Denmark moves to tighten citizenship requirements

Those wanting to become Danes will face stricter conditions in terms of language skills and financial self-reliance.

Politicians in Denmark have agreed to make it more difficult to acquire citizenship in the country.

The Northern European country last month cut benefits for asylum seekers in another move to deter an influx of refugees and economic migrants.

"Acquiring Danish citizenship is something very special, and therefore it is also reasonable that we now raise the bar for when a person can call themselves a Danish citizen," integration minister Inger Stojberg said in a statement on Monday.

Those wanting to become Danish nationals will have to meet tougher requirements on language skills and be financially self-sufficient for four years and six months of the past five years, up from the current two years and six months.

Applicants will also have to score better on a test about Denmark, answering correctly on at least 32 of 40 questions. The questions cover Danish current affairs, Danish history and Danish society.

For applicants who have a criminal record, the period of time that has to elapse since their conviction before they can apply for citizenship will be increased by 50 percent.

Under current rules, a criminal record results in a three to 20-year quarantine from obtaining citizenship, depending on the nature of the crime. 

'Can't speak Danish'

"There are too many people who have been granted citizenship who can't speak Danish," Astrid Krag, the integration spokeswoman for the Social Democrats, told news agency Ritzau.

Monday's announcement came after the minority Venstre Party government clinched a deal with the far-right Danish People's Party, the Conservatives, the libertarian Liberal Alliance and the Social Democrats to support such a bill in parliament.

The new regulations will come into force on October 15.

On July 1, Denmark slashed benefits to asylum seekers.

Under the new rules, which came into effect in September, an asylum seeker without children receives $892 per month in benefits, almost half the $1,627 they previously received.

Politicians supporting the measure said benefits had to be cut to give immigrants financial incentive to work.

Thousands of refugees have entered the country this year, fleeing wars in Syria and Afghanistan. Many have avoided registering for asylum in Denmark, and instead, continued north to Sweden, where immigration policies are more liberal.

In 2014, almost 15,000 people applied for asylum in Denmark, a country of 5.6 million. It was the highest number in nearly 20 years.

Russian Confirms Weapons on Flight to Syria

Russia confirms weapons on flights to Syria

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirms arms on flights, but spokesman declines to say whether troops have been sent.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed that the country's "humanitarian" flights to Syria carry military equipment as well as humanitarian aid - after the US and NATO warned Moscow over its involvement in the Syrian conflict.

"Russian planes are sending to Syria both military equipment in accordance with current contracts and humanitarian aid," Lavrov told reporters on Thursday.

Russia's Kommersant daily newspaper said earlier on Thursday that Moscow's advanced BTR-82A armoured personnel carriers were among arms supplied to Damascus.

Moscow has previously insisted in public that its flights to Syria were only for humanitarian purposes.

Al Jazeera's Peter Sharp, reporting from Moscow, said that nothing has changed and the Russians have been supplying the Syrian government for years now.

"Going back 60 years, Russia has been supplying Syria with arms, advisers, military equipment. Nothing much has really changed.

"Between 2009 and 2011 Russia was supplying 71 percent of Syria's military needs - everything from jets to military equipment to air defence systems.

"The Russian foreign minister says this continues to take place but he did make a distinction: There has been additional air traffic coming into Latakia's airbase and he says military equipment and humanitarian aid are being delivered," Sharp said. 

"As far as boosting up boots on the ground, he said Russian military specialists are working on training Syrians on using Russian weapons and no additional steps have been taken."

The Kremlin declined to comment on Thursday on whether Russian troops were fighting in Syria, after sources in Lebanon told the Reuters news agency that Russian forces had begun participating in military operations there.

"The threat coming from Islamic State [ISIL] is evident... The only force capable of resisting it is the Syrian armed forces," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reiterating Russia's position that its longtime ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, should be part of international efforts to combat ISIL.

Washington has put pressure on Greece and Bulgaria in recent days to deny Russia's requests to use their airspace for its Syria flights.   

During a press conference with the Slovakian prime minister, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk announced the country will close its airspace to Russian planes flying to Syria.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his concern over reports of Russian military activities in Syria, warning that it could fan more violence, a state department spokesman said.

Al Jazeera's Parry Culhane, reporting from Washington, said officials in the White House have not yet commented.

"What officials here are saying is that it is simply wrong to help the government of President Bashar al-Assad because of what he has done to his people.

"There is also a big concern that there could be some sort of accident where the US-led coalition could somehow run into a fight with the Russians," Culhane added.

Aerial imagery indicated that Russia is focusing on Bassel al-Assad International Airport, south of Latakia on Syria's Mediterranean coast, and on the Russian naval facility in Tartus, the AFP news agency reported.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, expressed a similar reaction to Kerry, saying the move "will not contribute to solving the conflict".

"I think it is important to now support all efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria. We support very much the efforts by the UN."