ABSTRACT
The year 1995 witnessed two events that made immigration control a front-page issue in the Norwegian media. Firstly, the European Schengen Accord disturbed the consolidated non-European Union-membership of Norway due to the entry of Sweden and Finland into the Union, and the consequent quandary of the Nordic Passport Union. Secondly, the local elections in September were made into an opinion poll on immigration, dominated by the rightist liberal (and anti-immigration) Progress Party. This chapter provides the basic economic, political and ideological background for the formation of the national control complex and the generation of today's legislation in Norway. The security issue remained a central feature of Norwegian immigration control in the years until the Second World War. A clear characteristic of the immigration pattern in Norway until the end of 1960s is the domination of Nordic citizens.
