The Copenhagen Post Feb 10-16 by The Copenhagen Post

Wondercool: February’s fab festival. Special section

The Church of Denmark’s empty pew syndrome

Our Olympic predictions for 2012

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10-16 February 2012

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10 - 16 February 2012 | Vol 15 Issue 06

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NEWS

Nation’s workers brace for a

The opposition stalls and the government dithers as congestion charge battle drags on

NEW REALITY Longer hours, pay freezes, no free lunch

OPINION

Those fine Finns Columnist Clare MacCarthy, fresh from covering Finland’s elections, says Danes could learn from the Finnish model of democracy

9 COMMUNITY

Interview with church and equality minister Manu Sareen: “I represent two countries: India and Denmark”

13 InOut

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National energy deal edges closer to completion The Konservative Folkeparti is trying to forge a compromise between the government and opposition party Venstre to ensure broad political support

DEAL ON the future of the nation’s energy came a step closer this week after opposition party Venstre (V) stated that they are finally willing to meet the government to discuss the decisive issue of the plan’s cost. The government’s initial plan from November had a price tag of 5.6 billion kroner but they have since cut it down to 3.9 billion in order to keep V onboard. V was still unhappy with the price, however, and demanded that the total

cost of the plan, including the cost of a Denmark’s reliance on fossil fuels and as coming NOx air pollution tax, should a result the government wants oil-fired heaters to be completely phased out. not exceed 3.6 billion kroner. V has been particularly critical This development created an unusual impasse between the government of this decision, arguing it will be too and opposition – Danish governments expensive for ordinary households to traditionally try to secure a broad cross- switch over, but K support the plan and party consensus before trying to pass have attempted to forge a compromise. “It’s important that we switch over energy plans. While Jyllands-Posten newspaper from oil-fired heaters to sustainable enerreported that there were indications that gy,” K energy spokesperson Mike Legarth V was willing to return to the table, the told Jyllands-Posten. “That’s why new opposition party declined to comment oil-fired heaters should not be installed after 2017, though exemptions should be on this information. But should V decide to return to the granted to those with special needs.” About 200,000 oil-fired heaters talks, it could be down to the mediation of fellow opposition party Konservative cannot be replaced by district heating or gas heaters by 2030, the date by (K). The government’s energy plan has anatural Organise personal meeting which the government wants them coman ambitious view to completely and sitendin on a class.

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pletely phased out. Switching over to the only other alternatives, geothermal heating or wood-chip heaters, will cost each household up to 150,000 kroner, a cost V is not willing to accept. The compromise suggested by K is to compensate those who will be hit by switch-over costs. The party has their eye on a 500 million kroner pool of money which will be available in 2013 and 2014, which is currently used to give home owners a tax deduction on home improvements. Next year, the money is being reassigned to subsidise improving energy efficiency in homes and K is demanding the money be targeted towards rural Denmark.

Energy continues on page 5

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Week in review

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

10 - 16 February 2012 Peter Stanners

Deep freeze

THE WEEK’S MOST READ STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK Mayor aims to draw more foreign workers to city PET: Denmark still a top terrorist target Snow in the city Massive blaze displaces 200 Copenhageners New Metro branch to Nordhavn approved

FROM OUR ARCHIVES TEN YEARS AGO. Prince Henrik sparks a media storm by saying he often feels “unappreciated” and “neglected” by the public. FIVE YEARS AGO. The city drops a proposed 59 ml kroner educational budget cut, saving 400 teacher jobs. ONE YEAR AGO. Amagerbanken files for bankruptcy after being hit hard by the collapse of the housing market.

Severe cold conditions have gripped much of Europe, including Denmark. Here, the view from Knippelsbro shows a frozen Copenhagen Harbour.

Some MPs have complained about the level of discourse in parliament and compared it to being in a daycare institution. “You face each other and shout ‘Na na, you’re stupid, my dad is bigger than your dad’,” said Liberal Alliance MP Mette Bock. Her characterisation was backed up by parliament’s president Mogens

Lykketoft (S) and vice president Bertel Haarder (V), who have both spent decades in Christiansborg. Taking offence, however, was the union for daycare providers, BUPL, whose chairperson Henriette Brockdorff said that politicians should find another analogy since daycare children “are decent to each other”.

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper Since 1998, The Copenhagen Post has been Denmark’s leading source for news in English. As the voice of the international community, we provide coverage for the thousands of foreigners making their home in Denmark. Additionally, our English language medium helps to bring Denmark’s top stories to a global audience. In addition to publishing the only regularly printed English-language newspaper in the country, we provide up-to-date news on our website and deliver news to national and international organisations. The Copenhagen Post is also a leading provider of non-news services to the private and public sectors, offering writing, translation, editing, production and delivery services.

Visit us online at www.cphpost.dk

Scanpix

Childish

General Liar

A newly unearthed memo has revealed that the former head of Army Operational Command (HOK) Poul Kiærskou ordered subordinates to lie about the number of prisoners taken by Danish soldiers during the Iraq War. In response to an April 2007 question from parliament about the number of prisoners, HOK

President and Publisher Ejvind Sandal Chief Executive Jesper Nymark Editor-in-Chief Kevin McGwin Managing Editor Ben Hamilton News Editor Justin Cremer Journalists Jennifer Buley & Peter Stanners

staffers prepared a response indicating there were at least 500 held by Danish forces. Kiærskou, however, ordered that the number be changed to 198, a figure that was then repeated numerous times by the previous two defence ministers, Søren Gade and Gitte Lillelund Bech. Kiærskou now faces an investigation.

Editorial offices: Slagtehusgade 4 – 6 DK 1715 Copenhagen V Telephone: 3336 3300 Fax: 3393 1313 www.cphpost.dk News Desk news@cphpost.dk 3336 4243 The CPH Post welcomes outside articles and letters to the editor. Letters and comments can be left on our website or at: comments@cphpost.dk

CORRECTION Not to be confused with one of the several US cities called ‘Denmark’, the article ‘Mayor aims to draw more foreign workers to city’ should have said that Denmark is among the most desirable countries for foreigners.

Robo-suck

Robot vacuum cleaners may replace cleaning staff for the elderly, as councils attempt to find ways to cut costs. Næstved Council has already ordered 60 robot cleaners in a pilot project. If successfully implemented across the country, it could save councils between 80,000 and two million kroner a year, Politiken newspa-

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per reported. “In the future we will be increasingly training residents to be more self-sufficient,” Inge Selch, the head of elderly care at Næstved council, told Politiken. “For some people the robot vacuum cleaners will give them a higher quality of life, as they will be able to decide how often they want to clean.”

Layout and design Justin Cremer Aviaja Bebe Nielsen Logo by Rasmus Koch

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

10 - 16 February 2012

Churches struggling with empty pew syndrome Proposals to close churches spark debate over what to do when the parishioners are gone

CONTENTIOUS new proposal calls for the closure of state churches across Denmark, including nearly half of the churches in Copenhagen. Reducing the number of churches in the city from 70 to about 35 will save millions of kroner and make worship better for Copenhagen’s 350,000 churchgoers at a time when both membership and attendance is dwindling, according to Copenhagen diocese budget committee chairman Torben Larsen. “There is not enough money for all of the churches,” Larsen told Berlingske newspaper. “It is better that they merge and create a more meaningful worship experience.” Nationwide, about 80 percent of Danes are tax-paying members of the church. In Copenhagen, that number is about 60 percent. Only about 20 percent of members attend regular Sunday services. Those figures have led to suggestions to close an undetermined number of the country’s more than 2,300 parish churches. Church officials note that the subject of closures has come up before, but that new rules and budget restrictions mean that closures have become a reality this time around. As rumours of the church closures

country’s churches that are also tourist attractions should charge an admission fee. She also believes that those that are not members of the church should pay for events like weddings and funerals. “If you are a member of the church and pay the church tax, you have a right to religious ceremonies. But if you are not a member, it is perfectly reasonable to charge a fee.” Rev Charlotte Chammon, the pastor of Nørre Herlev parish church, near Hillerød, says a successful church must respond to the Nearly empty churches during Sunday services are increasingly common across the nation needs of its parishioners while respecting tradition. “It can be hard for the church’s continue, a flurry of suggestions for “I think it is important for a church voice to be heard. A common platform to be responsive to its congregation and how to rescue the parishes has arisen. One of them, a 1.2 million kroner in- improves the flow of information.” be innovative without compromising Inge Lise Pedersen, the president of tradition,” Chammon told The Copenitiative by a group including the Church Ministry and the Church of Denmark, the Lindevang parish council in Fred- hagen Post. creates a uniform design scheme for eriksberg, suggested in an interview in She said that interest and attendance churches across the country to use in Berlingske that churches need to start has increased in her church and that the their correspondence, magazines and charging for some services. Helsingør Diocese is actually building “Just because an arrangement hap- churches to keep up with population websites. The backers say the idea is to strengthen the church’s voice by creating pens in a church, it shouldn’t necessarily growth in northern Zealand. be free,” Pedersen said. the impression of a unified church. Chammon said that although she She doesn’t believe that people realises that church closures are hard, Sociologist Peter Fischer-Nielsen told Kristelight Dagblad newspaper should pay for what she calls “a quiet the state church must be aware of ecomoment”, but says that some of the nomic realities. that the move is a good one. FILE PHOTO

RAY WEAVER

Farmers threaten to sue over waterway laws Decision to allow public access to uncultivated buffer strips between agricultural land and waterways leads to landowners accusing government of seizing their property

ARMERS are threatening legal action over new laws that will allow public access to farmland running beside waterways – land that farmers will soon be prevented from cultivating. The law – set to take effect on September 1 – will force farmers to introduce 10 metre buffer strips between farmland and waterways, leading to 50,000 hectares of farmland that cannot be treated, fertilised or cultivated. The law was passed last June by the former government in order to comply with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), which was designed to improve member states’ water quality by the year 2015. But whereas the former government allowed farmers to keep the land private, last week the agriculture minister, Mette Gjerskov, announced that the land would be opened to the public. “The government is effectively nationalising 50,000 hectares of land,” Flemming Fuglede Jørgensen, the vice chair of Bæredygtig Landbrug (Sustainable Agriculture), told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. “What will be next? 100,000 hectares? We are still paying interest, mortgage payments and property taxes for the land that is being nationalised.”

“Like any other ‘company’ we have to look at the possibility that we have too many ‘branches’.” As the prospect of closures becomes a real possibility, the debate is heating up about what to do with the empty churches. If it is up to the nation’s bishops, deconsecrated churches will not be used as pubs, discos or supermarkets. “I do not believe god has a problem with beer,” the bishop of Roskilde, Peter Fischer-Møller told Politiken newspaper. “Once a church is out of service, it is not a church anymore. The bricks are not sacred, but the church has been the site of many emotional experiences and those memories should be respected.” The bishops hope that empty churches can be occupied by other Christian groups or become homeless shelters or public facilities like concert halls or community centres. Even with the steadily dwindling attendance in the Church of Denmark, only nine of its churches have closed since 1849. Among those that have closed, the former St Nikolaj Church in Copenhagen is now used as an art gallery, while Vesterø Havnekirke, on the island of Læsø, became a spa in 2008.

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Jørgensen added that the decision to allow the public onto the buffer strips means that the land is effectively expropriated, which is why they have decided to start legal proceedings. Gjerskov responded by stating that lawyers with the Ministry of Agriculture did not find it to be expropriation, and that farmers would receive compensation. Despite this, farmers have expressed concern that the compensation would not cover lost Farmers are set to sue over plans to create buffer strips beside waterways to minimise run-off earnings and that there is no protection from politicians abolishing the compensation at a future date. Political wrangling with farmers has According to Søren Højgaard led to repeated delays in introducing Mørup, a professor of public law at measures, such as the buffer strips, leadAarhus University, a farmer’s case for ing to the EU Commission to threatunlawful expropriation would depend ening legal action against Denmark in on the extent to which the buffer strip November 2011 after two warnings in affected their business. 2007 and 2009. “The creation of fringe zones along While agriculture remains one of the waterways might bear characteristics Denmark’s largest economic sectors, of expropriation of one farmer’s land, it is also one of the greatest sources of but not another’s,” Mørup told Jyllands- pollutants, mostly in the form of pestiPosten. “For a farmer to prove expropria- cide and fertiliser run-off. The balances tion, he has to demonstrate that he is be- between business and environment has ing affected financially. At the same time, been at the crux of the delays. it has to be shown that the initiative goes Agricultural run-off can lead to a further than simply trying to minimise range of environmental issues, from the pollution of waterways.” damage to local habitats and ecologies Danish agricultural lobby group, to the contamination of ground water, Landbrug & Fødevarer, has also an- which in Denmark is the main source nounced they intend to sue the govern- of drinking water. ment over the laws. While the WFD doesn’t specifiDenmark has lagged behind the rest cally demand the introduction of buffer of Europe in implementing measures strips, they are one of the most effective that would satisfy the requirements of measures for limiting agricultural runthe Water Framework Directive, which off and have been implemented widely was introduced in 2000. across Europe.

SCANPIX

PETER STANNERS

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Cover story

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

10 - 16 February 2012

More work, less pay: Welcome to the new Danish workplace Experts see the signs of a sea change in Danes’ expectations about work; staying competitive in the new global marketplace is at stake

Public employees’ paid lunch breaks are likely to be on the chopping block in upcoming uegotations Pamela Juhl

significant increase in the working week has been a central theme of the collective bargaining agreement (overenskomst) negotiations currently being hammered out by business leaders and trade unions for some 600,000 employees across all industries. A longer working week, fewer public holidays, and pay freezes are all on the table. And, remarkably, business and labour appear to be aligned in a plan to work more for less. Adding to the picture, 2012 began with broad reforms made to the expensive, national early retirement programme (efterløn) and legislation that will gradually raise the retirement age from 65 to 69. The situation has led to the influential think-tank Mandag Morgen, which specialises in public policy and social trends, concluding that the three-party labour law negotiations (trepartsforhandlinger) between business, labour and the government that are to follow this spring could be the most important Denmark has seen in 25 years. Over the past quarter century those three-party negotiations have produced some of the most labour-friendly working conditions in the world. But the tide may now be turning. By the government’s own reckoning, Danes today work fewer hours than citizens in nearly all other EU countries. Among developed nations, only Belgians put in fewer hours per day of paid and unpaid work, according to a study released last year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We enjoy one of the shortest working weeks in the world – 37.5 hours – and get five weeks of paid vacation, nearly a dozen public holidays, and a year of paid parental leave. The evening rush hour starts at

3:30pm and there is more stigma in staying at the office until 6pm (and thus neglecting the family) than in leaving early to take the baby to swimming lessons. However, while the gross salaries might sound sky-high to the uninitiated, once the 40 to 65 percent personal income taxes are deducted, they are, in fact, comparable to salaries in other EU countries. But all that could be about to change. “Let’s be straight. Our competitive position compared to Germany and Sweden is complete bollocks,” Erik Jylling, the chairman of Akademikernes Centralorganisation (AC), an association representing 200,000 professional and managerial workers, told JyllandsPosten newspaper. AC’s members were ready to do their part to make Denmark competitive again, the chairman suggested. “Anyone can see that the trees don’t just grow all the way up to the clouds.

scanpix

Jennifer Buley

We have to find a solution that won’t only carry us through to the next election, but also through to the next generations That’s why I can imagine accepting, for example, a five-year collective agreement with zero pay rises,” Jylling said. When annual inflation is taken into account, those five-year pay freezes will actually equate to pay cuts. “We have to find a solution that won’t only carry us through to the next election, but also through to the next generations. Salary restraints are an important part of that,” Jylling explained to Mandag Morgen. Other proposals being seriously discussed are eliminating a public holiday or two – such as May 1 or Store Bededag (Prayer Day, held on the fourth Friday after Easter) – and lengthening

Despite numerous cutbacks, the right to strike is being vigorously defended against a European Commission proposal

the working week for public sector employees by eliminating their 30-minute paid lunches. “The so-called ‘free lunch’ is something public sector employees negotiated for themselves in past collective agreements. In reality, it means they work half an hour less each day than private sector employees do,” Aalborg University professor Flemming Ibsen, a specialist in the labour market, explained to Berlingske newspaper.

“If that’s eliminated, it means that public employees will work half an hour more per day. And they won’t be paid for it,” Ibsen continued. “The point is to get more work out of people.” Public sector employees comprise more than a third of the labour market. The conservative think-tank Cepos estimates that ending their paid lunches would save the state nearly ten billion kroner annually – a sum that far outstrips the government’s goal of saving

So just who really IS an immigrant anyway? Most want the statistical category ‘immigrant’ to cover first and second generation, but DF says further generations should also be included

n the year 2050, how many of Denmark’s residents will be immigrants? The flow of immigration into Denmark may determine the number to a large extent, but equally important is who is determined an immigrant at all. In Denmark, two main statistical categories are used to describe immigrants, invandrere and efterkommere, which are first and second-generation immigrants respectively. But the question over whether to also include third generation immigrants, børn af efterkommere, into immigration statistics has provoked a debate amongst the nation’s politicians. In December, the social minister, Karen Hækkerup of the Socialdemokraterne (S), told parliament’s

integration committee that in 2050 there would be 610,000 first and second-generation immigrants with nonWestern backgrounds in Denmark. Dansk Folkeparti (DF) felt this was an understatement, however, and demanded to know what the number would be if third generation immigrants were also included. Hækkerup replied it would be an additional 121,000 people. But to government coalition party Radikale (R), including the children of the children of immigrants into the statistics was a step too far. “We are talking about people who were both born and brought up in Denmark and whose parents were also born and brought up in Denmark,” R immigration spokesperson, Liv Holm Andersen, said. “There is no reason to stigmatise them.” The Konservative (K) also do not see the reason to brand this category as immigrants. “The first answer Karen Hækkerup

gave was satisfactory,” K immigration spokesperson Mike Legarth said. “For ordinary statistics and a general understanding, it is sufficient. If you extend the thought, where would you stop? Do you have to also include fifth and sixth generations too?” Inger Støjberg from Venstre also agreed. “I would say that two generations are fine,” she said. DF, on the other hand, argue that the third, fourth and even fifth generations should still be branded immigrants. “As long as they fail to integrate, then they should be counted,” DF’s immigration spokesperson Martin Henriksen said. “If you don’t become culturally integrated, then children of immigrants, and their children and their children, all count.” Henriksen suggests using the term efterkommere (descendents) to describe all generations of immigrants until the point at which they become integrated.

“The Radikale can choose to be offended by it while we worry about the growing proportion of the population with non-Western backgrounds.” But S integration spokesperson, Jacob Bjerregaard, does not agree with Henriksen’s point of view. “As I see it, Dansk Folkeparti are trying to maintain pressure on this issue by maximising the number. The more generations you count as immigrants, the more you can claim a massive security risk or whatever else the party wants to claim. Statistics Denmark introduced the category børn af efterkommere several years ago and it has since become a fixed feature of social statistics, for instance on crime and educational levels. Despite the political debate over who qualifies as an immigrant, Statistics Denmark made it clear on Tuesday that it would continue to include third-generation immigrants in its immigration figures. (PS)

four billion kroner per year on labour. When Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Socialdemokraterne) began campaigning for her job as prime minister last year, she proposed working 12 minutes more per day for pay. Now it appears that workers may accept working 30 minutes more per day – and without pay. But if labour is going to give way on pay and hours, they are expecting business to meet them part way. Labour is demanding greater influence both on and off the job, in the form of better and more education and skill development, more paid internships for students, and an end to the councils’ dreaded ‘activation’ schemes, whereby the unemployed are forced to attend remedial job-seeking courses in exchange for unemployment benefits. It might seem like labour and business have lost their will to fight each other in the face of permanent crisis, but the week’s news also brought out a reminder of their fundamental differences – with an ironic twist. When the European Commission proposed claiming the right to outlaw strikes and lockouts that could threaten the EU’s internal market, both labour and business reacted with a unified and resounding ‘no’, with both sides agreeing to defend their right to disagree.

Immigration terms Dansker (Dane) A person with Danish parents, normally born in Denmark. Special rules mean children born outside Denmark with Danish parents can also be termed Danes. Invandrer (Immigrant) A person born outside Denmark. Efterkommer (second-generation immigrant) A person born in Denmark to immigrant parents. Also called andengenerations-invandrer. Barn af efterkommer (third-generation immigrant) A person born to an efterkommer. Also called a tredjegenerations invandrer. Nydansker (non-ethnic Dane) Literally translated as ‘new Dane’, the term refers to people with Danish citizenship with non-ethnic Danish family backgrounds.

news

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

10 - 16 February 2012

In an opinion piece, former resident says Christianites need to band together against the gangs that control Pusher Street

n response to an opinion piece in Politiken newspaper, in which a former Christiania resident encourages residents of the commune to stand up to the gang members that control its hash market, the chief inspector of the Copenhagen Police says the enclave’s future is threatened by the criminality. “The hash trade is accompanied by violence and other serious crimes to an extent that Christiania is threatened,” chief inspector Jørn Aabye told the newspaper. Aabye was responding to an opinion piece by Kjeld Pries, who wrote that violence and threats against Christianites will hamper the enclave’s ability to evolve now that the residents have been given the option to buy the land after a prolonged legal battle. Referring to the recent assaults on three parking wardens just outside Christiania, Pries wrote: “It pains me to see and hear that the freetown’s resi-

dents evade the real issue: a gang of thugs from Pusher Street, or more specifically the market at Peace Meadow [Fredens Eng]. Residents refuse to speak out against the pusher environment out of a fear of reprisal.” Pries added that the current hash market is very different from the one created when Christiania was established in 1971 and that “Pusher Street is no longer something Christiania’s community has control of, if indeed it ever did”. Pries’s perception is shared by the police. The head of the police drug unit, Steffen Steffensen, told Politiken that police do not have problems with residents but with “the gentlemen with tattoos that are leading” the drug trade. “Pusher Street is a rough place, and it is rougher than before,” he said. According to Aabye, police have largely been absent from Pusher Street since an incident in August in which police pulled their guns and fired tear gas. “We don’t want to expose ourselves and the freetown’s residents to that sort of thing so we are currently considering new methods even though we can’t always avoid the turmoil and

File photo: Lars Colberg

Former resident and police say Christiania’s future threatened by gang violence

After becoming a permanent fixture in 2004 following a crackdown on open-air drug sales, police have been largely absent from the commune since August

trouble,” he said. He added that Christianites should not confront the gangs themselves but should instead work with police. Resident Thomas Ertmann, a member of Christiania’s press group, disagreed with the characterisation of Christiania as a violent place. “In recent years, it has im-

proved because, among other things, police are not so eager to chase small pushers,” he told Politiken. “There is a noticeably better mood and fewer incidents.” He added that it could not be residents’ responsibility to combat organised criminality, but that residents try to help if there is trouble in the neighbourhood. Pries suggested that the

criminality in Christiania would be markedly reduced by legalising hash. City Councillors agree and have proposed that the city decriminalise the drug. The council is planning to apply to the Justice Ministry for permission to sell hash at 20-25 counciloperated stores as a five-year experiment. (JC)

Energy continued from front page

“When the pool of money is reassigned, we are demanding that houses in remote areas, which are poorly isolated and need new radiators, are prioritised,” Legarth said. “A portion of the money should also be earmarked for home owners who are the worst off economically so that they can have financial assistance for swapping out their oil heater. It should be a compensation for future costs.” The compromise might not be sufficient, however, and V has maintained its opposition to the plan. “We don’t want to force people to get rid of their oil-fired heaters,” V energy spokesperson Lars Christian Lilleholt told Jyllands-Posten. “We want to make sure that 200,000 oil consumers aren’t forced to spend 150,000 kroner on a geothermal heater that will also make their houses harder to sell.” Speaking to Politiken newspaper, however, Lilleholt did admit that V was close to returning to the negotiations. “We have always said that we want a broad agreement on the energy deal, but that the government’s plan was too expensive,” he said. “Which is why we are happy that the government has shaved off almost two billion kroner, which means we are close to discussing the content of an energy plan.” (PS)

Unadvertised public sector jobs filled behind scenes Survey and labour experts concur: many public sector jobs filled by word-of-mouth, not required job postings

lthough employers at the local councils, regions and state are required to advertise all permanent job vacancies, recently released figures from a labour study suggest that a significant number of public sector jobs are never advertised, but are instead filled through word-of-mouth and network connections. “Whether it’s failing to publish a job notice or to put together a hiring committee, it’s as though employers feel it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission,” Winnie Axelsen, the chairman of HK Hovedstaden, the labour union representing clerical and administrative workers in the Greater Copenhagen region, told JyllandsPosten newspaper. “Based on information I’ve obtained from our trade union representatives, I can tell you that, by and large, hiring practices at the highest administrative levels in the councils have changed. When a position has to be filled, often the process goes too quickly now,” Axelsen added.

Newly-released figures from a DR News/Magasinet Penge survey of 796 members of the labour union DJØF, which represents public and private sector lawyers and economists, indicate that the practice of filling public jobs without advertising them and going through the proper hiring protocol is widespread. Some 28 percent of the DJØF survey’s respondents who work in the public sector reported their own jobs were never advertised. That number surprised Per Hansen, who represents public sector hiring managers for DJØF. But Hansen admitted that the problem was not new. “We’ve raised the issue before, and we’ll do it again. It’s just a sound principle that all public sector jobs should be advertised. The Ministry of Finance is unequivocal that that’s the rule for all state positions,” he said. “But I don’t think the rules are followed to a tee on a municipal level, since local arrangements are also possible with the unions,” Hansen continued. Karsten Thystrup, the head of municipal and personnel law at Kommunernes Landsforening (KL), the association of local councils, acknowledged that councils too are bound by a rule that states they must advertise

It’s just a sound principle that all public sector jobs should be advertised public sector jobs. Whether that rule is actually followed is another question. “The rule for the state and councils is the same – and it’s clear cut. The rule is that permanent vacant positions must be advertised. And KL’s position is that the rules ought to be followed,” said Thystrup. Questioning the accuracy of the DJØF survey, Thystrup suggested that some of the employees who got their jobs through network connections or wordof-mouth might not have realised that the positions were also advertised. A vast majority of the survey’s respondents believed it was easier to get a job through one’s network connections than through the vacant job listings. An even larger majority reported that they had recommended an acquaintance or friend in their network for a vacant job in their company or department. (JB)

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6 News Ministry mulls reducing train fares by eliminating zones The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

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Opposition scrambles to block congestion charge Jennifer Buley

Government makes concessions

Right-of-centre parties say government’s proposal lacks documentation and due diligence

As negotiations continue over the final model of the congestion charge, the government parties, with support from Enhedslisten, have agreed to institute a price ceiling for commuters who enter and leave the city multiple times per day. According to Politiken newspaper, the parties have agreed that regardless of how many times a vehicle crosses in and out of the congestion zone, costs would be capped at either two or three trips, meaning a maximum daily price of 50-75 kroner depending on the congestion charge’s final model. In another concession to commuters, Ekstra Bladet tabloid reports that the Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF) has followed the lead of Socialdemokraterne (S) and Radikale (R) in agreeing to waive the congestion charge on Sundays. S and R had advocated for free Sundays, and according to Ekstra Bladet, SF has caved in to the demand. S and R also wanted to make Saturdays free, but according to the tabloid, the parties have agreed to collect a congestion charge fee from 10am5pm on Saturdays.

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emoving the outer zones from the Copenhagen public transport fare network could reduce travel costs for commuters without significantly lowering income for the state, according to a Transport Ministry proposal obtained by metroXpress newspaper. Reducing the number of zones from nine to seven would reduce the price of a monthly all-zone travelcard from 1,215 kroner to 1,005 kroner. If there were only six zones, a card would cost only 870 kroner, a saving of 345 kroner. Fares to use public transport in Greater Copenhagen are calculated by the number of zones a passenger travels through. According to metroXpress the losses from cutting the outer zones would be minimal compared with reducing prices across the board. The report concludes that cutting the outer four zones would cost the government 181 million kroner, while cutting just the outer three zones would cost 280 million kroner. Government support party Enhedslisten (EL) has suggested cutting zones before and was pleased to discover the plan would cut fares without dramatically reducing ticket income. “We were very surprised when we saw how cheap it would be to remove the two outer zones,” EL traffic spokesperson Henning Hyllested said. “It’s definitely

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not scary to remove the zones.” Reducing fares was high on the joint election manifesto of the Socialdemokraterne and the Socialistisk Folkeparti. Reduced transport prices were supposed to encourage commuters to switch over to public transport after the introduction of a congestion charge. The government later announced they were going ahead with the congestion charge but could not afford to reduce the prices for public transport. Prices, in fact, rose.

Lille Linde

The government is still debating how to proceed with the congestion zone, which is why the transport minister, Henrik Dam Kristensen, has declined to comment publicly on the proposal. But Radikale traffic spokesperson Andreas Steenberg, whose party is a member of the governing coalition with Socialdemokraterne and Socialistisk Folkeparti, has expressed his support. “It’s a really good idea to focus on reducing fares so I think it’s a really positive suggestion,” he told metroXpress.

Anonymous drug treatment in high demand Twice the number of people attended anonymous counselling as expected

he success of anonymous drug treatment has been revealed a year into an experimental programme in which twice the number of people sought help than was anticipated. Ordinarily, individuals seeking treatment for drug problems in Denmark have to register — unlike treatment programmes for alcoholism, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, in which individuals only have to reveal their first name. The success and popularity of anonymous treatment demonstrates the enormous demand for treating emerging drug problems, Dortea Nielsen from Project Anonym Stofmisbrugsbehandling (Anonymous Drug Treatment

Project) told Politiken newspaper. “It shows that there are many ordinary people out there who need help,” Nielsen said. “They have jobs and maybe even families and don’t see themselves entering the ordinary treatment system. Anonymity is vital for them. I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in Copenhagen.” Since the treatment centres were established in January 2011, 134 people in Copenhagen and 71 in Odense have signed up for the treatment, which consists of weekly therapy groups for the first four months, and then fortnightly groups for the following six months. According to the users, the treatment works. Ninety-six percent said they had managed to quit or cut down their drug use following the treatment, while 90 percent said they are better off economically after the treatment.

But at the end of this year the project is set to end, meaning Danes seeking treatment will have to register again. Nielsen thinks parliament should legalise anonymous drug treatment, a position that Copenhagen’s minister of social affairs, Mikkel Warming, agrees with. “It’s paradoxical that we cannot offer anonymity because it is the best way to help people while they are still in work before it escalates,” Warming told Politiken. Addiction expert Henrik Rindom also argued that many people would only seek treatment if it was anonymous. “There is a large group of citizens who are drug abusers, but whose social status means that they would never seek treatment at the same location as people receiving methadone,” he said. “Anonymity is vital for making the first contact.” (PS)

n an admitted move to stall the government’s proposed congestion charge on vehicles entering and leaving Copenhagen, a unified opposition is now demanding a more comprehensive study of its environmental impact on the city and surrounding towns. “It’s no secret that we’re going to do everything in our power to stop the proposed congestion charge. But the very least one should insist upon is a thorough report on its consequences. And on that point the government has seriously broken with protocol,” Venstre’s traffic spokesperson, Kristian Pihl Lorentzen, told Politiken newspaper. Venstre, Konservative, Danske Folkeparti and Liberal Alliance are now demanding a specific environmental impact assessment, known as the VVM (Vurdering af Virkninger for Miljøet), on the effects of the proposed toll ring, as a preliminary groundwork for its presentation to parliament for a vote. VVM studies typically take three to four months to finish. In addition, Hans Toft (Konservative), the mayor of Gentofte Council, which borders Copenhagen and the proposed ring, announced last week that his town was filing a legal challenge against the government for failing to provide the environmental study with its proposal. The government countered that the VVM study would be redundant, as the congestion charge proposal is based on several alternative environmental impact studies, including a traffic study by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), an air-pollution study by Aarhus University, and an environmental impact study by the state’s roads and highways authority, Vejdirektoratet. The proposal was produced in collaboration with Tetraplan, a consulting firm specialising in strategic traffic and transportation solutions for councils, and draws upon results from other cities with congestion charges, including Stockholm and Oslo. “Congestion charges are well-proven technology with good results that have been documented by a bunch of cities,” the transportation minister, Henrik Dam Kristensen (Socialdemokraterne), told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. However, Kristensen admitted that the government decided to pursue the solution of a toll-based congestion charge without investigating other alternatives, such as GPS-based roadpricing – a newer strategy that some transpor-

tation experts believe shows excellent functional potential, and which is being rolled out for lorry traffic this year. Niels Buus Kristensen, who heads up DTU’s transport studies department, said the government ought to study all the possibilities before implementing a congestion charge. “But I certainly understand the political desire to do something quickly about the traffic problems – and it would be risky to go forward with the unproven GPS-based roadpricing technology,” he told Jyllands-Posten. The government is expected to put its finalised proposal up for parliamentary vote in a matter of weeks. But with the opposition moving to block the project, it especially needs the support of Enhedslisten, its far-left ally. And, for the time being, Enhedslisten is cool on the plan. “As a starting point, we’re against the proposal. But we’ll have to look at the concrete details [of the finalised proposal],” Enhedslisten’s group chairman Per Clausen told Politiken. Clausen added that the lack of the particular VVM environmental impact assessment did not worry him. “I’ve read a whole bunch of VVM studies and they certainly do not give you any special guarantee of an environmentally friendly solution,” Clausen said. “The only thing you can say about a VVM study is that it delays the process. But that’s exactly what Venstre is after,” he added.

Online this week Nordhavn and Copenhagen Arena get Metro stops The yet-to-be redeveloped district in Nordhavn will have its very own Metro connection after the City Council decided last week to set aside 300 million kroner to build a link to the area. The new district will house 40,000 residents and provide 40,000 new jobs and be built in the dilapidated harbour

area to the east of the fashionable Østerbro district. It was also announced that there will be a new station at Ørestad Syd, giving direct access to the coming Copenhagen Arena. The station should be completed by 2015. Mayor Frank Jensen praised both projects as signs of positive development in the city.

More demonstrators may receive police compensation The Police are to determine whether an additional 232 people pre-emptively arrested during the protests at the UN Climate Conference in December 2009 are to receive compensation for unlawful detention. Almost 250 people had their cases for compensation against the police upheld by the Eastern High Court after the

police appealed against the city court’s verdict. Now, some 232 individuals, both Danes and foreigners, who were not part of the initial suit, may also claim compensation, and the police are now processing the cases. If they are successful, the protesters could receive between 2,200 and 10,000 kroner in damages.

Magasin to stop sale of fur The sale of fur in Magasin will end completely in April 2012 as the department store brings its policy into line with that of its owner, the British chain Debenhams. The decision was welcomed by Thorbjørn Shiønning from the animal rights organisa-

tion Anima. “It’s great that Magasin is taking responsibility and is stopping the sale of fur,” he told public broadcaster DR. “It fits with the greater picture of what we have been seeing. The list of businesses that are against fur has grown over the past 10 years.”

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

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OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Don’t let homework get in the way of kids’ learning

10 - 16 February 2012

It’s about people

ROPOSALS TO drop homework would be easy to dismiss as just some throwback to the educational policies of the 1970s that emphasised independent thought at the expense of discipline and structure, if it weren’t for one thing: proof. The no-homework programmes currently gaining popularity among educators are backed by studies apparently showing improved retention and learning – two things that should be music to the ears of any adult. If those findings hold – and if they increase students’ chances of success after finishing school – then this is an idea that should become as much a part of the school day as the lunch break and PE. It is a worry that the brightest students report not being challenged enough. This should be taken seriously, but it’s not a new complaint in the Danish system, which prizes classroom cohesion and equality of outcome over academic results. We know that this won’t sit well with Denmark’s equalityminded educators, but the answer for these bored students is obviously to set up two-track teaching. That goes against the consensus mentality, but allowing everyone to excel at their own level is not the same as leaving some students behind. As a country reputed – or derided by those subscribing to the disciplinarian school of educational theories – for its progressive approach to teaching, it would seem obvious that Danish educators have latched on to the no-homework movement. What’s most interesting about its growing popularity here is that it comes on the heels of a debate last year about the state of the educational system that saw high school administrators all but surrender to the teaching philosophies of Asian school systems. What few noticed amid the apocalyptic predictions was that Asian educators were at the same time looking towards the Danish educational system, with its emphasis on understanding, critical thinking and not least socialisation, as a remedy for their rigid systems that rely heavily on memorisation and individual discipline. It would seem that after the soul searching caused by those discussions, Danish educators have concluded that there’s more ways to teach a child than by being a Tiger mom. There are lots of things to bemoan about Danish schools (students and teachers being on a first name basis for one) but when it comes to eliminating homework, there appear to be no excuses for not doing so.

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MAARTEN VAN ENGELAND

HERE ARE rotten apples in the cleaning business. That much should be obvious to anyone after recent revelations that a number of cleaning companies have business practices that fail to live up to any sort of moral

or legal standard. Given the revelations of cleaners forced to live in inhumane and slave-like conditions, it is completely appropriate that the Fraud Squad and tax officials start to have a closer look at the industry. The question, though, is whether the responsibility lies with the companies with the dubious business practices or whether consumers, purchasers and politicians have a responsibility as well. The underlying tone of the discussion is one of a distasteful ducking of blame. Companies and lawmakers alike have washed their hands of any responsibility for cleaning services purchased from contractors and sub-contractors at a local level. The message from one mayor after it was revealed that underpaid Romanians were cleaning his schools was that the problem was someone else’s.

Similarly, we have a state authority that in one instance asked a consultancy to evaluate the cost of a cleaning job before it was put out to tender. Then, the authority went and cut 40 million kroner off the value of the contract, reducing its value to an unrealistically low level. A contractor pointed out that such a low amount made it impossible to hire Danish employees, but to no avail. We can’t continue passing the buck until it winds up with a subcontractor who finds cheap labour in Romania and then keeps them as slaves. We all have a responsibility because, in the end, it’s about people. You purchase a service, and if you keep reducing the value of contracts, the person it ultimately affects is the man with the mop in his hand. Unfortunately, there are multiple examples of politicians and

purchasers in the private and public sectors that are so focused on cost, they overlook the consequences it has for the employees on the floor. This is obviously a matter of trying to spend less on cleaning so we have more public funds to spend on caregivers, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have an obligation to treat people with respect. When public sector purchasers, politicians at a local or state level, and private sector businesses buy cleaning services, they have a responsibility for the people that work for them – regardless of whether they work for you or a company you hire. Maybe not legally, but certainly morally. The author is the managing director of ISS Facility Services and the chairman of the Danish Service Industries Federation (DI Service).

READER COMMENTS Poverty rising, Eurostat figures show

One in three cabinet members not in Church of Denmark

If there are any poor or marginalised people in Denmark, it is those who are working as teachers, nurses, cashiers etc who actually get up every morning, work hard to pay all the idiotic taxes, fees, and other crap the Danish government requires from them, and don’t make as much as Özlem’s poverty princess Carina. If you want to see how the other half lives, visit Carina who hasn’t worked in 23 years, gets 16,000kr a month in ‘kontanthjælp’, and still has 5,000kr left by the end of the month after all her cigarettes and dog food have been paid Thorvaldsen by website

As long as people have free choice to be a member or not, I really don’t care. Just be glad that it is not like the hideous DR licence that is forced upon everybody. Kapo311 By website

More and higher taxes are what Danes demanded during the last election - now back to work with you. The beatings will continue until morale improves. HD1683 By website Mayor aims to draw more foreign workers to city I don’t believe that “according to numerous rankings [Copenhagen] is among the most desirable cities to live”. I think they have to lower taxes for foreigners, because right now foreigners and locals are not treated equally. Lyubomir Toshev By website Unless Frank Jensen and the red brigade can change the law so that these workers don’t have to pay 50 percent of their salary and an uncountable number of fees just to keep Danes on ‘kontanthjælp’ (à la Carina), these meetings are pointless. Thorvaldsen By website Yeah, and when we become too old to work they will say we have “problems integrating” and run studies on how most efficiently to make us leave. Kel D By website

It is totally antiquated to keep this national church structure as a governmental institution - join the 21st century and separate church and state. Thorvaldsen By website To Be Perfectly Frank | Law and disorder Frank, I recall my own amazement when in the mid-70s onwards I used to cross the road on red and was reprimanded by onlookers. I used to say: “But there’s no traffic at all,” to be told it was mandatory to wait! I’d forgotten that the UK’s Highway Code is advisory on this point. Theoldjanus By website Nation’s high consumer price levels set off debate After my eight years in Denmark, I’m grateful to be back in the US. I’d forgotten what it was like to actually have choices available to me 24 hours a day, seven days a week and not have to cough up an arm and a leg for everything I wish to purchase. Prices in Denmark are never going to lower, they’ll only rise more and more while businesses offer less. Companies/politicians will continue sitting there scoffing at complaints and creating even sorrier excuses for why everyone in Denmark has to pay so much for so little when they could pay less for much more elsewhere within Europe – and the Danes will go on buying into the malarkey as they always have. Nicole Grzeskowiak By website Groceries are expensive in Denmark? I found them way cheaper than in Australia. Not to mention

that my two-year Master’s degree is around 215,000kr; rent for a decent place is around 7500kr per month (for one person); a return train ticket three stops (with no jump off/jump on option) is 40 kroner. And for some reason I could buy Australian wine in Denmark cheaper than I could in Australia - for exactly the same bottle. Also, I found a greater diversity of stores in Denmark. M_S_H By website As bad as the high prices is the refusal of supermarkets to innovate and to create new products. I guess there is some type of tacit agreement between all players that if nobody bothers making an effort, nobody is forced into making an effort. Very cosy! My wife got it right the other day, when she remarked that the supermarkets are basically selling the same old stuff that her parents’ generation bought. John By website Føtex, Bilka and Netto are under Mærsk’s auspices and Kvickly, Super Brugsen, Fakta and Irma run by Coop. Rema 1000 hand in hand with 7-11. Wouldn’t take much effort to make a tacit agreement. George_Moon By website “Who? You’re winding me up” Well, I’d never heard of Nicolas Winding Refn (and I’ve heard of a lot of people), so it’s probably not as big a news story as you think. Kel D By website Petrified poo designated national treasure There is something rotten in Denmark and they have found it. Tom By websit I think the fact that Denmark has declared a petrified piece of excrement a national treasure speaks volumes about the country. Nicole Grzeskowiak By websit

I wondered how many posts it would take before someone made a comparison about the poo in the story to the country or government. I guessed three. I was off by three ... Oldfolky By websit Nation’s high consumer price levels set off debate If one were to make complaints about the limited food choices, along with the exorbitant prices, it would mean an admittance that there might be a problem and that is unacceptable in Denmark. The status quo must be preserved at all costs. Matsofdyl By websit Tax on farmers’ pesticide use proposed It’s a tax, yes, but each farmer would be able to choose whether or not to pay it. If a farmer objects to paying, he can just not use too many pesticides. I live on a farm, and it’s a most sterile place. The farmer sprays his pesticides, and the net result is he does not have one inch of anything growing, but some type of special modified grass. He’s got more than he actually needs or can sell. These guys need watching, because they will ruin the environment, as has been shown over all these years of intensive agricultural practices. John By websit “It’s a tax, yes, but each farmer would be able to choose whether or not to pay it”. Wouldn’t that technically make it a ‘licence’? Well, whatever. I appreciate your concern for the environment, but if you look at the regulations and fees that DK farmers have to pay relative to their EU counterparts, initiatives like this will further ruin Denmark’s agricultural competitiveness. Denmark can’t single-handedly be the beacon of light for all that is “green” and thereby save the world if it is broke. The1youlove2hate By websit

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

10 - 16 February 2012

‘MacCarthy’s World’ BY CLARE MACCARTHY Clare MacCarthy is Nordic correspondent for The Economist and a frequent contributor to The Financial Times and The Irish Times. She’ll go anywhere from the Gobi Desert to the Arctic in search of a story. The most fascinating thing about Denmark, she says, is its contradictions.

Those fine Finns LEHTIKUVA/SCANPIX

INLAND’S RECENT presidential election was an admirably civilised affair. Just before the first round of voting myself and a bunch of other foreign correspondents dropped by the MTV3 studios in Helsinki to eavesdrop on a live television debate between the eight candidates. Much talk focused on weighty issues such as the sovereign debt crisis, the future of the euro and Finland’s non-Nato status. Representing as they did the eight parties currently in parliament the candidates obviously presented a range of diverging perspectives. But what was really striking was the tone of the debate – it was courteous, civil and cordial. This was no show for the cameras. The agreeable mood remained each time the show went off-air for ad breaks. With the mud slinging of last September’s Danish general election still clear in my memory, it was refreshing to witness the almost complete absence of negative campaigning. There were occasional lapses. In a run-down shopping centre in Helsinki’s gritty eastern suburbs, Timo Soini, the contentious leader of the far-right True Finns, received a torrent of abuse from a drunk in the crowd. But he fielded it capably, with neither fuss nor drama. Overall, the lowest point of the campaign was probably a TV advert on behalf of Paavo Väyrynen that told Finns that “a house needs a master and a mistress” – a nasty little sideswipe at his gay rival Pekka Haavisto. As Vänrynen failed to make it into the second round of the election and Haavisto did, the jibe clearly cut little ice with voters. So when local journalists sought out us foreign hacks to see what we made of it all, it was easy to proffer a straightforward (if unexciting) opinion: this

Pekka Haavisto (right), the presidential candidate of the Green Party, and his spouse Nexar Antonio Flores

election was a model of democracy in action – a free, fair and transparent race for the presidency. I further suggested that Finns should count themselves lucky to be in such a situation, adding that not all of their neighbours were equally fortunate. Here I was thinking of Russia, which every day descends further into a quagmire of corruption and repression. But mostly I was thinking of Belarus, that land-locked former Soviet satellite whose capital Minsk is actually a good bit nearer Helsinki than Copenhagen.

A Belarussian president is a vastly different beast to a Finnish one. Alexander Lukashenko who has ruled since 1994 is frequently labelled “Europe’s last dictator” – and with just cause. One of his most recent affronts to democracy is a law that tightens state control of the internet by prohibiting citizens from accessing blacklisted websites, including those of political opponents and dissidents. Under Lukashenko’s iron fist, elections are fraudulent (rigged voting awards him 80 percent of the poll)

and opposition protesters are savagely beaten by state militia. The US regards Belarus as “an outpost of tyranny” and channels funds to pro-democracy movements, while the EU has declared its territory a no-travel zone for the despot who counts Syria’s Bashar al-Assad as a bosom buddy. Presidents, then, come in all shapes and sizes and degrees of humanity. They can be dictators as in Belarus or Syria, powerful political leaders as in the US or France, or largely symbolic heads of state as in Finland, Iceland or Ireland.

But there’s another model too: the constitutional monarchy as practiced by Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Of these three countries, Denmark’s royal rule has by far the strongest support of the citizenry. Currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of the start of her reign, Queen Margrethe II is almost universally acclaimed by her subjects as a wise, competent and thoroughly modern monarch. According to a recent opinion poll, 77 percent of Danes are happy with their monarchy and only 16 percent would trade it in for a republic. The royals’ broad fan-base is echoed by the blanket media coverage given to glittering events where jewel-adorned royal females troop out in pretty frocks accompanied by royal males with medals clanking on their chests. Living through recessionary times, the show is often a welcome respite from bleak economic news. The swish of silk gowns and the dazzle of highly polished dress uniform buttons does wonders for the mood. It’s a grand show. And when it comes to discharging the more serious duties of a constitutional monarch, Queen Margrethe deserves nothing but praise for her unerringly skillful handling of a very difficult role over four decades. To her subjects and those she meets on her travels, she is unfailingly courteous and gracious and is certainly one of the most thoroughly decent heads of state I’ve had the good fortune to meet. But there’s a but. My visit to Helsinki has left me more convinced than ever that monarchy – even constitutional monarchy in its sophisticated Scandinavian format – is a poorer fit with democracy than are direct elections. And for that reason the Finnish formula is admirable.

CPH POST VOICES

‘THE LYNCH REPORT’

‘PERNICKETY DICKY’

‘STILL ADJUSTING’

‘TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK’

English-Australian theatre director Stuart Lynch has lived in Copenhagen since Clinton impeached his cigars and writes from the heart of the Danish and international theatre scene. He is married with kids and lives in Nørrebro. Visit his Danish theatre at www.lynchcompany.dk.

English by nature – Danish at heart. Freelance journalist Richard Steed has lived in Copenhagen for nearly five years now. “I love this city and want Copenhagen to be a shining example to the rest of the world.”

A proud native of the American state of Iowa, Justin Cremer has been living in Copenhagen since June 2010. In addition to working at the CPH Post, he balances fatherhood, the Danish language and the ever-changing immigration rules. Follow him at twitter.com/justincph

Born in 1942 on the Isle of Wight, Englishman Frank Theakston has been in Copenhagen 32 years and is on his second marriage, this time to a Dane. Frank comes from a different time and a different culture – which values are the right ones today?

10 News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

10 - 16 February 2012

Trouble abounds abroad: Danes busted around the globe Terror arrest in Morocco, “horrific” sex crime case in the US, and filming private acts Down Under

anish citizens running afoul of the law made international headlines over this last week. Below is a run-down of three cases on three continents. Terror charges in Morocco Moroccan police have arrested a Danish citizen on terror charges, according to the Associated Press. The Dane, who is of Moroccan descent, was arrested along with two other men for planning terror attacks against the Moroccan state. The three suspects are believed to be members of a terror organisation going by the name of the Party for Moroccan Islamic Liberation. According to Morocco’s Interior Ministry, the Danish citizen travelled to Morocco to supervise the execution of a plan that aimed to “undermine the country’s security and stability” by recruiting “indoctrinated” people. Authorities believe the terror cell is financed by supporters in Europe.

“They spread their nihilistic theses in brochures that they distribute in Moroccan cities,” the Moroccan Interior Ministry said in a statement. “They pose a question mark over the entire democratic process and they encourage subversive activity.” As of Wednesday, there was no statement from the Foreign Ministry or PET relating to the arrest. Jyllands-Posten reports that it attempted to find additional details about the arrestee through the Moroccan news bureau Arabe Presse. Staff there, however, could only confirm that a Danish citizen had been arrested. This is not the first time a Dane has been involved in a terror case in Morocco. Omar Maarouf, a Danish-Moroccan citizen, has been sentenced to death for attempted murder and an attempted bombing in 2003. “Horrific” child sex conviction earns Dane 30 years in the US A 61-year-old computer consultant from Randers has been sentenced to 30 years in a US prison for tricking an 11-year-old girl to perform sex acts in front of a web cam and later threatening to expose her

The three busts all involved Danish men

publicly. Posing as a 14-year-old boy, Kai Lundstrøm Pedersen recorded the 25-minute session and later used the video to terrorise the girl by threatening to send the pictures to her friends and family. When the girl later tried to break contact, Pedersen began to threaten her, according to the St Joseph (Missouri) News-Press. “I have 56 pictures and a video of you. The pictures are from the video and this one is just a free sample,” he is reported to have written in an email

dated from 1 August 2010. “If you don’t want me to post everything on the internet, then write back to me. Maybe we can find a way to prevent me from making everything public. I could also send them to your Facebook friends??” On 10 August 2010, the victim’s mother asked the police to investigate after receiving one of the pictures. Pedersen was arrested in September 2010 while visiting the US on a trip reportedly not related to the child pornography

case. Investigators, who had been posing as the 11-year-old on Facebook, determined he would be in the US and used his IP address to determine his location. They arrested him in New York. Pedersen pleaded guilty to extortion and the production and transportation of child pornography. During the trial he apologised to the girl, calling his conduct “awful” and “inexcusable”. “I’m not in a position to ask her or her family to forgive me,” Pedersen told the court. “I just

hope the memory will fade.” Pedersen could have been given anything between 15 and 30 years for his crimes, and while his lawyer admitted that her client’s offences were “horrific”, she noted that in Denmark such a conviction would have carried only a six-year sentence. The judge, however, criticised Denmark for not taking these types of crimes more seriously, and said that by handing down the maximum sentence he was sending a message to child pornographers. Noting that most child pornography cases involve viewers not producers, Kays said: “You’re unique, Mr Pedersen, because we don’t often get people like you.” Filming toilet visits in Australia In a camping facility in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, a Dane has been caught filming women using public toilets. Local police received reports that the 35-year-old man was using his mobile phone to videotape women using the facility. He was charged with filming people engaged in a private act and was due to face a local court on Monday. (JC/CS) Scanpix

City centre brawl outside screening of film about British hooligans Mike Hofman Clash between supporters of FC Copenhagen and Brøndby brings Strøget to a standstill

mass brawl broke out last week on Wednesday between supporters of FC Copenhagen and Brøndby outside The Irish Rover on Strøget in central Copenhagen, sparked off by the pub’s denial of certain fans to the screening of a film made by a revered former hooligan. Even though the event on the first floor of the pub was sold out, a group of FCK fans tried to enter the pub without having tickets. When a group of Brøndby fans attending the screening became aware of this, they went outside – which resulted in a violent clash between both sets of supporters. An eyewitness who was upstairs heard the argument on the door followed by the sound of smashing glass as disgruntled fans threw chairs through the pub’s windows. A mass brawl involving an estimated 40 hooligans then broke out. Chairs were thrown as men punched each other in front of up to 100 shocked onlookers. Shops in the area closed their doors in order to keep the hooligans out. According to the eyewitness in the pub, the police arrived “pretty quick – about five to ten minutes”, at which point

The fight occurred outside the Irish Rover

At one point all of the hooligans ran towards us, which was the moment we started panicking most of the hooligans ran away, down Jorck’s Passage towards Fiolstræde. “At one point all of the hooligans ran towards us, which was the moment we started panicking as well,” recalled Veera Elina Ala-Vähälä, a Finnish eyewitness outside the pub. “The public started to run away.” “And just like that, all the hooligans were gone,” said another eyewitness, Bodil Jane from The Netherlands. “We walked passed the bar and saw

that all the windows had been smashed and that furniture had been thrown around.” The screening of ‘Casuals’, a documentary about British hooligan fashion in the 1980s, meanwhile went ahead as planned. It included an introduction by its maker, Cass Pennant. The former West Ham hooligan, now an author and ‘hooliologist’, was himself the subject of a 2008 feature film, ‘Cass’, about his life as an adopted black child growing up in London’s East End who went on to become one of the country’s most feared hooligans. The New Firm, the football rivalry between FCK and Brøndby, often results in violent clashes when the clubs meet, but rarely outside the football season, which is currently on a winter break until the start of March.

The European robin is just one of the bird species having a rough go of it this winter

Birds falling victim to Siberian chill Up to a quarter of Denmark’s small bird species may have already died during the cold spell

ust a few days of biting cold may already have cost Denmark 25 percent of its smallest birds, including species such as the goldcrest (fuglekonge), Eurasian wren (gærdesmutte) and European robin (rødhals), all of which are especially vulnerable to cold temperatures. “If this extreme cold continues throughout the month, we will lose 90 percent of these bird species,” said Morten DD Hansen, a nature guide and curator at the Natural History Museum in Aarhus.

The goldcrest is Denmark’s smallest and most cold-sensitive bird, but the other two species are nearly as small and just as vulnerable to freezing temperatures. On extremely cold days like the ones Denmark is now experiencing, small birds use all of their energy to keep their body cores from freezing. While their body fat helps to insulate them, they have trouble maintaining it without adequate calorie intake. And that is difficult as their primary food sources – spiders and insects – also die off in the cold. Without enough food, small birds’ chances of surviving freezing winter weather are extremely limited. If the deep freeze continues, dead birds could become a com-

mon sight, according to Hansen, who explained that they freeze, especially during the coldest hours of the night, and fall dead to the ground. This year is not the first time that Denmark’s small birds have died off in large numbers due to the cold. “Last year’s hard winter killed off about 90 percent of these bird species,” said Hansen. One of the best things people can do to help small wild birds survive the cold, according to birding society Dansk Ornitologisk Forening (DOF), is to put out fatty and nutritious bird food in winter. Bird seed mixes and bird seed balls fortified with lard are good options, says DOF, as are whole apples. (JB)

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

10 - 16 February 2012

PHOTOS: CLIVE THAIN

Gus and Grant give the Dub club a night to remember

WORDS BY BEN HAMILTON

It was a Burns Night to remember (and for many, partially to forget) thanks to the Dubliner Pub on Strøget, which once again welcomed all and sundry to come and celebrate one of the most revered days in the Scottish calendar. Featuring plenty of bagpipes, kilts, haggis, and whisky most definitely spelt without an E, it was a grand night thanks to the efforts of the Irish pub’s Scottish landlord Gus and the support of the Diagio and Braunstein breweries.

Returning as the master of ceremonies was Angus Rollo

As per standard procedure the evening started sedately …

Central to the night was the Dubliner’s Grant, whether it was distributing drams or dancing with dames.

Surely the most essential components of the night: bare legs. Oh, and don’t forget the haggis and bagpipes.

Wielding wee drams wherever he wandered, Grant ensured the tables never went thirsty.

and then the music began, along with hand-linking and singing …

Surely the evening’s best dressed pair, and in Back again were Scotsman Gordon Cooper and Peter Marsh and Paul Wilson get in We remember him from last year! But does she? matching tartans as well Sharon Aastsrup the party spirit

before an all-out assault on the tables

Crikey Clive. One pint of Guinness and he’s anyone’s.

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

10 - 16 February 2012

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD

(UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED)

Crown Princess Mary turned 40 last Sunday – how she must have rejoiced when she first arrived in Denmark to discover that her passion for fashion will always be indulged at this time of year at the Copenhagen Fashion Week (see left), which concluded on Sunday after five days of shows and events. Here she is talking to Christian Stadil, the owner of sportswear firm Hummel.

The minister of gender equality and church, Manu Sareen, was among the attendees at the ‘For Women in Natural Sciences’ event at The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, organised by UNSECO and L’Oreal. Pictured here are the recipients of three fellowships bestowed by the event: Brigitte Städler (Aarhus University), Marité Cardenas, and Karin Frei (both University of Copenhagen), while Sareen is the fourth from the right standing behind them.

Here they are, the faces that are set to take over our homes, or at least 1.5 million of them, for the next seven weeks. At first glance, the X Factor cast of 2012 look a pretty insipid lot. The groups are all duos, and some of the singers are talentless to The acclaimed artist Jeppe Eisner has turned 60. He celebrated the say the least. Missing from the under-25s is a girl from the Faroes who was told by occasion with friends and surrounded by good art at his house in Dyre- judge Pernille Rosendahl (far left) that she’s too good for the show. Hardly inspires confidence does it. haven, the inspiration for so much of his work.

INSPIRATION FROM THE SPIRE

Jonathan LLoyd is the Anglican/Episcopal priest in Denmark. You can find him on your way to the Little Mermaid at St Alban’s Church, Churchillparken. This may seem like a little piece of England complete with its distinctive spire and statue of Sir Winston, but it gathers people from across the globe plus hundreds of tourists each week. Jonathan has lived in Copenhagen for the last two years and loves the place.

India celebrated its republic day at its embassy on January 26 – we guess they’re getting used to celebrating the occasion in the snow by now!

The occasion included a selection of Indian songs, including ‘De Di Hame Azadi’, sung by Anita Lerche, who is pictured here (left-right) with Indian ambassador Ashok Kumar Attri, and his wife Usha. Apparently Lerche is heading to India later this month to shoot a music video.

HEN I WAS a schoolboy, ing and calling oneself a Valentine is I remember my group of as least as old as the Paston Letters, friends proudly counting a collection of manuscripts written how many anonymous Val- about life in England between 1422 entine’s cards they had received. After and 1509. There was also the Roman a forensic examination of handwriting, Lupercalia Festival, which took place we soon discovered that the ‘Jack the in the middle of February each year. Lad’ who had boasted Whatever the connection the most had sent most with St Valentine, he has or all of them to himself! boosted our economy. In The card, flower and London the price of red chocolate sellers make roses triples this week! for better or for a good profit from St Probably here in CopenValentine. But what or worse, in sickness hagen too. who is behind it all? St As a parish priest, Valentine was a priest or and in health, to one of the most special bishop in Terni who was love and to cherish things I do is preparing martyred in Rome uncouples for marriage, and der Emperor Claudius till death do us part then officiating at their Gothicus for his Chriswedding. In this world tian faith. Since 1835 so much is short-term his body has been buried in Dublin. and temporary and fast, from employNo-one seems to know why this rather ment contracts to fast-food. We cast obscure third century Italian bishop’s away furniture that looks slightly outname became linked to lovers or court- dated. We trade in our cars for the lating couples. But there is a belief that est model. It is an incredible thing, and the birds of the air are supposed to pair counter-cultural too, when two people on 14 February – a belief as least as old come together in public and promise as Chaucer. And the custom of choos- “for better or for worse, in sickness and

in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part”. These words are so powerful that many weep. A shiver always goes down my neck. When I lived in South London the word “whatever” was a popular expression with young people. It doesn’t really mean anything in particular, but in a way it sums up the staying power behind a long-term committed relationship in which we promise to love and cherish each other, whatever comes along. This week I will officiate at the funeral of a special lady who was married for 55 years. Such commitment and strength of relationship, in my view, makes the world a better place. And I salute them. So whatever you receive on Valentine’s Day – whether it be flowers, chocolates, cards, a special meal, or just a night in by the fire watching Big Brother – give thanks for love. It makes the world go round. There is a special St Valentine’s Day service for couples this Sunday at 16:00 at St Alban’s Church, Churchillparken 11, Cph K. All are welcome.

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

10 - 16 February 2012

I feel like both an Indian and a Dane, says church minister ANKIT KHANDELWAL Minister explains how his Indian heritage has affected him, and how kids’ bedrooms around the world have a lot in common!

OT ALL interviews with politicians have to be deeply serious. This proved true when our Community pages caught up with Manu Sareen, the Danish minister for gender equality and churches, to find out more about his Indian heritage and what he thinks about his adopted country’s future. How did you become interested in politics? The roots are there in my own family. My grandmother was active in the INC (Indian National Congress). I also had the honour of meeting Mrs Indira Gandhi (the former prime minister of India), both in Denmark and in India. Due to my family’s background, it was quite natural for me to choose that path. What do you have to say about your Indian roots? I am from India, and I look Indian. However, I’ve spent most of my life in Denmark. I feel like both an Indian and a Dane. When I’m giving an interview, I represent two countries: India

and Denmark. I am enormously proud of my Indian heritage, and when I’m in Denmark, I’m an ambassador for India. I feel honoured to represent both Denmark and India.

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ish background, which gives Danish kids the opportunity to read about people who are a little different, to give them a bit of diversity. You have been a consultant on ethnic matters for many years. In your opinion, what

problems do foreign residents in Denmark encounter? A lot of things have changed for the better, but prejudice is still around. I think it often stems from people being afraid of the unknown, and seeing that another person thinks or acts in a different way than them.

There is still a lot of room for improvement in this area. Ankit Khandelwal is a ‘Youth Goodwill Ambassador in Denmark’. He interviewed the minister on behalf of The Copenhagen Post and the Times of India, which published their version last weekend on Friday.

COMING UP SOON

t Guide | 16 - 22 Sep

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Dane unable to obtain family girlfriend reunification for his Thai Catch-22 says residency rules are a

Manu Sareen’s comments about being half-Indian were controversial, according to Tuesday’s Politiken

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Issue 44 4 - 10 November 2011 | Vol 14

You also write children’s books that focus on children with immigrant backgrounds. What gave you the idea, while also having a successful career as both a consultant and a politician? A variety of things. I’m quite lucky that the books have proven to be such a success in Denmark. I’m particularly interested in writing books about minorities. I think a lot of Danish literature focuses on very Danish things. So I decided to write a book about those of us who don’t have a traditional Dan-

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Today’s youth seem to be losing faith in their leaders. What are your feelings about that? I’m not sure that’s something new. People always place their hopes in a new leader, and they often become disappointed later when they realise that politicians are just normal people. I think that’s happened with Barack Obama, although I’m still a big fan!

You’ve worked a lot with issues related to children. How are children’s lives different from when you were a child? Change is happening rapidly in today’s world. I was on holiday in India two years ago, and I met up with my cousin. I went into his children’s room to chat, and saw how similar it was to a typical teenager’s room in Europe: they had an iPod and a computer logged on to Facebook. Ba-

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FROM SCHÜTZ TO GEIST 1600-1700 Early German Baroque Music

sically, kids are using the same gadgets and social media everywhere. That’s one of the biggest changes that has occurred since my childhood. Kids and young people are using internet in a natural way that I did not. My own children are using the internet as their third hand – it’s so intuitive to them.

In a professional sense, how has being Indian affected you? I’m not sure I can answer that directly, but I can tell you how my Indian parents brought me up. There were two important things my father taught me that still mean a lot to me today: firstly, behave properly. Wherever you go, you must always conduct yourself appropriately. And secondly, work hard. My parents told me you must always work hard. Your parents work hard to give you a better education, so you must work hard in return. Also, it may be coincidental, but all the Indians I know have been good at adjusting to being in a new environment.

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Expat Sporting Sunday DGI-Byen, Tietgensgade 65, Cph V; Sun 12 Feb, 10:00; Free adm; register at: www.dgi.dk You’ve seen them charging around the sports centre, throwing and catching a frisbee, or man-handling each other a bit but not too physically, playing some sort of game – and while it looks fun, it’s also a bit baffling and you’re a bit apprehensive about learning the rules in Danish. Well, here’s a change to have a go with English instruction. Meet new people and learn about a galaxy of sporting opportunities in this country that you didn’t even know existed.

Let’s go dancing: 30+ Nord Natklub, Axeltorv 5, Cph V; Sat 18 Feb; free adm before 23:00, 90kr after; www.nordnatklub.dk The average age of people in Denmark going to nightclubs is getting younger and younger. Fortunately there is Klub Nord, where you can only get in when you’re over the age of 30. The dress code for this evening is ‘casual smart’, which means no old sneakers and no hood-shirts. If you don’t have anyone to go with, you can meet up with other expats at 22:00 outside the club – check www.meetup.com for more information.

Theatre workshop Lynch Company, Dansens Hus, Pasteursvej 14, Cph V; Thu 16 Feb-Fri 17 Feb, 10:00 & Sat 18 Feb, 12:00; 700kr, register at mail@lynchcompany.dk; www. lynchcompany.dk Performance group Lynch Company presents a three-day workshop, combining theatre, dance and psychology. The workshop will culminate in a 150-minute performance as part of the Vildskund Festival in August. If you want to participate, write to mail@lynchcompany.dk, enclosing a covering letter and your CV.

Seminar: Design Beyond Luxury Marriott Hotel Copenhagen, Kalvebod Brygge 5, Cph V; Thu 23 Feb, 18:00; sign up at expatindenmark.com Expat in Denmark invites you to a professional network seminar on design. This session will provide you with a first-hand insight into the world of design, its broad scope, and the huge amount of opportunities involved with approaching problems from a designer’s perspective.

Improvisation Workshop VerdensKulturCentret, Nørre Allé 7, Cph N; Tue 14 Feb, 19:00; www.ctcircle.dk This improvisation workshop leads you through a range of activities designed to get you out of your shell and get performing. They will wrap up the evening at around 21:30 and head to a local bar afterwards for a few drinks. Check meetup. com for more details Meet the Leaders with Defence Minister Nick Hækkerup Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Hammerichsgade 1, Cph V; Mon 5 Mar, 13:00; Free adm, register at: www.amcham.dk Just four months ago, Nick Hækkerup was appointed as Denmark’s minister of defence. Minister Hækkerup’s appointment comes at a most challenging time, when the on-going economic crisis and cuts in government spending have put tremendous pressure on military budgets. So what’s next for the Danish military? Join the instalment of AmCham Denmark’s ‘Meet the Leaders’ series, where Denmark’s Minister of Defence Nick Hækkerup will speak about his vision for the Danish military.

MIKE HOFMAN

sport

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

10 - 16 February 2012

Seven Olympic medals: pie in the sky or feet on the ground? Team Danmark predicts success in seven different sports: swimming, rowing, badminton, tennis, handball, sailing and cycling

Badminton Team Danmark: one medal; Cph Post: two medals Denmark might not be the best badminton nation in the world, but the country that has dominated Europe for two decades isn’t far off. Across the board, they have medal chances in all five of the categories. The best of these is probably the men’s double pairing, Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen. The world number threes really impressed last year, showing the ability to peak when it really matters, like at All-England – a title they significantly won on British soil, albeit in Birmingham not London. While singles players Peter Gade and two-time All-England champ Tine Baun, the world number four and five respectively, are class acts and also likely to medal, Denmark’s second best hope must be Christinna Pedersen, who along with mixed partner Joachim Fischer Nielsen is the world number three, and with ladies partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl, the world number seven. In short, the world number threes, threes, four, five and sevens will win at least two medals – that’s a promise. Rowing Team Danmark: one medal; Cph Post: two medals While the whole world will be waiting with baited breath to see if rowing great Eskild Ebbesen, 39, can guide his lightweight coxless four (Jacob Barsoe, Morten Joergensen and Kasper Winter) to gold and win his fourth Olympic title, he is not Denmark’s best medalling prospect. That honour falls to Henrik

www.ol.dk

eam Danmark announced in late January that it is expecting to win seven medals at this year’s Olympics in London – the same total it won in 2008. However, while those games – at which it won two golds, two silvers and three bronzes, finishing 30th in the final medal table (28th equal in terms of total medals won) – were in Beijing, the 2012 Olympics are practically on their doorstep in a country that’s windy, rainy and rarely warm. Sound familiar? Well, history suggests it is. Denmark’s most successful ever Olympics were in 1948, the last time London hosted the games. On that occasion the Danes won 20 medals, including five golds. So given that climatically this is the closest Denmark has come to ‘hosting’ an Olympics since Moscow in 1980 (failing that, Munich in 1972 or Helsinki in 1952), why are the projections calculated by the Sports Confederation of Denmark (DIF) and Team Denmark so low and what are they based on? According to Michael Andersen of Team Danmark, the projections are based on performances at the Olympic sports’ world championships in 2010 and 2011. “At present, we believe that Denmark has the potential to win medals in 20 to 22 Olympic disciplines,” he contended in a press release. “And experience shows that we need just under three medal chances to actually get one.” Jesper Frigast Larsen, the DIF’s elite chief, added that he was confident the projection would grow given how large the team is likely to be. “It looks like being our largest Olympic team since the games in Atlanta in 1996,” he said. “We have already secured participation in 13 sports – a figure that might possibly reach 19.” He said he was optimistic of the Danish side springing a few surprises. And so are we. Taking a sport-bysport approach, we look at the competitors who are heading to London with gold, silver or bronze in their sights.

Swimming: Team Danmark predicts one medal; Cph Post: two medals Lotte Friis, who has just turned 24, should be at the peak of her powers in London, and while the 400m freestyle might be out of her reach, she will start the 800m as one of the favourites for the gold. Currently the second fastest swimmer in history behind defending champion Rebecca Adlington, she’s a cert to medal. Jeanette Ottesen, also 24, will feel confident following her triple gold medal haul at the European Short Course Championship in December, and between her and fellow short course gold medallist Rikke Moller Pedersen, we’re confident the swimmers will win at least two medals.

www.ol.dk

Ben Hamilton

Stephansen, an insanely talented lightweight single sculler, whose third quarter turn of pace is just too hot for his rivals to handle. He’s a cert to win gold. And don’t forget Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist who will go close in the lightweight double sculls after winning bronze in 2008. Handball Team Danmark: one medal; Cph Post: no medals With the women facing a tricky qualification tournament in May, putting your money on a Danish handball medal at present looks a shaky bet. The men might be European champions, but how much do they rely on Mikkel Hansen, and will he be able to produce the goods against teams that know if they can stop him, they stop Denmark. With both teams playing in London, you’d expect a medal, but as things currently stand, no. Sailing Team Danmark: one medal; Cph Post: two medals We’re going to stick our neck out and predict two medals in London. In similar conditions to the ones they’re used to, Danish sailors should have an

advantage over most of their rivals. Defending Olympic champs Martin Kirketerp and Jonas Warrer will lead the charge in the 49er class. Cycling Team Danmark: one medal; Cph Post: one medal Denmark shouldn’t get carried away with their medal prospects in the velodrome. Australia didn’t take too kindly to being thrashed by the Brits in 2008, and have been sweeping the board in

Final tally

Factfile | Danish Olympic performance since 1996 Olympics

Team size

Medal haul

1996 2000 2004 2008

126 athletes 97 athletes 92 athletes 84 athletes

6 medals 6 medals 8 medals 7 medals

Team Danmark:

The Copenhagen Post

recent world championships, the next of which it will be hosting in April. With the Brits hosting and Aussies rampant, there won’t be much spare change this time around. Saying that, they probably will medal in the 4 km team pursuit. Tennis Team Danmark: one medal; Cph Post: no medals Given that Caroline Wozniacki has always struggled at Wimbledon, it would appear to be plain barmy predicting a medal for her at the Olympics on grass, her least favourite surface. Sure, she was junior champion there in 2006, but since then, the best she’s managed is the last 16. Perhaps Team Danmark has based its prediction based on her world ranking. Well she’s number four and she’ll finish fourth at best. Other sports Team Danmark: no medals; Cph Post: one medal It stands to reason, Denmark will spring a surprise or two, here or there. We have a sneaky suspicion this might be in the shooting, dressage or canoeing. Not holding our breath for the table tennis, athletics, archery or gymnastics though.

Sports news and briefs “Racehorse not a workhorse” The fallout has continued following confirmation that Caroline Wozniacki has sacked her Spanish coach Ricardo Sanchez after just two months in the job. Sanchez has told media that the player was reluctant to make the necessary changes to her game that many believe is currently too defen-

sive to win a grand slam. “[She and her father] became nervous when we didn’t start getting great results right away,” he told Spanish sports newspaper Marca. “She’s got to be more aggressive in her play. I tried to help her, but they would not let me. Wozniacki should be a racehorse, not a workhorse.”

Søren’s back

NHL failure bittersweet for Danes

Tine cleans up again

Following a dismal 2011, Søren Hansen returned to form last weekend at the Qatar Masters, where he shot a final round 66 to finish fifth equal, ahead of rivals Anders Hansen (12th) and Bjørn (25th). Søren Hansen, who played in the 2008 Ryder Cup, is currently the world number 256.

Denmark will be taking a strong team to the World Ice Hockey Championships in Finland and Sweden this May, after it was confirmed that most of its key North American-based players have missed out on the NHL playoffs. They include Frans Nielsen (New York Islanders, this season’s stats: nine goals, 16 as-

Tine Baun has won her ninth national title, taking her to within four of Camilla Martin’s record. It took the world number five just 26 minutes to beat Sandra-Maria Jensen. While she has won All England twice, Baun, 32, will be looking to improve a disappointing Olympic record this summer in London.

sists), Lars Eller (Montreal Canadiens, ten goals, ten assists), and Mikkel Bodker (Phoenix Coyotes, seven goals, nine assists). Only Jannik Hansen (Vancouver Canucks, 13 goals, 13 assists) is likely to be involved in the playoffs. Last year, Bodker was the only Danish NHL participant at the world championships.

business

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

10 - 16 February 2012

Maersk locks horns with government Peter Stanners Maersk refuses to renegotiate the North Sea oil deal, but think-tank Concito says government could be within its rights to demand a higher share of profits

he government should be able to renegotiate the 2003 North Sea oil deal establishing the state’s share of profits by raising its hydrocarbon tax, according to green think-tank Concito. The deal was struck with the oil consortium DUC, which consists of Maersk, Shell and Chevron, and is supposed to last until 2042 without renegotiation. Should the government choose to raise the hydrocarbon tax before then, it would be obliged to compensate DUC for lost earnings. While this compensation clause is considered by many to be a thorn in the side of the government’s attempts to extract more money from the North Sea oil industry, Concito’s chief economist, Frans Clemmensen, argues it contradicts the state’s right to set taxes. “The compensation clause recognises the state’s right to tax, which makes it contradictory if it requires the state to compensate DUC if the hyrdrocarbon tax is increased,” Clemmensen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. “Many experts pointed this out when the North Sea deal was struck in 2003 as being problematic.” The deal was intended to ensure that the state took its fair share of

profits from the North Sea oil. Government support party Enhedslisten has been a particularly vocal critic of the deal, which many argue was excessively generous to the oil industry. It took the formation of the Socialdemokraterne-led Maersk is refusing to renegotiate the North Sea oil deal, which government last sets the government’s share of the profits year for the issue to regain political importance as the ernment wants to protect its and the tax new government sought new areas to payers’ interests and thoroughly examine increase revenue. the deal to see what they may or may not The oil industry reacted negatively do,” Clemmensen said, adding that the to the decision by the government last government could choose to raise the November to re-examine the terms of tax and pay DUC compensation, which the deal, arguing that it has fulfilled its would be in agreement with the deal. obligations and expected the governAccording to Concito, DUC has ment to do the same. profited from enormous increases in oil “We do not see any foundation for prices since the deal was struck, leada renegotiation of the North Sea deal,” ing to vastly higher profit margins than Anders Würtzen, the head of public af- most businesses. fairs for Maesk, said. “The deal lives up In 2008, DUC had a profit margin to what the parties agreed during the of 28 percent. The average non-financenegotiations in 2003 – negotiations that related company has an average after tax were both long and detailed.” profit margin of 2 percent. The Tax Ministry is heading the The numbers concerning profits committee that is re-examining the deal earned from the North Sea oil deal and it is expected to release a report by vary. On Monday, Jyllands-Posten put September on its findings. For now, the DUC’s profits between 2004 and there is no word on the government’s 2010 at 88 billion kroner while Conposition concerning the legitimacy of cito claims it is 125 billion. Both agree the compensation clause. the Danish state earned about 185 bil“The question is whether the gov- lion in the same period.

DSB laying off hundreds to get back on track Drastic savings plan calls for closure of rail operator’s 14 travel agencies on June 1

tate-owned train operator DSB has announced it will shut down its travel agency business on June 1 as part of a massive cost-savings plan that the company hopes will get it back on track. The decision came after year-end reports revealed DSB was running massive deficits; in the first three quarters of 2011, the budget shortfall topped half a billion kroner despite increases in the number of passengers and earnings. However, business growth has failed to keep pace with spending, largely due to investment losses on the scandal-ridden IC4 train upgrades. DSB’s management has therefore produced a plan to cut spending by approximately one

billion kroner per year by 2015. Eliminating its travel agency division is just one element of that plan. As of June 1, customers will no longer be able to book complete holiday packages, including hotel reservations and flight tickets, with DSB. Instead, the company will refocus on train travel. DSB will continue to sell national and international train tickets from its call centre and on its website, as well as from selected train stations. “The management has decided to put everything into making our core business area run perfectly. Shutting down the travel agencies is just one element,” Anne-Lise Bach Sørensen, DSB’s head of sales, said. The 14 travel agency closures will affect some 100 employees. Many of them will be offered other jobs in the company, according to Sørensen, who added that customers had

no reason to worry that their travel plans would change or lack service. “Anyone who has bought or ordered a package tour from us can still go and rest easy. We guarantee the trips and we’ll still be available for advice after May 2012. However, as Sørensen noted, the travel agency closures are just one element in the larger savings-plan DSB is rolling out. As many as 1,000 jobs will be eliminated once the other elements come into play. On Thursday of last week, DSB reached an agreement with the labour union Dansk Jernbaneforbund, which represents more than a third of DSB’s employees. The agreement calls for the elimination of 368 jobs. Some of those will come through attrition and reassignments to other jobs. Others will come through voluntary retirement packages. (JB)

Terrible 2011 result for Vestas

ind turbine maker Vestas suffered pretax losses of 1.1 billion kroner in 2011, far higher than the 450 million kroner loss which was expected. The numbers were announced on Wednesday and were followed by the news that chairman Bent Erik Carlsen, his deputy chairman, and the company’s head of finance will leave after the annual general meeting in March. The company had already lowered its earnings forecast, but after the loss turned out to be almost triple what was expected, the company has now decided not to publish its expected number of orders for coming years. “After input from several of the company’s large shareholders, we have decided to reduce the number of parameters that Vestas publishes information about in 2012,” the company announced. Vestas share prices tumbled almost 15 percent overnight, wiping about 2 billion kroner off the company’s value. Increased production costs and the postponement of major orders have been voiced as the major causes of the losses which stood in stark contrast to 2010’s pretax profit of 118 million kroner. To tackle spiralling costs, the company announced this January that they would be firing 2,335 employees of which 1,300 would be in Denmark. Vestas’ CEO, Ditlev Engel, was spared in the management cull, but remained cautious about what 2012 will bring, saying the company would need to increase activity and deal with a turbulent political situation in the US. (PS)

business news and briefs 420bn kroner to dismantle oil rigs After decades of offshore drilling, oil and gas companies must be prepared to pay 420 billion kroner over the next 30 years to dismantle and remove more than 470 oil rigs throughout the North Sea. The price tag covers the cost of transporting the platforms to land, capping the wells and scrapping the rigs. A joint report prepared for science weekly Ingeniøren by Douglas-Westwood and Deloitte states that the decommissioning of the platforms will gain momentum between 2016 and 2031.

Finance workers strike deal The Finance Confederation (Finansforbundet) has reached an agreement with the Finance Sector’s Employer’s Association that gives employees five days off when their children are sick, but only a two percent salary increase over the next two years. The two-year collective agreement will take effect in April. The sector anticipates around 2,200 future layoffs, so the new agreement also stipulates that employers have to help laid-off employees find new work.

100 Carlsberg workers to lose jobs Carlsberg brewery will invest 100 million in a robot that can package orders for customers. The robotic worker will take the place of 100 of the flesh and blood type, who can anticipate losing their jobs in 2014 when the robot is ready. The lay-offs will affect the brewery’s distribution employees in Høje Taastrup and Fredericia.

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK The Impact of the Global Economic Situation on Danish Industry

Peter Foss

Chairman FOSS A/S Peter Foss (born august 4, 1956 in Copenhagen) is a Danish Master of Science and Chairman of FOSS. He is the son of Nils Foss, who in 1956 founded FOSS A/S, who make and market “The World’s best Dedicated Analytical Solutions” for the Agricultural and Food Industries. FOSS are a truly global company with R&D and Manufacturing in 4 countries, direct sales offices in 27 countries and over 98% of turnover from outside Denmark. Peter Foss graduated in 1980 as a M. Sc. from Danmarks Tekniske Højskole (DTU), after which he worked for Brüel & Kjær as an engineer. In 1981, he took a HD at Copenhagen Business School. In 1985, joined FOSS and was Divisional Director until 1990. In 1990 Peter became CEO of FOSS and in 2011, was elected Chairman of the Board. Peter Foss sits on the Board of Directors in William Demant Holding A/S and Oticon Fonden, both places as Vice-Chairman. Date: Friday 24 Feb 2012 Time: 11.45 Venue: Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Copenhagen

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SPOUSE: Maihemutijiang Maimaiti FROM: China SEEKING WORK IN: Aarhus area, Denmark QUALIFICATION: M.Sc. In Computer Science, Uppsala University, Sweden; Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, Southwest University. LOOKING FOR: IT jobs. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Chinese, Uyghur. IT EXPERIENCE: 1 year experience in Java programming and modelling in VDM++. CONTACT: mehmudjan@live.se SPOUSE: TEJA PRIYANKA FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MBA in Finance and marketing , bachelor in Biotechnology. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Telugu(mother tounge), Hindi, English, Danish(biggnier). IT EXPERIENCE: Familier with Microsoft office(word, excel,powerpoint,access, ), photoshop. CONTACT: teja.priyanka.n@gmail.com SPOUSE: Bhargavi Lanka Venkata FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: IT industry- Software - Manual & Automation Testing. QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science Engineering. EXPERIENCE: Part Time/Full Time work in Software Testing, 4yrs and 9 months experience as Senior Software Engineer – Testing in a U.S based MNC in Bangalore, India. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi, Enrolled for Danish classes. IT EXPERIENCE: Manual testing, Automation Regrwession testing using QTP, Web service testing using SOA Tool, HP Quality center, Unix, SQL, XML, Basic shell scripting. CONTACT: bhargavipsk@gmail.com; Mobile: 50376689 SPOUSE: Fernando Carlos Cardeira da Silva FROM: Portugal SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Accounting course from Danish Institution (Regnskabs medarbejder at Niels Brock), previous frequency of Accounting and Management courses in Portugal. EXPERIENCE: I have more than 5 years of experience in accounting. LOOKING FOR: Job as accounting assistant. IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Power point) and accounting software such as Navision C5. LANGUAGE SKILLS: I can read and write Danish, English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. CONTACT: fercardeira@gmail.com +45 50437588 SPOUSE: Munawar Saleem FROM: Pakistan SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MBA logistics and supply chain management (Jonkoping University, Sweden) M.Sc. Computer Sciences (Punjab University, Lahore Pakistan). EXPERIENCE: 4 years, Lecturer in computer sciences. LOOKING FOR:Full time or part time job in Logistics and Supply. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent), Urdu (mother tongue), Swedish (Basic). IT EXPERIENCE: Proficient in MS Office (word, excel, power point etc.). CONTACT: libravision3@gmail.com, 71412010 SPOUSE: Clémence Arnal FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen; Region Sjælland QUALIFICATION: Wastewater/drinking water (processes and treatments, building design, water sampling and pollution rate measurement); environment protection ( river basin management, waste management). EXPERIENCE: Waste sorting representative (Office “Communauté du Pays d’Aix”, France); Leaks investigation on drinking water networks, Help to communes to deal with their drinking water system, Control operation of individual sanitation systems (Office “G2C Environnement”, France); Drinking water stations security: putting the Antiterrorist security plan in practice, employees security , Distribution network security: determining the cost of a network re-chlorination unit (“Drinking Water” administration of Aix en Provence, France). LOOKING FOR: Water treatment assistant / engineer. LANGUAGE SKILLS: French (mother tongue); English (Fluent); Danish (Prøve Dansk 3). IT EXPERIENCE: MS-Office; AutoCAD (basic); Mapinfo (basic). CONTACT: clem.arnal@gmail.com / tlf: 23 34 63 22 SPOUSE: Lillian Liu FROM: Taiwan SEEKING WORK IN: Marketing/Public Relations. QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Foreign Language and Literature (Major in English, and minor in French) EXPERIENCE: 5+ years of professional experiences in Marketing and PR. I am a dynamic and creative marketing communications talent with substantial international working experience in large corporation and in agencies, possessing Integrated Marketing Communication ability. Proficient in analyzing market trends to provide critical inputs for decision-making and formulating marketing communication strategies. Familiar with brand image build-up, channel marketing, media communication, issue management, etc. Possess in-depth understanding/knowledge of APAC market and Chinese culture. LOOKING FOR: Marketing jobs in Jylland. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Mandarin Chinese, English, Danish, French. IT EXPERIENCE: Familiar with Windows O/S and MS Office. CONTACT: sugarex@hotmail.com SPOUSE: Magda Bińczycka FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Sjælland QUALIFICATION: M.A. in philosophy, pedagogy ( postgraduated diploma) ,5th year of history of art ( Master Program). EXPERIENCE: Independent curator 2009 - present, art catalogues editor (English&Polish versions) 2009-present, art critic 2005-2010, art and English teacher for children 2005-2010, English tourist guide 2010, gallery assistant 2004/5 and 2009. LOOKING FOR: Job as a curator, coordinator, gallery assistant, event organizer, English tourist guide, art history teacher. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (proficiency), Danish (intermediate), Polish (mother tongue), German(basic), French (basic), Latin (basic). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office (Word advanced user). CONTACT: Tel: +45 41 44 94 52, magda.binczycka@gmail.com SPOUSE: Debasmita Ghosh FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmachemistry specialization). EXPERIENCE: 4 years in Clinical Research (Pharmacovigilance/Safety and Medical Coding) in a leading CRO (Quintiles) and 6 months experience as a lecturer for bachelor degree students in Pharmacy College. LOOKING FOR: Job in pharmaceutical industry, CRO or any vocation suitable per qualification and experience. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent written and spoken), enrolled for Danish language classes, Indian Languages (Hindi, Bengali, Kannada). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office Applications i:e Microsoft office word, excel, outlook, power point and tools, lotus notes, medical and drug softwares like micromedex and ISIS draw. CDM systems like ds Navigator-Medical coding tool and AERS database. CONTACT: ghoshdebasmita@gmail.com, Mobile No. +4571488438

THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE Spouse: Chiara Stevanato From: Italy Seeking work in: København or nearby areas Qualification: Bachelor degree in Physics. Experience: Now completing the Master’s degree in Physics at Københavns Universitet. looking for: Research in Physics. Research projects related to scientific areas. Language skills: Written and spoken Italian, written and spoken English, written and Spoken French, very basic written and spoken Danish (still attending a second level course). IT experience: Operating systems: Windows, Linux. Programming languages: basic C, C++; Python. Contact: chiarasteva@gmail.com. Tel: 41681741 Spouse: Christina Koch From: Australia Seeking work in: Copenhagen Qualification: Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Drama, 1997 University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Experienced actor and voice coach for speakers, with parallel high level experience in written communications. looking for: Voice coaching for corporate presenters and speakers, Writing and Communications work, work in theatre organisations. IT experience:Microsoft Office, Office for Mac. Language skills: English - Native speaker, excellent written and oral expression. German – good reading and listening skills. Spanish – fluent oral communication, good reading and listening skills. Danish – beginners level speaking and writing skills. Contact: Tel: +45 52 77 30 93 Christina@hermionesvoice.com, www.hermionesvoice.com. Spouse: Momina Bashir Awan From: Pakistan Seeking Work in: All of Denmark Qualification: MBA (Degrees Assessed by Danish Agency for International Education). Experience: 4 years of wide experience as Human Resources Analyst in a USA based Pakistani. Organization. Involved in Recruitment of IT personnel for outsourcing, Compensation and benefits planning, Wage analysis, Conduct Training and Development Seminars and Team building. One year of Experience in Telesales of Citibank NA., 6 months of experience in Customer Services in Telecom sector. Looking for: Jobs in HR and Customer Services Language Skills: English [Fluent], Urdu [Mother tongue], Hindi [Fluent], Danish [Beginner’s Level]. Contact: mominabashir@msn.com, +4571352387 SPOUSE: Vadim Fedulov FROM: USA SEEKING WORK IN: Pre-clinical or clinical/ biotech or academia/ Copenhagen region (100km radius). QUALIFICATION: Ph.D., Biological Sciences (2008). EXPERIENCE: 5 years research experience in biotech and 6 years in academic settings. For full experience summary, please visit: http://dk.linkedin.com/in/drvadim. LOOKING FOR: Position in research, project management, writing, editing, teaching, or new challenging career opportunities. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (native), Russian (native), Danish (completed Module1 at Studieskolen). IT EXPERIENCE: Proficient in both Mac and PC OS, MS Office (Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc.), StatView, Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator). CONTACT: fedulov@gmail.com and mobile tel: +45 41 83 36 60

PARTNERS:

SPOUSE: Mohammad Ahli- Gharamaleki FROM: Iran SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master degree in chemical engineering. EXPERIENCE: 5+ years as a chemical engineer in R&D oil/gas projects as a team leader or member in Iran. LOOKING FOR: A position in an Intrnational company to expand my experience and expertise. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Azeri (native), English (fluent), Farsi (fluent), Arabic (good), Turkish (good), Danish(beginner). IT EXPERIENCE: Professional (MATLAB, Hysys, Aspen plus, Auto Cad, others (Office, Minitab). CONTACT: mohammad_ahli@yahoo.com, (+45) 71 63 12 85

Spouse: Vidya Singh From: India Seeking work in: Copenhagen, Odense, Arhus, Aalborg or nearby areas. Qualification: Master in Computer Management, Bachelor of Science, Certified Novell Engineer, Microsoft Certified Professional. Experience: Total 8 years (4 year in telecommunication as customer care + 4 year as HR recruiter consultant). looking for: HR (Trainee/Assistant/Recruiter/consultant), Customer service, office work, IT Language Skills: English, Hindi and Danish (currently learning). IT experience: MS-office, Hardware, Networking, Intranet and Internet. Contact: vidya.singh37@gmail.com, Mobile: +45 71443554

Spouse: Lorena Augusta Moreira From: Brazil Seeking work in: Great Copenhagen Qualification: Interior Designer. Experience: + 3 of experience with interior design and sales of furniture and decoration products. looking for: Position in an Organization/Company in the fields of: Interior design, lay-out and organization of vitrines, sales and assistance management. IT experience: Microsoft office (word, excel, outlook, access and power-point) access to internet. Language skills: English (fluent), Portuguese (native) and Spanish (pre-intermediate). Contact: lorena-augusta@hotmail.com, + 45 52177084

SPOUSE: Steffen Schmidt FROM: Germany SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen. QUALIFICATION: Structured Finance Proffesional. LOOKING FOR: A challenging finance position in Copenhagen (preferable within Corporate Finance). LANGUAGE SKILLS: German (native), English (business fluent). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint. CONTACT: beffenmidt@gmail.com

SPOUSE: Nina Chatelain FROM: Vancouver, BC, Canada SEEKING WORK IN: Midt- og syd jylland QUALIFICATION: BA courses in english and anthropology, certificate in desktop publishing and graphic design, internationally certified yoga teacher since 1999. EXPERIENCE: Over 7 years experience as the assistant to the director (what would correspond to a direktionssekretær position) at an international university museum where i also was seconded to act as the program administrator – a project management internal communications role – for the museum’s major renovation project. I acted as the director’s right hand and the museum’s communications hub where i had daily contact with the visiting public, community stakeholders, volunteers and students. I have earlier worked as an editor and writer in various capacities, as well as a desktop publisher/graphic designer. LOOKING FOR: An administrative role in a creative company that needs someone who can juggle a variety of projects and use excellent english writing and editing skills language skills: English (mother tongue) and Danish (fluent comprehension-studieprøven / university entrance exam). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office Package, PC and Apple, have earlier worked with various desktop publishing software, quick to learn new software and systems. CONTACT: nina.chatelain@gmail.com, Phone: +45 29707430 Spouse: Pooja Nirwal From: New Delhi, India Seeking work in: Copenhagen and Capital region. Qualification: Masters (M. Sc) in Environmental Science, +2 yrs of Exp. as Env. Consultant in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment. looking for: Positions in Consultancies/Organizations/NGOs working in the field of Environmental Science (Climate Change, EIA, Env. Compliance Audits, Solid Waste Management etc.). Language Skills: Fluent in English, Hindi and Sanskrit, Started learning Danish. IT experience: MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel). Contact: poojadahiya1@gmail.com, +45 503 904 60

SPOUSE: Vivek Kanwar Singh FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: All of Denmark QUALIFICATION: 3 Years full time Bachelor in Fashion Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology (India). EXPERIENCE: 8 years of experience working in India and Republic of Mauritius with Garment Manufacturing Companies. Worked as a Key Account Manager for many International Brands like: GAP, FRENCH CONNECTION, MARKS & SPENCERS, SAKS 5TH AVENUE, etc.. LOOKING FOR: Full time Job in Textiles, Fashion and Apparel Industry. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent-Writing/Reading), Hindi (Fluent-Writing/Reading), Danish (DU3, Module 2). IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft Certified System Engineer (no work experience though). CONTACT: vivekkanwarsingh@gmail.com, Mobile: +45-50179511

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The Copenhagen Post Spouse employment page Why: The Copenhagen Post wishes to help spouses looking for jobs in Denmark. We have on our own initiative started a weekly spouse job page in The Copenhagen Post, with the aim to show that there are already within Denmark many highly educated international candidates looking for jobs. If you are a spouse to an international employee in Denmark looking for new career opportunities, you are welcome to send a profile to The Copenhagen Post at aviaja@cphpost.dk and we will post your profile on the spouse job page when possible.

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4 - 10 November 2011 | Vol 14 Issue 44 NEWS

Dane unable to obtain family reunification for his Thai girlfriend says residency rules are a Catch-22

Exploiting ‘fat tax’ Supermarkets are scamming their customers under the guise of the new national ‘fat tax’

NEWS | 3

SPORT

Get in or get out Is now the time to join the euro, or to run like hell?

National coach Morten Olsen’s new contract will keep him in the job until after the 2014 World Cup.

A new budget to ‘kickstart’ the economy JENNIFER BULEY

Warrior Jesus How Christianity borrowed from Norse mythology and branded Jesus as a tough guy in order to woo the pagan Vikings

HISTORY | 19

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SRSF’s first budget will spend 17.5 billion kroner on infrastructure and abolish previous taxes and restrictions

AN YOU HAVE your cake and eat it too? Conventional wisdom says no, but with their first budget plan since the shift of power, the new Socialdemokraterne-RadikaleSocialistisk Folkeparti (SRSF) coalition appear to be giving it a shot. Many of the elements of the new budget – which is expected to be released in its entirety on Thursday – will increase state spending at a time when the budget deficit has increased. But where the money would come from remained a mystery. A number of the new budget items reinstate spending cuts made by the pre-

vious Venstre-Konservative (VK) govern- the number of students. Moreover, stument. Here are a few of the major points: dents will no longer pay administrative Families: VK limited the state’s fees, and prospective Master’s students monthly child support handouts (bør- will have prerequisite course tuitions necheck) to 35,000 kroner per fam- paid. The government will also fund ily. That limit has now been abolished, 1,500 more state-supported internship meaning that many families will get positions. Infrastructure and job creation: larger child benefits. The government will also pay for fertility treatments and Some 17.5 billion kroner will be invested over two years in infrastructure voluntary sterilisations. Welfare: VK and Dansk Folkeparti projects, such as a new rail line between (DF) introduced specialised welfare pro- Copenhagen and Ringsted, a project to grammes that reduced the cash benefits widen the Holbæk motorway, erosion for new immigrants. Those programmes protection efforts along Jutland’s west have now been eliminated and going coast, and renovations to public housforward all residents in need of state ing. Prime minister Helle Thorningsupport will receive the same welfare Schmidt has said that these ‘kickstart’ projects will create 20,000 new jobs benefits. Higher education and research: from 2012-2013. The Danish ConstrucUniversities will get an extra one billion tion Association predicts 10,000. Tax break:meeting The unpopular ‘mulkroner over two years to cover costs as- a personal Organise sociated with a predicted increase in timedia tax’ introduced by VK will be

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abolished, saving some 525,000 Danes with business laptops and mobile phones 3,000 kroner per year. Not everyone, however, can look forward to a cash infusion. Smokers and junk food lovers will be taxed higher on their vices, while international corporations will also see higher tax bills. SRSF plans to raise revenue by closing a number of tax loopholes going back nearly 20 years that allowed international corporations in Denmark to escape paying corporate taxes (see more on page 15). All told, the spending increases in the new budget are not as big as the minister of the economy and interior, Margrethe Vestager (R), would like. She noted that VK under-reported the deficit for 2012, making it imprudent to spend more. But Denmark will still meet the EU’s financial responsibility benchmarks, despite the larger deficit, she added.

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CULTURE

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

10 - 16 February 2012

Street and club music festival is given another chance despite last year’s massive losses, but the pressure is on to turn a profit and turn down the mess

RUANG RUNGRUANG

PETER STANNERS

Deal with city secures Distortion’s return

he annual festival Distortion draws tens of thousands of people onto Copenhagen’s streets each June to party, dance and drink over each of its five days. But after last year’s festival there were concerns that it may have become a victim of its own success after over 100,000 people crammed into the narrow streets on some of the days. The vast number of people left enormous quantities of rubbish, the lingering stench of urine, and a 350,000 kroner bill from the City Council for the clean-up costs. The bill added to further losses of several hundred thousand kroner that the festival incurred, which together threatened the future of the hugely popular festival. 2012 will see another Distortion however, as its organisers have struck a deal with the City Council to pay off the bill in installments over the next three years. “It took six months of nego-

It looks staged, but it’s anything but: Distortion, the brainchild of Thomas Fleurquin (right)

tiations and we’re really happy about putting it behind us,” festival organiser Thomas Fleurquin told The Copenhagen Post. Fleurquin explained that the spiralling clean-up costs from last year caught them by surprise and that this year partners will be asked to foot more of the clean-up bill. The street festival visits a different city district each day

BEN HAMILTON ‘Melancholia’ left in the shadow of a film made for a pittance – and with obstructions!

HILE LARS von Trier’s ‘Melancholia’ surprised nobody by collecting ten awards at the Robert film awards on Sunday night – including the gongs for best film, director, script, and actress – it was a little known short film that was arguably the occasion’s biggest winner, proving that a mere budget of just 100,000 kroner is no deterrent if the right talent is in place. Funded by DOX:LAB, the production arm of annual documentary film festival CPH:DOX, ‘Girl in the Water’, the winner of the Robert for best short fiction, is an impressionistic and almost dialogue-free adventure set in an impoverished fishing village. The film was one of eight funded by DOX:LAB last year, and their current methods echo the ‘One Vision’ ethos practiced by DR’s drama department, which has produced ‘Forbrydelsen’ and ‘Borgen’ in recent years, and also the cinematic obstructions so keenly favoured by Von Trier.

“DOX:LAB is a creative laboratory where the invited filmmakers don’t have to think about test-screenings or target groups,” explained the film’s co-producer Patricia Drati. “We give them this creative freedom under the condition that they make a film with someone from a different narrative tradition and cultural background - someone we choose for them as a co-director. It is an experiment and only in our dreams could we hope that a film made with a limited budget and co-directed by two filmmakers [Denmark’s Jeppe Rønde and Malaysia’s Woo Ming Jin], each from a different corner of the world, would end up with such a prestigious award as a Robert.” Meanwhile, among the other big winners on the night were the Danish biopic ‘Dirch’, which scooped five awards including best actor, and Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’, which won best American film. Kirsten Dunst won best actress and Charlotte Gainsbourg best supporting actress for ‘Melancholia’, and Nikolaj Lie Kaas won best actor and Lars Ranthe best supporting actor for ‘Dirch’, while the honorary Robert this year went to veteran director Henning Carlsen, who told those gathered he had “waited for this for 84 years”.

contribute more to cleaning costs. So far we’ve been doing all the cleaning and only asked for a small fee from the street hosts.” Fleurquin added that they were working on turning a profit this year and hope to use it to start paying off their debt. Distortion’s organisers will also have to find a way to encourage visitors to attend the evening Club Clash events,

which are one of the only sources of income for the festival. Despite the enormous volumes of people attending the free daytime street parties, the attendance of the Club Clash was so low that already by the end of Friday, with two days remaining, organisers were anticipating a significant loss. For now though, their main concern will be keeping the City

Who is ... Cutfather? MALENE ØRSTED

JEPPE BØJE NIELSEN

Low budget short is walking on water

and is put on in collaboration with partners such as bars, restaurants and shops who open their doors and put on events including live music for the visitors. “If this year is not successful, we won’t survive,” Fleurquin said. “We have a huge minus from the year before so we have to come up with some new business models and get partners to

He is a Danish producer, songwriter and judge on X Factor.

Council – which has granted Fleurquin one last attempt at making the festival concept work – happy. “When you have a party, you have to clean up after yourself,” Claus Robl from Copenhagen City Council’s Teknik og Miljø Forvalnting told Politiken newspaper. “Distortion does not get any special treatment and they need to improve.”

The Copenhagen Post text 46 Quick Crossword No 383 No 383

What kind of name is Cutfather? That’s his ‘stage’ name, but his real name is Mich Hedin Hansen. Where might I have seen him? If you watch Danish TV, you might have seen him on X Factor where he is returning as a judge alongside Pernille Rosendahl and Thomas Blachman for the second year in a row But I never watch TV. Then it’s just as well that he’s mostly known for his music. You might know some of his international hits like ‘Return of the Mack’ by Mark Morrison from 1996, or ‘Superstar’ by Jamelia from 2003. The song even won him an Ivor Novello Awards in 2004 in the category of ‘Most Performed Work’. I know that song, but wasn’t there some lawsuit involved? Yeah. The song was originally written for the Danish version of ‘Popstars’ – yet another TV talent show – and sung by a Dane, Christine Milton, but later that year Cutfather and Joe Belmaati released Jamelia’s version, which led to Metronome, the production company behind ‘Popstars’, launching legal action, and in 2011, Cutfather lost the rights to the song.

Too bad. So what does he really know about music then? Not much. He started as a DJ in the late ‘80s and won both Danish and international mixing competitions, but he doesn’t even play an instrument. So what’s so special about him? Nothing really, but he must have some sort of talent since he has worked with artists like Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera and the Pussycat Dolls. How would I recognise him? He has a very unique way of laughing. Actually it is so characteristic that he got his own ringtone when he was on X Factor the first time, and after only two weeks on the show more than 40,000 Danes had downloaded it How did this ringtone come about? The ringtone was actually Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue’s idea. She joked about it while making a quick appearance on one of the first X Factor shows with Cutfather as a judge.

Down

Across 1. 8. 9. 11. 12. 13. 15. 17. 18. 20. 22. 23.

Irresolute (9) Deprive (3) Formidable (11) Concentrated (7) Offspring (5) Boggy (6) Gracious (6) Perch (5) Desecrate (7) Feat (11) In bloom (3) Virago (9)

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 10. 11. 14. 16. 19. 21.

Born (3) Vessel for milk (5) Waver (6) Complete collapse (7) Rash (11) Plenty (9) Worsen (11) Ducking (9) Small axe (7) Seem (6) Musical drama (5) Woman in religious order (3)

Post Quick Crossword No 382 Across: 7 Overt; 8 Elector; 9 Precede; 10 Agile; 12 Settlement; 15 Exasperate; 18 Tango; 19 Curator; 21 Austere; 22 Picks. Down: 1 Complacent; 2 Deter; 3 Stye; 4 Recent; 5 Decadent; 6 Strikes; 11 Enterprise; 13 Employed; 14 Earnest; 16 Racket; 17 Stick; 20 Rapt.

10 - 16 February 2012

DENMARK THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

The A-list celebrity designer who made a splash with the B-age JANE GRAHAM Margit Brandt blazed trails for modern Danish fashion designers, becoming a global brand with her innovative approach and confident style

dotes from the time recount the pair ‘bumping into’ the likes of actress Brigitte Bardot, musicians Mick Jagger and David Bowie, author Truman Capote and famously reclusive artist Andy Warhol, who actually visited the Brandt family in Copenhagen. A photograph from the time shows their two young daughters looking visibly uncomfortable in the presence of the eccentric celebrity artist. Whether the Brandts were at home or abroad, regular people loved to follow their lives - they were the closest thing that Denmark had to celebrity royalty, and photographs of them on glamorous holidays enjoying a jet-set lifestyle were common in domestic as well as international gossip weeklies. Despite her glitzy image, Brandt was unusually shy and retiring. It was her husband Erik that had an uncanny eye for marketing, and he staged a number of publicity stunts that were ahead of their time. One such stunt occurred when the Brandts found themselves impossibly behind schedule. Realising that their new collection would not be ready in time, Erik arranged a photo shoot with him and Margit surrounded by several of their naked models. The picture was famously publicised, accompanied by the text: “Waiting for new collections”. In another, Margit once

designed a collection of coats with armholes that were too small for any normal-sized woman. They were inspired by her time in Paris, but didn’t sell well in Denmark. Erik explained to their Danish clients that they were simply the “wrong customers” – there was nothing wrong with the coats. Brandt is one of very few Danish fashion designers to have been the subject of her own art exhibition. In 2010, Designmuseum Danmark exhibited ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, a collection of her work that attempted to show Brandt’s impact on contemporary fashion design rather than her life in the gossip columns. She was also awarded the Cross of Dannebro by Queen Margrete in 2007. Clearly, Brandt’s place in fashion history is secure - in her book ‘Fashion Genius of the World’ (1979), Serena Sinclair places Brandt second only to Britain’s Mary Quant. And the Brandt name remains an important global brand even after her death. The company was relaunched in 2005 when the couple permanently returned to Denmark from New York, and it continues to be a family operation - Erik is still involved, and their daughter Julie is the firm’s creative director. But it wasn’t just the Brandts’ professional relationship that was successful: unusual among those in the celebrity world, their love for each other lasted a lifetime, and a tearful, deeply saddened Erik was at Margit’s side when she died. MARGIT BRANDT

MARGIT BRANDT

HIS YEAR’S Copenhagen Fashion Week was missing one of its greatest designers. Margit Brandt, who influenced Danish wardrobes for nearly 50 years with her short, tight skirts and trendy outfits, passed away in October from chronic lung disease at the age of 66. Brandt’s groundbreaking dress designs fairly exploded onto the international fashion scene when she unveiled her new B-age collection at the 1965 Copenhagen Fashion Fair. The ‘60s may have been swinging in nearby London, but to conservative critics in Copenhagen, the new designs were a shock. They were considered too closefitting, with hemlines too short to be respectable. Fashion at the time, at least in Denmark, appealed more to genteel ladies than modern young women. Ordinary people seemed less concerned, but for Danish women in their 20s, this was exactly the kind of new clothing they wanted. The B-age skirt was Brandt’s answer to Mary Quant’s Carnaby Street Mini, and before long other designers were attempting to imitate the B-age look that had come to epito-

mise cool Scandinavian style and free expression. Brandt had seemed destined for great things from a young age. By 17, she had already won several competitions for her clothing designs, and her talent was noticed while she was a student at the Scandinavian Academy of International Fashion and Design. It was in Paris, however, that her life would change forever – romantically as well as professionally. Brandt moved to Paris immediately after graduating from school, taking an apprenticeship with Pierre Balmain, the world-famous designer, who was then known as the master of elegant sophistication. Soon recognised for her own inventive, confident style, she moved up the career ladder to work at the successful couture house of Louis Féraud. In the mid-’60s, Brandt returned to Denmark with a husband, Erik, and a portfolio of radical dress designs the likes of which Denmark had never seen before. Erik, a fellow Dane who was not much older than Brandt, had also been working with Paris’s fashion elite at the prêt-à-porter company Mendes. The pair would go on to become one of the most successful designer couples of all time. Their jet-setting lifestyle had limitations in modest Denmark, bringing them instead to creative capital New York in the 1980s, where they were soon regulars at the fashionable discotheque Studio 54. Anec-

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t r o p s a y a l p o t t Wan

e l p o e p w e n t e e and m

while you’re in Denmark?

Come to Expat Sporting Sunday on February 12 and try what the Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations (DGI) has to offer you and your whole family.

All activities are free! You can try: ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

Rough & Tumble Panna Table Tennis What is Your Body Age? The Great Outdoors Yoga for Teens & Adults Yoga for Kids Ultimate Frisbee Roller Board Hockey Bhangra Pilates Rugby Union & Touch Rugby ACT (total body training) Shooting Gallery Fun & Games Capoeira

Expat in Denmark

Everyone is welcome! Come and spend an exciting day full of activity and amusement, and meet some of the local sports clubs that you can join. What: Free sports activities for everyone – adults, teens, tweens & kids When: Sunday, February 12, from 10.00-16.00 Where: DGI-byen, Tietgensgade 65, 1704 Copenhagen V (next to Central Station) Arranged by DGI and The Copenhagen Post in co-operation with Expat in Denmark

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper