applicants for nationality must now appear in person and provide additional proof of identity, and a government proposal would extend the residence requirement for stateless people and remove more accessible routes for certain children and young adults to acquire nationality.
Since 2024, Palestinians in Norway who qualify for a nine-digit Palestinian ID number based on civil registration in the West Bank, Gaza or East Jerusalem are no longer considered stateless, which means they can no longer access facilitated naturalisation. This follows a ministerial instruction that has been criticised by civil society and legal experts as breaching international law (for more on this see our recent briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians).
There have also been some setbacks in relation to deprivation of nationality powers. For example, new measures in Hungary allow for the “suspension” of nationality on national security grounds.
For stateless people, who are often unable to meet documentary requirements through no fault of their own, these shifts are not neutral. Higher evidentiary thresholds, higher costs, longer residence requirements, and broader discretion to exclude people from a route to naturalisation mean prolonged exclusion and intergenerational harm for stateless people.
North Macedonia shows how preventing and reducing statelessness is possible
In a year where backsliding has often been more the norm, the North Macedonia update stands out as a reminder of what is possible with sustained political will and concerted collaborative effort. In June, North Macedonia announced that it became the first country in the Western Balkans to eradicate all known cases of statelessness resulting from the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, following a campaign of identification, documentation, or granting of nationality to hundreds of people.
This landmark achievement took place alongside legislative reform to streamline and facilitate birth registration and civil registration procedures for the long term. The journey has not been without its challenges – as shown in a recent court ruling, which found that the implementation of a 2020 law aimed at resolving the situation of unregistered people had been discriminatory against Roma.
In situ statelessness, often linked to state succession, discrimination, and documentation barriers, has persisted for decades across Europe and requires targeted measures and community outreach to facilitate confirmation of nationality, universal birth registration, and eradication of discriminatory laws and practices. It remains important to monitor the implementation of these measures in North Macedonia and address remaining gaps (such as the lack of an SDP), but it is an encouraging reminder that coordinated action involving governments, civil society, and affected communities can be incredibly impactful.
Statelessness in migration: identification still a problem and pathways to protection are limited
In addition to a focus on in situ statelessness, the Index update also brings insights about how Europe is addressing statelessness among migrants and refugees. While statelessness was previously invisible in the EU asylum acquis, the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum has introduced several new provisions that improve identification and protection of displaced stateless people. Our #StatelessJourneys campaign and extensive advocacy with members and partners towards EU co-legislators during the Pact negotiations were pivotal in securing these welcome reforms. Our focus has now turned to working with the EU and Member States to support and monitor implementation of the Pact and ensure stateless people are not forgotten at Europe’s borders.
To support this, the Index now includes some information on how statelessness is identified at the border and on referrals between asylum procedures and SDPs (where these exist). Our analysis shows that most Index countries do not currently systematically identify or record indications of statelessness during border screenings or in asylum procedures, and very few have mechanisms to refer people from the border to an appropriate procedure to determine statelessness. It is often unclear whether officials have sufficient capacity to identify indications of statelessness, despite a growing number of resources to support this (e.g. identification toolkits published by ENS and EUAA’s guidance on registration and nationality). The Index also shows that States continue to require cooperation in return or detention contexts without taking account of statelessness, and stateless people are often not exempt from obligations that may be impossible to fulfil, such as providing proof of identity or nationality.
Failure to identify statelessness early often triggers a cascade: people are channelled into unsuitable procedures, issued return decisions that cannot realistically be implemented, or detained for “non-cooperation” when they are simply unable to produce documents no State will issue. If implemented robustly, the Pact can help shift this reality by embedding identification in screening and registration processes and harmonising solutions across Europe.
Momentum is building for new SDPs
Beyond identification, a key pathway to the protection of displaced stateless people is a statelessness determination procedure (SDP), leading to a protection status. Last year we updated our Thematic Briefing on Statelessness Determination and Protection, providing an overview of SDPs across Europe and highlighting good practice from countries with well established procedures.
As to recent developments: Austria has, for the first time, made a commitment to examine the introduction of an SDP, and the Portuguese parliament is currently discussing parliamentary proposals for an SDP. There are also hopeful winds of change in other European countries.
While Czechia, the Netherlands, and Belgium have recently introduced procedures to determine statelessness, we have previously reported on their shortcomings particularly due to the lack of a dedicated protection status automatically granted to a person recognised as stateless. The Index now contains more information about their implementation in practice.
In 2025, we also launched a new Index country profile on Armenia, highlighting some of its positive practice – including that recognised stateless people are granted an indefinite right to reside (similarly to Spain and Moldova), along with documentation, social security, healthcare, and education in line with Armenian nationals. However, there is still room for improvement as the SDP lacks comprehensive regulation, procedural safeguards, and guidance for decision-makers.
We will shortly be announcing a new webinar exploring how to strengthen the protection of stateless people in Europe - watch this space!
What next?
Despite some persistent issues and worrying new trends, the latest Index update reveals some key opportunities for reform. The eradication of known cases of in situ statelessness in North Macedonia demonstrates that change – perhaps even the eradication of historic statelessness – is possible. It models how a coordinated, targeted, collaborative approach can deliver results.
The introduction of new legal requirements in EU asylum acquis to identify indications of statelessness is potentially transformative for how statelessness is addressed in asylum procedures across the region. Linked to this, several countries are now considering how to determine statelessness, and it is crucial that we and other experts engage with States to demonstrate how introducing fair and accessible SDPs that lead to protection will not only improve lives and prevent rights violations, but also contribute to more efficient systems.
Ultimately, the only way to resolve statelessness is to acquire a nationality. It is therefore critical that States acknowledge the disproportionate impact of stricter naturalisation requirements on stateless people, and that they implement measures and legal reforms to facilitate the naturalisation of stateless people residing in their territory, in line with obligations under the 1954 Convention. This could include exempting stateless people from requirements such as citizenship or integration tests, language testing, application fees, or minimum income requirements, and reducing the residence period required for stateless people to access nationality.
Statelessness is not inevitable, and we can all take steps to leave no one behind. We urge you to use the evidence and good practice in the Statelessness Index to help drive positive change.
For more insights from ENS members, including from Armenia, Czechia, North Macedonia, and a community member, watch the recording of yesterday’s webinar on the 2026 State of Play Assessment of Statelessness in Europe:
