The scale of ‘resident foreigners’ now living within the European Union has been revealed by figures released in Brussels this week.
Spain gave more citizenships away to non-Europeans in 2013 than any other European country, being responsible for one quarter of all passports awarded.
The United Kingdom was the second most generous, handing out a fifth of all the new European passports, numbering 207,500 in 2013. The two most common nations outside the EU for new British citizens were India and Pakistan.
From 2012 to 2013, Moroccans remained the largest group, with passports award mostly by Spain, which shares a 10 mile land border with the country.
Most remarkable though is the low proportion of ‘resident foreigners’ in the EU who received passports in 2013. Although 984,800 were succesful in their applications, Europe-wide they represent less than three per cent of all ‘resident foreigners’ living in the Union, of which 89 per cent originated from countries outside of Europe.
The EU report suggests there could be as many as 29.1 million foreigners living full-time in Europe, nearly the equivalent of the population of Denmark six times over.
The fact that 2013 was an all-time record year for foreigners receiving British passports, with 2014 and 2015 likely to surpass even that, has been laid at the door of former Prime Minister Tony Blair by British newspaper the Express. It notes the influx of mass immigration began during his premiership in 1998.
Follow Oliver Lane on Twitter: Follow @Oliver_Lane or e-mail to: olane@breitbart.com
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