The Copenhagen Post | Sep 14-20

Denmark’s Euro 1992 glory to hit big screen

Signs that the church-state bond is continuing to erode

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14 - 20 September 2012 | Vol 15 Issue 37

Villy decides it’s time to go as SF leader

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Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk AVIAJA BEBE NIELSEN

NEWS

Police are back to patrolling Pusher Street, but the mayor argues it is the wrong approach

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NEWS

Student housing crisis Housing shortage has students camping, couch-surfing and venting their frustration at the authorities

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COPS CARS accused of putting

over the needs of

Ishøj after-school club finds success helping Turkish youth adapt to their new life in Denmark

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BUSINESS

Plan to make Danes working abroad pay Danish taxes is heavily criticised, but minister won’t budge

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Immigration workshop gets mixed reviews RAY WEAVER

Tax minister stands firm

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BIKES Radikale’s workshop looks to solve immigration issues, one post-it note at a time

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HE OPENING moments of Radikale’s workshop to discuss ways to improve service at Immigration Services were a textbook example of the tensions surrounding the entire national immigration debate.

Zenia Stampe, the immigration spokesperson for Radikale and organiser of the workshop, delivered her welcoming remarks in Danish, explaining that she “was not very good at English”.

She continued that the workshop itself would be conducted in English in an effort to help any new immigrants

in the room just starting Danish classes to feel more comfortable.

At that, a large, older man with greying hair and a goatee exploded from his seat and shouted, in Danish: “We are in Denmark. It is completely wrong that this workshop be conducted in English. We should speak Danish.”

The tension the outburst created in the room was palpable, bringing the divide that informs the immigration debate into sharp focus. For the rest of the evening, the facilitators of the workshop explained everything first in Danish and then in English. The shouter was still not satisfied and grumbled continuously that the event should be Danish only.

The workshop, which drew about 60 people, was facilitated by Ole Jepsen, a professional consultant whose wife Jenni is an American. Jepsen admitted that he

originally responded to his wife’s frustration with the Danish immigration process by taking the typically Danish “that’s just the way things are” stance.

His wife said that if they were in the US, her response to the mountains of indecipherable paperwork, endless waiting times and insane bureaucracy would be to call her congressperson.

The Jepsens’ ‘congressperson’ is Stampe.

Stampe said that she has received so many emails like Jepsen’s – that paint nightmare scenarios of five and six-hour waits at Immigration Services, unanswered emails and cases going unresolved for months and even years – that she decided to hold a workshop.

Her goals were to guage specific complaints and to look for solutions.

She said she wants to take those messages

back to her colleagues in parliament to start working to streamline the system.

The most often heard suggestion from the workshop participants was that the Immigration Services should be scrapped and started over from scratch, but that idea wasn’t specific enough to make the final list of potential improvements.

More concern for peoples’ rights and a sense of security were among the participants’ specific complaints, while free Danish lessons for immigrants was put forward as one thing that is currently working.

Reaction to the style and possible outcomes of the process was mixed at best.

A young woman in a burka, who didn’t want to be named, said that just

Workshop continues on page 5

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Week in review

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

CPH Post Word of the Week:

14 - 20 September 2012 THE WEEK’S MOST READ STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Stille op (verb) – to stand for office or an elected position. Where you heard it: In the national press’s breathless speculation over which Socialistisk Folkeparti member would look to take Villy Søvndal’s spot as party leader

Copenhagen has too much money

Scanpix / Nils Meilvang

Temporary freedom

When the street is your living room International school receives 200 million kroner for expansion Opinion | Smoking bans and socially incompetent Danes Funen daycare: Sex night is on us

FROM OUR ARCHIVES TEN YEARS AGO. Construction costs for the new Copenhagen Metro are over 50 percent more than expected.

FIVE YEARS AGO. A new study shows that more than one out of five Danish men will never have children.

ONE YEAR AGO. Copenhagen prepares to stage the Road World Championship – the country’s largest sporting event to date.

CORRECTION Last week’s InOut misiArea commuters received a surprise on Wednesday morning when two elephants took a stroll down Borups Allé in Copenhagen. The elephants, Vana Mana and Sonja (pictured here), briefly escaped from Cirkus Benneweis before being returned to their tent a short time later.

of the media attention resulted in Nielsen being offered two jobs as a columnist: one from comedian Anders Lund Madsen, and another one from the tabloid BT. ‘Lazy Robert’, as he’s been dubbed by the press, accepted Madsen’s offer but said he is also considering BT’s, which would pay him 2,000 kroner per column.

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

No scarves, please

Danes are reluctant to allow immigrant women who wear headscarves into the country.

That is the conclusion of a study conducted by the weekly newsletter Ugebrevet A4. When shown images of foreigners and told that they wanted to live and work in Denmark, most Danes had no concerns based on the subject’s

President and Publisher Ejvind Sandal Chief Executive Jesper Nymark Editor-in-Chief Kevin McGwin Managing Editor Ben Hamilton News Editor Justin Cremer Journalists Peter Stanners, Ray Weaver & Christian Wenande

gender or race. The desire to allow the immigrant into the workforce dropped to below 50 percent, however, if the person in the photograph was a woman in a headscarf, even if they spoke Danish, had a good education and work experience. The scepticism was partly attributed to the tone of the national immigration debate.

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

Colourbox

A Copenhagen resident, Robert Nielsen, admitted on DR News that he is a “lazy bastard” who has not worked and has been taking state money since 2001.

Nielsen said he refuses to take a “humiliating” job. Nielsen’s ability to stay below the radar has kicked off an intense debate about holes in the unemployment system. All

Colourbox

Screenshot: DR

Lazy Robert

dentified civil rights activist Rosa Parks, misspelt Ritchie Valens’s name, and erroneously stated that Jack White is Patti Smith’s son.

Drive carefully

Motorists are warned to be on their best behaviour this weekend. Police nationwide are checking to see if motorists are using their seatbelts or mobile phones while they are driving.

One is a good thing, the other ... not so much. The current initiative follows one held last March where nearly 8,500 motorists

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were stopped. During that action, 1,000 motorists were fined for using a handheld device while driving, while more that 2,300 were ticketed for failure to use a seatbelt. The fine for both offences is 1,500 kroner and increases to 2,000 kroner for drivers who do not ensure that under-15s are buckled up.

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

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3 Mayor and police at odds over cannabis approach News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

Scanpix / Jens Nørgaard Larsen

14 - 20 September 2012

Justin Cremer Frank Jensen argues for going a “new way” days after police make small-time possession busts at Christiania

Villy Søvndal’s resignation as party leader was the latest in a long line of setbacks for Socialistisk Folkeparti

Kevin McGwin Foreign affairs and domestic politics have once again proved to be a dangerous cocktail

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efore agreeing to become foreign minister last year, Villy Søvndal might have done well to speak with former Konsvervative leader Lene Espersen about the challenges of being the nation’s foreign policy chief while at the same time leading the junior party in a coalition government.

Espersen, like Søvndal last week, eventually chose to step down as party leader. Both left their respective parties in disarray, and in Søvndal’s case it only strengthened the impression that rank and file members of the Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF) were dissatisfied with his inability to manage the party and tend to the country’s foreign affairs interests at the same time.

Søvndal, though, maintains that the decision was all his.

And his resignation was, in fact, expected, just not now. It was assumed that Søvndal, the party’s leader since April 2005 and an MP since 1994, would resign in time for a new leader to prepare for the next general election, scheduled for 2015.

During his time as leader, Søvndal has taken SF to new heights; he led his party to a peak 20.6 percent share of the voters in March 2008 – surpassing even Socialdemokraterne (S)

at the time – and gave rise to the term ‘Villy effect’ for being able to put a folksy face on a party more known for long-winded academic discussions than political triumphs.

But while Søvndal was effective in bringing the party to prominence and putting it in government for the first time ever, he had trouble accomplishing anything. Since taking over the government as part of the S-led coalition, SF has seen the government veer away from the party’s leftist principles and follow the course set by the third coalition member, the centrist Radikale. On Friday, SF’s voter support stood at 6.3 percent.

Passing on the torch … but to whom?

Despite Søvndal’s reassurances that the timing of the handover was a matter of choice, little suggests that it was: not least the apparent lack of a clear successor as party leader.

Right now, the stage appears to be set for Astrid Krag, the 29-year-old health minister.

As of Wednesday, no other realistic candidates had announced they would stand, and the lack of opponents for the post has left some members complaining that the party leadership has been engaged in woefully transparent behind-the-scenes dealings to ensure Krag succeeds Søvndal.

But the benefit of an uncontested candidacy may be worth some internal grumbling if it pre-

Scanpix / Henning Bagger

Speculation surrounds socialist leader’s exit

Astrid Krag has announced her candidacy for the position

vents open conflict between party wings – particularly between Krag who, despite her lack of experience, has the ambition, talent and support from the right places within the party to be its leader, and Ida Auken, the 34-year-old environment minister and favourite of the party’s green faction.

Meanwhile, many, from both within the party and outside it, say that losing Søvndal as negotiations over next year’s budget begin deals a blow to SF’s hope of leaving a significant mark on it. But on the other hand, few can deny that Søvndal, at the age of 60, is fatigued; as foreign minister he has travelled extensively, particularly during the EU presidency. All the while, friction within the government as well as within SF, required him to pay close attention to domestic affairs.

Søvndal’s surprise resignation may actually prove to be the best thing he could have done for the party. He may be resigning at the bottom, but he’s stepping aside for a new leader at a time when the party needs new energy – and he’s got everyone talking about the ‘Villy effect’ again.

W

hile Copenhagen’s mayor, Frank Jensen (Socialdemokraterne), continues to be a vocal advocate for legalising cannabis in the city, arguing that a “paradigm shift” is in order, Copenhagen Police took a strikingly different approach last week on Thursday. While police are now back patrolling Pusher Street, the mayor thinks As part of the newly-an- it is no long-term solution nounced ‘Task Force Pusher Street’, police arrested 28 individuals at Christiania. All but one pointed because the sale continPolice nab 22 coke dealers of them were cited for possession ues to persevere, and so does the of small amounts of cannabis, widespread hard criminality that The downtown police station Station City apprewhile one was charged with pos- goes with it.” session of roughly 200 grams of Jensen refrained from criti- hended 22 drug dealers in Veshash, Berlingske Nyhedsbureau cising the new police approach, terbro over ten days, responding to the criticism that the reported. In all, only 350 grams but insisted it wouldn’t work. were confiscated. The buyers “The police have established pushers were given free rein to were given a 2,000 kroner fine. a Pusher Street group and I’m peddle their wares. Out of the Copenhagen Police an- not going to get involved in 22 dealers arrested, none were nounced late last month that it that, but I’m just saying that Danish and only three actually would once again start cracking it won’t solve the problem be- live in Denmark. Ten of the down on Pusher Street, largely cause the cannabis sale will just perpetrators were tourists and in response to criticism that it move somewhere else,” he said. nine were asylum seekers. Achad allowed the “When Push- cording to police, 19 of the arfreetown’s drug er Street was restees are Africans. (CW) trade to grow cleared in 2004, unchecked. the sale of canBut while nabis exploded tinues to abandon the cannabis the Thursday As long as there is a in other places market to the gangs, there is action may around the city.” not much more that police can have netted market, there will Jensen and do other than push the probsome small fish, always be someone to the City Council lem around and make confiscaJensen argued have been vocal tions. But this hasn’t reduced the that the city satisfy that market about their sup- quantity that comes in to Den“needs to go a port of legalising mark,” he said. “As long as there new way”. the sale of can- is a market, there will always be In an interview with Politiken nabis in Copenhagen via gov- someone to satisfy that market.”

Police officers were out in newspaper on Sunday, the mayor ernment-run sales points. The said that the traditional police ap- proposal has been rejected by Christiania again on Monday morning. Poul Kjeldsen, the leadproach hasn’t worked before and parliament. is unlikely to work now.

Jensen told Politiken that he er of Task Force Pusher Street, “For many years, we have would continue to push parlia- told Ritzau that the police presbelieved that more police offic- ment to change its tune, saying ence is meant to send a message.

“We’ve always been able to ers, better equipment and ex- that Christiansborg also resisted panded authority was what was the idea of a permanent injec- come in to Pusher Street, but we needed to fight the cannabis tion room before it finally be- are doing it today [Monday] because it has been a while and to trade in Denmark,” Jensen said. came a reality earlier this year.

“Every time, we have been disap“As long as parliament con- show that we can.”

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4 Cover story In ‘City of Cyclists’, cops accused of putting cars first The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

14 - 20 September 2012

Peter Stanners The bicycle is losing out in the war between the council and the police over control of the city’s traffic rules

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he police in Copenhagen have blood on their hands.” That accusation was levelled last week by the renowned bicycle consultancy Copenhagenize. In a blog post, it argued that the police are a major obstacle in getting more Copenhageners on their bicycles and improving their safety once they’re on the street.

It’s a strong statement from the influential consultancy that has won international recognition for its work promoting bicycle use in cities. But after years of promoting Copenhagen as a success story, it now worries that the bicycle is losing out to its arch enemy, the car. In a series of articles, Copenhagenize has blamed politicians and the media for scuppering the government’s plan to introduce a congestion ring for Copenhagen that would reduce car traffic. Fewer cars means fewer accidents with bicycles, it argued.

And it has also accused Copenhagen Police of arbitrarily dismissing proposals that would improve bicycle mobility in the city. While the City Council determines where roads will be placed, the police are solely responsible for approving changes to traffic rules. They can veto any proposal the council makes and have shot down proposals to allow bicycles to turn right at red lights and ride against the flow of traffic on one-way streets where cars park on both sides.

Both proposals are aimed at making cycling easier in the city. But according to Lars Barfred, a columnist for Copenhagenize and a traffic consultant for the local environmental group Miljøpunkt Nørrebro, the police vetoed these proposals because they would have affected car mobility.

“When the police prioritise traffic in Copenhagen, they put car mobility ahead of bicycle safety,” Barfred said. As an example he cites the decision not to allow cycle paths to continue into an intersection if it would mean losing a right-hand turning lane for cars. This means bicycles and cars share the traffic at intersections where the vast majority of accidents occur.

“They are also fully against

After years of promoting Copenhagen as a success story, the popular Copenhagenize blog worries that thanks to police obstinacy, the bicycle is now losing out to the car

When the police prioritise traffic in Copenhagen, they put car mobility ahead of bicycle safety bicycles going both ways down one-way streets unless you remove parking on one side of the road. The council doesn’t want to give up on parking, so cyclists are forced onto the larger streets, which are more dangerous.”

Copenhagenize argues that there is no evidence to suggest that allowing bicycles to turn on red or cycle against the flow in one-way systems is unsafe.

Not that it matters, because the police are not required to provide evidence supporting their veto on changing traffic regulations on the basis of safety.

“The police do not have to approve of any changes [and] do not have to give any rea-

sons,” said Harry Lahrmann, an associate professor at the department of development and planning at Aalborg University, adding that he was worried about this absolute power held by the police.

“It’s strange that you have elected politicians who don’t have the power to make traffic plans they want to make,” Lahrmann said. “Over the past 20 or 30 years, I have been saying that we should remove some of the decision-making from the police. It’s problematic that the council has the responsibility for how the city works, but does not have all the tools it needs.”

Lahrmann identifies speed limits as a typical example of the police’s refusal to support changes to Copenhagen’s traffic rules despite evidence that doing so would improve safety and mobility.

“Copenhagen City Council has wanted to reduce the speed limit to 40 kilometres an hour for many years, but the police don’t want to give their permission. From a traffic safety perspective, it’s a good idea to low-

er the speed limit, but the police simply don’t want to enforce it.”

The police are less than sympathetic with views that they are stopping the city from implementing their traffic plans, however. Mogens Kærgaard Møller, the deputy commissioner for Copenhagen Police, argues that they are simply enforcing the law and keeping people safe.

“You have to stick to the law and right-hand turns for bicycles, for example, are simply not legal,” he said. “And as far as one-way traffic is concerned, there are at least 100 streets in Copenhagen where you can cycle against the traffic, so I can’t see what the problem is.”

Møller added that the police use experts to assess the potential impact of changes to traffic regulation. A rule of thumb is that different types of traffic need to be separated. So when the council wanted to allow bicycles to cycle the entire length of the inner city lakes, a line separating cyclists and pedestrians was first needed.

“Mixing different traffic

It’s strange that you have elected politicians who don’t have the power to make traffic plans they want to make cultures such as bikes, buses and cars increases the risk of people getting hurt. So with these proposals to change traffic regulations, we have to look at what the risk is that people would get hurt, and ask if there is an alternative solution,” Møller said.

Møller stressed that Copenhagen Police is on good terms with the council, despite their disagreements over what was best for drivers and cyclists.

That message was echoed by Pia Preibisch Behrens, the head of the city’s Bike Office, though she agreed with Lahrmann that the police had too much power.

“We have previously recommended to the Ministry of Justice that it changes the law to make the police a consulted party instead of a party that has to consent [to the changes],” Behrens said.

She added that the police had vetoed a number of the City Council’s proposals, including reducing speed limits, letting bicycles ride down oneway streets without having to create a cycle path going in the opposite direction, and turning right at red lights at selected intersections.

Behrens pointed out that the city had invested heavily in bicycle infrastructure in the past year by building more and wider cycle paths, greener cycle routes and improving conditions at intersections.

But when it came to having full control of the city’s transport infrastructure, Behren’s message was clear.

“We think we are able to assess, on our own, what the different impacts would be of making the infrastructure changes we want in Copenhagen.”

Online this week V-DF proposal could mean 30 kroner an hour salaries If a majority in parliament approved a proposal by Dansk Folkeparti (DF) and Venstre (V), some workers would be forced to work for salaries as low as 30 kroner an hour, without the right to strike. The proposal was made to limit the rights of trade unions to enter into conflicts and blockades with businesses that sign collec-

tive bargaining agreements with competing unions. Currently, employees have the right to enter into conflicts with businesses that sign up to alternative and weaker collective bargaining agreements, but the V-DF proposal would end this right to conflict. The Employment Ministry criticised the proposal.

Spin doctor hit with police charge over Taxgate leak Peter Arnfeldt, the former spin doctor of the former tax minister, Troels Lund Poulsen (Venstre), has now been formally charged by police of leaking PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s confidential tax audit. The charge could potentially carry a twoyear prison sentence. Following his appearance as one of the first

witnesses in the Taxgate comission hearings, Copenhagen Police announced the preliminary charge against Arnfeldt, citing a “basis of suspicion” arising from Arnfeldt’s testimony. Both Arnfeldt himself and several legal experts questioned both the timing of, and the logic behind, the police decision.

New species of fungus discovered in Denmark On a mushroom-hunting excursion in Eskebjerd Vesterlyng in Zealand in 2009, Jacob Heilman-Clausen from the University of Copenhagen was handed a fungus he didn’t recognise. Now, after three years of extensive expert research, the fungus has officially

been classified as a new species.

The fungus, whose official name is Hebelomagriseopruinatum, meaning ‘the grey-dewy tear leaf’, has been previously sighted in Germany and England, but had never been officially documented before being found in Denmark.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

14 - 20 September 2012

Students turn to alternative housing options Report shows Danish Colourbox

Dominic Summers Housing shortage has students camping, couch-surfing and venting their frustration

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wenty students from the University of Copenhagen rolled out their sleeping bags outside the office of Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen (Socialdemokraterne) last week on Friday to highlight the lack of available and affordable property for students in Copenhagen.

“We staged this alternative action because Mayor Frank Jensen has been avoiding us the past couple of weeks,” Karl Kristiansen, the event organiser, said.

“He avoids us because he doesn’t want to answer our question: Why don’t you take leadership in the political process of building student housing?”

Since 1995, Copenhagen has not built any subsidised student housing. Currently, only 13 percent of students live in public housing.

Campsites and youth hostels have become home to as many as 60 international and Danish students while they seek a more permanent solution, and waiting lists for student residence halls are around two years long.

During August and September, the strain on the property market increases as students are

“Found a place yet?” “No, can I just crash here?”

confirmed a place at university and rush to find a place to live.

In response to the shortage, the University of Copenhagen is encouraging students to stay in hostels before finding somewhere to rent.

“Attempt to find short-term options, which could serve as a temporary arrangement while you look for something permanent,” the housing section of its website reads.

To raise the housing shortage issue and to offer a temporary solution, the University of Copenhagen Students’ Council has launched its own couchsurfing service, which asks existing students to offer a bed, sofa or floor to new students while they look for a place to rent. In three weeks, they have matched over 55 students, both Danish and international.

“The problem is not that we

are increasing the numbers of students,” Bjarke Lindemann Jepsen, the president of the students’ council, said. “The problem is that the minister of education, Morten Østergaard, has a very ambitious plan of admitting more students without recognising the problem of student housing.”

The council has suggested allowing municipal land to be sold below the market price for the purpose of building student accommodation. To fund the construction, they suggest using public-private partnerships, which would require pension funds, private equity funds, public housing associations and local authorities to work together.

“New students, especially international students, are some of the most vulnerable people on the Copenhagen housing market,” Jepsen said. “Most of us don’t have money to buy a

flat. We have to find something to rent. If more student housing was built, then general pressure on the renting market would decrease, benefiting everyone.”

Students coming from abroad to study at the University of Copenhagen are not guaranteed a place to live, with approximately only 20 percent being offered a room.

One entrepreneur, Jette Horn, has quit her job and launched the Copenhagen Rental Service to help international students find rooms. In less than two months, she has helped more than 320 students find permanent accommodation.

“This job is much more important. It’s not that easy, even though I do manage ... I simply have to,” said Horn.

Despite few resources, Horn often meets students in person and frequently takes phone calls and Skype requests after working hours.

By 2020, it is estimated that 45,000 new homes must be found in Copenhagen to meet demand from young people. A report from the national student organisation, Danske Studerendes Fællesråd, predicts that between 2010-2020 the number of Danish people aged 18-29 years old will increase from 130,000 to 160,000. The number of international students is also expected to rise by over 15,000 in the same period.

5

competitiveness dropping Denmark slips out of the ten most competitive countries

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enmark’s international competitiveness has been significantly reduced according to the annual ‘Global Competitiveness Report’ by the World Economic Forum.

The list, which measures countries according to a range of indicators such as health and education, drops Denmark down from eighth to 12th place.

The drop continues a trend that started after the 2008/09 report ranked Denmark as the third most competitive country from a list of 100 countries. The Danish partner of the World Economic Forum, the Danish Technological Institute, said it was worried by the trend.

“Denmark was quickly overtaken this year and the report indicates that Denmark is in dire need of strengthening its level of education in the coming years,” Hanne Shapiro, the head of the policy and business analysis centre at the institute, wrote in a press release. “Trust in the political system and its ability to react to the crisis is also being eroded, which makes its communication with the average Dane even more important.”

Aspects that contributed to the poorer performance was

Denmark’s drop from third to 14th in the area of education from 2010, while the country’s healthcare was ranked 29th best.

The report did note, however, that Denmark has a strong technological preparedness and a relatively flexible employment market. Denmark ranked 12th for innovation.

Danish access to financing was noted as a particular problem for Danish competitiveness, while the tax pressure also made running a business difficult.

Switzerland topped the list for the fourth year running, with Singapore coming in second and Finland overtaking Sweden for third. Denmark is still ahead of Norway, which ranked 15th.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Denmark, however, as this April Copenhagen was ranked a respectable 23rd in a recent competitiveness study of 120 cities by The Economist.

And some recent figures suggest that Danish competitiveness is actually improving.

Wages have been rising faster in Sweden and Germany than in Denmark, and a combination of those smaller wage increases, coupled with higher productivity at Danish companies, has strengthened the country’s competitiveness and helped to snare a larger share of export markets. (PS)

Peter Stanners A lack of compulsory education for interpreters in Denmark could lead to translating errors with potentially fatal consequences

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sylum seekers are placed at risk due to the poor quality of interpreters on offer to them, according to an opinion piece published last Friday in Politiken newspaper.

The two authors, Enhedslisten MP Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen and Michala Clante Bendixen from Refugees Welcome, referred to a report released earlier this year that exposed the poor level of training required for Danish interpreters.

The report from Aarhus University found that 80 percent of interpreters used by the national police, Rigspolitiet, in court cases had no education in interpretation, and that judges had reported problems associated with this deficit.

In the opinion piece, the two authors argue that asylum seekers are also at risk because the Udlændingestyrelsen (Immigration Service) and Refugee Appeals Board used the same interpreters as the Rigspolitiet.

“Asylum cases are not about guilt or punishment, but often about life or death, as it is up to the Udlændingestyrelsen and Refugee Appeals Board to decide whether the life of an

asylum seeker is at risk if they return to their home country,” the two authors wrote.

The authors identified two problems: firstly that interpreters are only required to complete a one-day course to become qualified for the police’s list of interpreters, and secondly that there is not enough training available for interpreters. Those who do become qualified can also expect low salaries.

Asylum seekers often have their applications rejected because they are considered untrustworthy, which can happen if their story deviates between the three interviews they give to the police, Udlændingestyrelsen and the Refugee Appeals Board.

Refugees Welcome finds this unacceptable given that asylum seekers are often given different interpreters for the three different interviews. As a result, they argue that asylum seekers could have their cases rejected because of deviations in their stories caused by the interpreters.

But speaking to Politiken, immigration lawyer Anne Osbak argued that problems with interpreters are rare.

“I have not had any cases where I could say that the interpreter affected the outcome,” said Osbak, who has represented asylum seekers through the Refugee Appeals Board for the past 15 years. “You could certainly be assessed as being untrustworthy by Udlændingestyrelsen but then I

would simply add a reply on behalf of the Refugee Appeals Board in which I explain the situation.”

Helge Nørrlung, an immigration lawyer with over 20 years of experience, can remember at least one instance where poor translators may have contributed to a failed asylum case, however.

He recalls a case of an Afghan man who had an Iranian translator for his first interview with Udlændingestyrelsen, even though they spoke very different dialects of Farsi. The Refugee Appeals Board employed a different interpreter who was trained in both dialects and revealed mistakes made by the Iranian translator.

“We managed to prove to Udlændingestyrelsen that three or four words he used actually had a totally different meaning from what his police translator had interpreted,” Nørrlung told The Copenhagen Post. “It could have been the reason why he appeared untrustworthy.”

According to Nørrlung, interpreters in Denmark should be forced to take more stringent training like that found in other European countries, though he fears the issue is too low a priority for most politicians.

“We had a period when interpreter training was state-controlled but this was abandoned,” he said. “Now they don’t want to invest in it so their attitude seems to be: ‘It’s only foreigners, never mind’.”

Ray Weaver

Poor interpreters put asylum seekers at risk Workshop continued from front page

being in the room with others who had endured the same process “made her feel less alone”.

‘Carsten’, on the other hand, said he came to the workshop hoping to point out a specific administrative error in his case and was disappointed he wasn’t given the chance to bring it up.

“I do not see how lining up, shuffling from room to room to join different groups and writing on coloured bits of paper is helping me at all,” he said.

Iftikhar Ahmed has been in Denmark for 14 years. His attendance at the workshop underscored that the labyrinth of immigration laws does not only affect those just arriving in Denmark, but that long-term residents must also navigate the often murky waters.

Although his Danish was impeccable, Ahmed was one of the people obviously shocked by the “speak Danish” outburst at the start of the meeting.

“He doesn’t want us here,” he said, looking at the man who had done the shouting. Ahmed has just moved into a home outside of Copenhagen. He said he and his Danish neighbour often discuss integration.

“We have both reached the conclusion that integration is just about respect,” he said. “I won’t stand in your way, please don’t stand in mine.”

Somewhat ironically, the

The workshop was conducted by Ole Jepsen, who is married to an American, and a bunch of coloured post-it notes

By making it so hard and restricting people’s rights, the government is simply breaking the law shouting participant turned out to be Torben Wilken, a major proponent for immigrant rights who works through several organisations to stop the government from engaging in practices that he said violate international law.

“EU laws provide that Danes who marry outside of the country have the right to bring their

families back home,” he said. “By making it so hard and restricting people’s rights, the government is simply breaking the law. People should know their rights.”

Wilken has a website concerning family reunification rights at www.borgerret.org.

Stampe promised that the workshop would not be the last.

She plans on setting up a Facebook page to keep participants updated on any changes to the law and to let participants know if their efforts are helping.

While the results of the effort, if any, remain to be seen, at the end of the evening Jepsen did tell the participants to reach over their own shoulder and give themselves a good, oldfashioned pat on the back for being there.

6 NEWS Celebrity chef Meyer brings power of food to Tedx THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Ahead of next week’s TedxCopenhagen, we spoke to Claus Meyer, the man behind New Nordic Cuisine

I

F YOU’RE going to kill time on the internet, you could do a lot worse than watching a TED talk. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is an annual conference where some of the world’s most interesting ideas are presented by speakers in talks no longer than 18 minutes.

The best talks are placed on the TED website, where you can learn about everything from creating biofuels from algae and how to spot psychopaths to robots that fly like birds.

Official TED conferences are held annually, but smaller, independently organised TEDx conferences are held all over the world. TEDxCopenhagen is hosting its third conference on September 18, at which the theme will be ‘Movements’. The conference, which is already fully booked, will see speakers discuss everything from food wastage and ‘unschooling’, to the power of being nice and dark matter.

One of the speakers is the renowned chef and gastronomy entrepreneur Claus Meyer, who in a glittering career has helped establish the world’s best restaurant Noma, developed the New Nordic Cuisine and taught inmates how to cook for a TV show.

The Copenhagen Post caught up with him ahead of his talk to discuss the power of good food and the fight against discount culture.

FILE PHOTO: SCANPIX / JACOB BOSERUP

PETER STANNERS

14 - 20 September 2012

What is your TED talk going to focus on?

I am sharing the main story of my life, about how Noma and

Meyer said he is waging a battle against the “lousy food in this county”

the New Nordic Cuisine came about and the reasons why they were successful.

What sparked your interest in food?

As a child we ate a lot of terrible food, and we were used to our food tasting like shit. But then I visited France and noticed that food could easily be so different. It was so interesting to see the way people spoke about food and the way that producers cooperated. I associated that with love and happiness.

So food is more than nutrition to you?

The food you eat reflects your

mental condition and your priorities. I also believe that there are great rewards in sharing great food and cooking great food for your loved ones and seeing their gratitude and being part of a great food system.

People don’t like a lot of what is going on [with food production] today, but they don’t know how to change it. There’s a lot of instability.

Noma and the New Nordic Cuisine can be seen as belonging to high-end culture. Is it possible to make it accessible and affordable to everyone?

In any great food culture, you can see there’s high-end dining where top chefs experiment with scien-

Gen

toft e

tists. But in French and Spanish cuisine, this high-end cuisine is reflected in the everyday life.

France may be influenced by modernity and the Americanisation of food culture. But average households in France still understand the decency in food.

Our food culture in Denmark is young. I started out 25 years ago and launched Noma only ten years ago, so I cannot expect every single family in Denmark to be eating high-end food.

Noma ended up being an end in itself, but it is also an instrument in the fight against lousy food in this country and instead producing good quality food.

The issue is complex because you only get there by starting a lot of different initiatives using

lots of participants. Most Danes would love their food to be different, and it isn’t logical that in one of the richest countries in the world, we eat the cheapest food.

What is next big project?

I’m helping develop the New Nordic Diet in collaboration with nutritionists and chefs who will figure out the best way to eat both from an environmental and individual health perspective.

We are trying to find a diet that is an everyday celebration of our identity. We are fighting for this, but we are also fighting against Netto and Burger King and the discount culture. The discount culture does not care about animal welfare or organic

ØSte R

bRo

TEDXCOPENHAGEN is an independently organised TED event that will be held on September 18 at Bremen Theatre. A range of speakers will share their stories, based on the conference’s theme of ‘Movement’: from Lars AP, the man that wants people to be nicer to each other, to Troels Petersen who will explain how the Large Hadron Collider at CERN can help unlock the secrets of the universe.

Lærke Ullerup, a strategic adviser at Wemind, has helped arrange TEDxCopenhagen since the first conference in 2009. She is enthusiastic about how the conference can provide a platform for the great ideas coming out of the city.

“It’s about putting a spotlight on the heroes in your own backyard,” she said. “It’s great to be able to promote these ideas globally.” food. All that matters is that the food is as cheap as possible. This cannot be integrated into New Nordic cuisine.

But will it be affordable?

The new Nordic Diet won’t be unfairly priced. It will be 75 percent organic, seasonal and damned healthy by decreasing meat and increasing grains and cereals. This organic, low-meat diet costs the same as normal diets now because meat is expensive. So that’s good news for families.

ØSte R

bRo

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8

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Where traffic laws are in the eye of the beholder

T

HERE’S no shortage of positive press about the city’s biking policies these days. If foreign media aren’t drooling over footrests at stoplights, free tyre pumps and fashionably dressed mums cycling junior to school, then the domestic press is citing yet another study glorifying the city for its bike-friendly lifestyle.

And while we’re proud to be living in a city where bike ownership well exceeds car ownership, it’s mildly reassuring that the cycling hysteria hasn’t been bought by the Copenhagen Police.

As cyclists ourselves, we know the irritation of not being able to take the shortest route from point A to point B. (In fact, we regularly ignore many of the most irritating rules ourselves.) But turn the situation around and ask whether we’d be reacting the same way if a motorists’ association were asking the cops to give drivers the right to bend the rules because they were inconvenient. Unlikely.

In a city like Copenhagen, bikes – as healthy, clean and convenient as they are – are still a major component of road traffic and should be treated as such by riders, drivers, pedestrians and the police alike. Cyclists ask that cars respect traffic laws. But cyclists, for their own safety and the safety of others, ought to respect those same laws.

Ask around at City Hall or stop anyone on one of the city’s paved, curbed and raised bike lanes, and they’ll tell you that bikes don’t cause accidents, cars do. But, that’s an attitude that’s hard to accept when even the national cyclists’ organisation, Cyclistforbundet, recently scolded cyclists for their role in the increasing number of run-ins between cyclists and motorists.

Cycling groups concerned about cops shooting down initiatives to make it easier to bike should consider how the cycling path along the far side of Copenhagen’s Sortedam Lake came to be. Before being opened up to bike traffic, police would regularly stop cyclists taking the convenient, but illegal shortcut. The reason why bikes were banned there was because the dirt walking path passed by a nursing home and a number of daycares, and it was feared that mixing shaky pedestrians and cyclists was an accident waiting to happen.

Defiant cyclists refused to pay attention to the ‘No biking’ signs posted at either end of the path and in the end they were rewarded for persistently violating the law: the path is now a combined – but separated – walking and biking path.

Had motorists chosen to ignore traffic laws and endanger the elderly and children, they’d have lost their right to drive. (KM)

14 - 20 September 2012

Making Denmark number one again MARTIN MANNICHE, MARTIN ROLL, WALDEMAR SCHMIDT

T

HE DANISH welfare model, lauded and emulated by lawmakers, executives and union bosses from around the world, has lost some of its sheen.

Denmark has lost its place among the world’s most competitive, richest and best countries to live in, and as a result the ‘Danish model’ is forced to adapt or perish.

In a matter of just five years, Denmark has fallen from its second-placed ranking as Europe’s most competitive country, ranked

by European business school IMD, to seventh place in 2012, behind Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

The fall is more than just bad news for companies as it also undermines the foundation of Denmark’s open, progressive welfare state. The situation calls for immediate action to change the way our society is organised. Lawmakers, employers and employees all need to chart a new course if Denmark is to regain its position as one of Europe’s most competitive countries.

We, the Danish executives living abroad who make up the Copenhagen Goodwill Ambassador Corps, and our partners have, with help from IMD, Berlingske newspaper and the Danish Industry, compiled a white paper that presents specific recommendations for what Denmark needs to do to improve its competitiveness.

Among our recommendations is a call to rethink the Danish model. It is high time that we re-

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When the street is your living room Let’s make sure we can keep them as clients of the HWS [Holy Welfare State] – god forbid anyone should have one shred of responsibility for one’s self in our socialist paradise.

Thorvaldsen by website Some deliberately choose a bottle opener instead of a front door key – that is a democratic choice.

Djeep by website Apparently, it appears one of the problems is that they are lacking friends outside of their current network. I think this problem can be addressed by finding nonhomeless people who could become their buddies.

NY by website Interesting article. I think too many of us walk past people without considering that each one has an individual history and situation.

TheAuthorities by website Young rapist gets jail time and expulsion

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It is high time that we realise that we’re not as competitive as we think we are way this can be accomplished is through a combination of on-thejob training and classroom learning. This would provide individuals with the first steps toward full qualification.

Improving competitiveness also calls for rethinking the job market as a whole. We can no longer justify retiring after working 30 years when life expectancy is approaching 80 years, and many live to be over 100. People need to work for 40 years or more, regardless of how long it took them to finish their studies.

We can’t afford anything less.

When it comes to taxes, the focus shouldn’t necessarily be on

our tax rates. Taxes are what we all pay to keep the welfare state running. What matters is what we get in return for our taxes.

Next, we believe that Denmark should adopt the concept of social capitalism, in which individuals have a greater personal interest in the competitiveness of businesses and public sector institutions.

Finally, the public sector needs better management. This can be attained through governance models that clearly delineate what elected officials are responsible for and what non-elected public officials are responsible for.

This can help streamline bureaucracy, reduce political meddling and improve employee efficiency.

Rethinking the Danish model is one of the five recommendations we present in our white paper. The others include: A new vision for Denmark: We need to involve companies, individuals and all other elements of society. Doing so requires explaining why reforms are the way forward.

Improve Denmark’s image: Denmark needs to be more visible in the global economy, and it needs to entice more consumers to purchase our products, more investors to put money into our companies and more tourists to visit our country. But it isn’t enough just to be more visible; Denmark needs to be a valued brand.

Better support for entrepreneurs: Denmark needs to make it easier for private companies to establish themselves and expand their operations. Examples of barriers we see in the way of this include: taxation, administrative burdens, a lack of venture capital,

and a lack of collaboration between start-ups and established companies.

Inspiration from abroad: Denmark needs to be better at attracting new foreign workers and keeping the ones who already are here from leaving again. We need to be a land of opportunity for skilled specialists and entrepreneurs.

We have written the white paper because we, in the first place, are deeply committed to our country and, in the second place, because can see that there are lessons to be learned from the countries where we live and do business. We wrote the white paper as Danes and as businesspeople. We are not politicians.

The white paper and its themes were developed by us, and its recommendations are our own. Political, commercial and personal interests played no role in their formulation.

How our recommendations can become reality will depend on the decisions elected officials make. We suggest they begin by starting with a reform of the ‘Danish model’.

The white paper is just the first step, and the goodwill ambassadors will gladly take part in the next step as well. Restoring Denmark as Europe’s most competitive nation is critical for the survival of a welfare state that Danes want.

Martin Manniche lives in the US and is the founder and chairman of Greenwave. Martin Roll lives in Singapore and is the managing director of Venture Republic. Waldemar Schmidt lives in Switzerland and is the former managing director of ISS.

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alise that we’re not as competitive as we think we are. We can’t compete with developing countries on wages, but we should be placing more focus on research and development and on high-quality niche markets. It is here that Danish companies perform best, and it’s here where they can earn most.

Doing that requires us to place less emphasis on formal education and instead encourage life-long learning and the development of skills like critical thinking and creative problem solving. We need to ensure that ‘untrained’ workers become a thing of the past. One

If the guy did commit the rape

and he is not a Danish citizen, he must be deported to Somalia in order to send a strong and clear signal that if you are not grateful for being here, you do not belong here. Another reason for sending him back is that he is equally dangerous to native Danes as he is to Somalis/Muslims in Denmark. Denmark clearly violates many human rights laws without blinking an eyelid, so why not for a change break some for a beneficial outcome? bru_sque by website Instead of judging the person who committed the crime, it’s better to discuss why he did it.

Was he was surrounded by a racist community? How long have they discriminated against him and excluded him from society before he took revenge? What influence has discrimination had on his personality? Is it really a good idea to send asylum seekers into the woods with village people, or to place them in big cities where they can integrate easier (and make friends, get a job etc)?

Angelinajolie2012 by website Find me an article about a white teenager from good circumstances that raped a child, and I will

reply: throw him in prison, and for many more years than six. His colour, race and background is all irrelevant flim-flam.

Jeg_er by website They should just act like he’s Danish and give him the same punishment a Dane would get. Anything else seems a bit bolted-on. The crime isn’t worse because of his background – and his background doesn’t excuse him either.

Adventures and Japes by website Deportation of Afghan children would violate UN conventions These youths need help and homes, not deportation. But, honestly, who is surprised that Denmark intends to do this?

Since human rights don’t matter to the Danish government, why send them back to Afghanistan?

Why not just work out a deal with the American government to have these innocent kids dropped off into Gitmo?

Nicole Grzeskowiak by website Unaccompanied minor refugees are a big headache for governments worldwide. They are vulnerable, have no-one to advocate for them and require incredible

amounts of support. How shameful that a rich, developed country (directly involved in the conflict that displaced these boys) decides the best approach is to imprison them in ‘camps’ in the country from which they fled. What’s going to happen to these children when ISAF withdraw in 2014?

Words cannot express just how disgusting this strategy is.

Adventures and Japes by website Believe it or not, Afghans have fake stories to get asylum in EU countries. Many cities in Afghanistan have no problems. There are only some areas that have problems … so in those cities where the situation is normal, people can live quite safely. silent lover by website Emergency aid targets the unemployed Mette, never thought I would have the chance to say this to you, but “YOU GO GIRL!” Thank you for saying no to a group that, in principle, thinks there should be no limits to the time people can claim unemployment benefits!!!

Thorvaldsen by website

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

14 - 20 September 2012

Battle of the sexes

S

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.

UB-EDITORS here, there and everywhere are set to go on a headline punning spree should Denmark’s ongoing leadership changes at the political parties follow the most probable course.

Pia Kjærsgaard announced some weeks ago that she was stepping down and named a young man as her chosen successor to lead Dansk Folkeparti. On the opposite side of the house, Villy Søvndal has now also relinquished the reins of the Socialistisk Folkeparti, and while this contest is ongoing, a young woman is the current favourite.

This gives us the possibility of a leadership scenario that is certainly unprecedented in Denmark and quite probably the rest of the world: the left side of parliament being led purely by women and the right just by men.

The fact alone that left-wing women are in power at present will have journalists angling to inject a ‘genderbattle’ twist to stories about Danish politics. And given that most newspapers’ subbies tend to be male, we should brace ourselves for a plethora of racy and rude headlines.

Furthermore, we’ve already got the

prospect of a fired-up autumn in Danish politics. Relations between the government and its far-left parliamentary prop, Enhedslisten, are fraught due to what the latter perceives as state welfarebashing policies.

Over on the right, Kristian Thulesen-Dahl, the heir-presumptive to the anti-immigrant brigade, will surely be jostling to make his own impact in the wake of Kjærsgaard’s retirement.

Continued tight finances mean the 2013 budget bill will be unusually full of compromise and tough choices.

Which in turn means that the former prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Venstre, will not ignore any plausible opportunity to exploit the wrangling to step back into power.

The prospect of a gender-divided political clash will be grist to the mill for journalists and headline writers in Denmark and abroad.

It is also likely to focus foreign attention on the success of Danish women in national politics. A parliament where four of the eight parties are headed by women is no mean achievement.

Denmark also has a perfectly respectable record on the proportion of

women elected to the house. Collectively, women increased their share of the vote in last year’s general election to take 38.8 percent of parliamentary seats (up from 37.7 percent four years earlier).

Only the other Nordic countries can pride themselves on a similar showing and most of Europe cannot boast of a rate much above 20 percent.

This statistic might cause overseas observers to wax lyrical about Denmark’s wonderfully far-reaching gender equality (or to condemn if they’re of a misogynistic bent).

Sadly, though, Danish women’s prominent role in national politics is not mirrored elsewhere in society.

Though many more women than men are employed by local authorities across the country, just 25 percent of the top jobs are held by females.

The proportion is even worse at the top of the private sector with less than 13 percent of board chairs of listed companies being occupied by women.

There’s a severely disproportionate amount of women in low-paid, parttime jobs that cannot be explained away in terms of educational achievement or ability.

9

Some 57 percent of the places in upper high school are taken by girls, and they’ve also been outclassing the chaps in university admissions for several years.

When it comes to cool cash, continued wage and pensions disparity between the genders makes for depressing reading.

Every time a man lodges 170 kroner into his pension pot, a woman only manages 100 kroner – so a poorer retirement beckons.

In 2009 (the newest international comparative data I’ve been able to locate) Danish men had a 12 percent wage advantage over women. While this was largely in line with the other Nordics as well as countries like Iceland, Italy, Greece and France, it was immensely preferable to the 39 percent gap seen in South Korea. Among the developed economies in this particular survey only Hungary could pride itself on near-evenness – a 4 percent advantage for the guys.

But Hungary also has one of Europe’s lowest parliamentary participation ratios for females – 9 percent.

Which only goes to show that you can’t, right now, have it all. So Sisters: despite our many gains, it is still too early to declare mission accomplished.

I’m not afraid to say it: I love Copenhagen

I

Christian Values

BY CHRISTIAN WENANDE Christian Wenande’s Danish/American background caters well to a city brimming with cultural diversity and strife. The CPH Post journalist loves life in Copenhagen but yearns for the indomitable mountains, rolling prairie and starry nights of his Wyoming sanctuary.

WOULD like to placate you (or infuriate you, depending on your denomination), from the off that despite its name, the column won’t be catering to the religious, pious or sectarian. Unless, that is, your spiritual healing resides within the realm of football, spicy food and enjoying life in general.

As part of the international community, we’re all aware of Denmark’s deficiencies. Many of my foreign friends and colleagues are eager to point out that, amongst other things, Danes are rude and unwelcoming, service is nonexistent, the weather is abysmal, taxes are a disgrace to mankind and the welfare system is a massive waste of money.

I may face excommunication by my fellow ... let’s call them crusaders in the vein of this column’s title, but I fear that new international residents are getting a pretty dour impression of the place when inhaling the ill winds of constant criticism. Woe to the one who mentions Denmark favourably, lest they be set upon by hordes of rabid nay-sayers frothing at the mouth, keen to tell their story of calamitous encounters with insolent cyclists and boorish bus drivers.

Well, one evening recently provided me with some fodder, as frivolous as it may be, from which to convey why I love this place.

It began at my local pub, where I had popped down to have a couple of frosty beverages while taking in a rather important football match. I was wearing my club’s colours and despite opposing fans being present as well, there were no fights, no one got bottled and the banter was good hearted throughout the match.

There are not many capitals in Europe where you can stroll about wearing a football shirt, let alone watch a game in a pub with opposing fans, without worrying about airborne pint glasses and Millwall bricks (if you don’t know what that is, ask your local hooligan).

After the match, I met up with some pals downtown, where we purchased some more brews from a kiosk before sitting down next to the stork fountain on Strøget, leisurely sipping from our bottles whilst basking in the rarely seen sun. I rather like being able to enjoy a beer or two in public without being judged a booze hound or draw the attention of the police. I also like the

Woe to the one who mentions Denmark favourably fact that I can buy a beer or bottle of wine any time I please, without needing to go to state-run alcohol monopolies.

It turned out that the evening in question had some longevity to it and in the wee hours of the morning our little entourage decided to locate an establishment to satisfy the cravings of the old traditional post-beverage meal. One shawarma (that’s kebab for the greenhorns) and a tub of chilli later I had tipped my hat and begun the journey home on my trusty old two-wheeled steed. I love living in a city where I can get good grub at 5am and then bike home in 15 minutes on bicycle paths that are on nearly every street in the entire city.

There is a little bakery next to my place and although they are not open at 5:15am, they are busy baking the delights for the forthcoming day and

if you knock on their door, many of them will sell you a hot, freshly made bun or pastry you can enjoy when you awaken from your slumber. I enjoy living in a town with world class bakeries on every corner.

There is nothing wrong with criticism, if it’s constructive, and in fact I concur with much of what I read in our comments section, but perhaps we ‘foreigners’ should be giving Danes something from which to draw inspiration – leading by example, as it were. I would find it rather easy to go to London and complain about the packed crowds in the piss-soaked, tin-can underground, or whinge about the bumper-to-bumper traffic in New York, or suffocating clouds of pollution in Beijing. One complaint I hear a lot from foreigners is that Danes tend to whine a lot. Well, I suppose some of us are assimilating rather nicely then, because many of the ‘stories’ I read these days lack purpose and are laced with personal contempt.

Let’s give newcomers a fighting chance to become disillusioned with Denmark on their own. They may even fall in love with the place. It’s not all bad, is it?

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10 News Flying in the face of tradition and making a difference The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

14 - 20 September 2012

Elise Beacom

Elise Beacom How an Ishøj after-school club, The Flying Suitcase, is helping Turkish youth adapt to their new life in Denmark

T

he staff at Ishøj Ungdomskole have one core objective: to help people from different cultures function in Danish society.

Located in a council area where 32.7 percent of the inhabitants are of an immigrant background, according to 2011 figures, the school runs programmes specifically tailored to the diversity of its students.

Every Danish council area has an ungdomskole – a place young people attend of their own free will, which encourages them to develop life skills and become active participants in society.

Ishøj is home to 85 different nationalities, and its ungdomskole’s activities are determined with that in mind.

One of the school’s clubs, ‘The Flying Suitcase’, was started to help Turkish youth adapt to their new life in Denmark.

An Ishøj Ungdomskole teacher, Erkan Cakmak, said about 95 percent of those attending the club came from immigrant backgrounds and had different cultural identities at home and in

Teacher Erkan Cakmak (left) and headteacher Gunnar Thulin (right) stress the importance of the social aspect

public.

“Integration is not about leaving behind your Turkish culture and moving away to the Danish way of doing things,” he said. “But while they are here, we try to set them free to be themselves. You don’t have to have a mask on

to be here.”

The club currently opens every day, but funding from the Social Ministry (Socialministeriet) will run out next summer, after which ‘The Flying Suitcase’ must reapply. A rejection, although considered unlikely, would force them

to cut back their hours significantly.

Among other things, the programme teaches participants how to behave politely, refrain from using bad language and respect one another, and Cakmak thinks taking it away might have negative consequences.

“If the ministry pulls the funding, it could cost them a lot more at the end of the day,” he said.

Because going to the ungdomskole, which operates outside of regular school hours, is totally optional, the school’s headteacher, Gunnar Thulin, said it was important to let the students dictate what they did there – from riding mopeds to ‘yogalates’ and graffiti.

“We want them to be able to manoeuvre in this society. Of course it’s important to know maths, English, German and whatever, but the social side is maybe the most important thing,” Thulin said.

Other activities include a homework café, video game facility, cultural programme and Club Medina – which is open 24 hours a day and is targeted at “tough guys” over the age of 18.

“Club Medina is rather expensive, but it means we have a very peaceful town at the moment,” said Thulin.

A couple of years ago, according to Thulin, the club’s members would hang out in the mall and annoy or frighten some residents. But since Club Medina’s opening, things have improved.

“If we want to have a strong community, we have to be active and give young people positive activities or let them come up with activities themselves,” he said.

Church-state bonds continue to erode Half of all young adults don’t Justin Cremer

T

here are increasing signs that the bonds between church and state in Denmark are eroding.

Following a week in which prominent voices from within his party questioned the relationship between church and state, Church Minister Manu Sareen (Radikale) has set up a commission to look at “modernising” the Church of Denmark.

The commission will look at just who should have control over what when it comes to the church, including its finances. Currently, the state support received by the church goes primarily to the salaries and pensions of the nation’s clergy.

The commission will also assess whether there are new administrative bodies that should be created within the church and whether other measures can ensure more coherent management and a more modern structure.

“We need to modernise the church so that it has more to offer to everyone in Denmark,” Sareen told Ritzau.

that would allow people to withdraw from the church by simply sending an email to their local priest. Previously, someone looking to leave the church – and thus avoid paying the default church tax – had to send a formal letter or visit the church in person.

The change was criticised by some within the church.

“I think, in all honesty, that when someone withdraws from a religious community, it should be taken more seriously,” Elisabeth Dons Christensen, the bishop of Ribe, told Kristeligt Dagblad.

“In my view, withdrawal by means of email sends the wrong kind of signal that the church doesn’t really care that people are withdrawing.”

The discussion over whether to separate church and state has been ongoing for many years. The Church of Denmark was named the “Danish people’s church” in Denmark’s constitution in 1848. Separating the church from the state would allow the church to have its own set of rules and remove parliament as its supreme legislative authority.

The conversation has increased since May, when Norway opted to formally separate church and state.

Although church membership has been declining in Denmark in recent years, almost 80 percent of Danes remain active members.

use condoms, study shows

A campaign hopes to encourage more young adults to use condoms after a study revealed half did not use them with new sexual partners despite rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases

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Colourbox

A commission to “modernise” the church, and a change to make it easier to withdraw, follow a government party’s call to end state support

The church-state relationship was severely strained by the June law change that allowed homosexuals to get married in church. Several independent congregations sprouted up in protest against the decision.

Sareen stressed that the commission’s work would not result in a separation of church and state, despite the calls from within his own party to sever state support for the church.

Last week, Bo Nissen Knudsen, a member of Radikale’s executive committee, told Berlingske newspaper that the state should offer less support to the church.

“We don’t think it’s the role of the state to promote religion and it is certainly not an enterprise that needs to be supported with lots of money in this day and age,” Knudsen said. “The biggest problem is that lots of money from tax payers, who are not members of the Church of Denmark, is being used to pay the salaries of priests and finance the direct practice of religion.”

Earlier this week, another sign that the church’s sway over Denmark is waning emerged in the form of a change made to how Danes, who are default members of the church from birth, can withdraw from the church.

Kristeligt Dagblad reported that the Church Ministry has approved a change

Campaign hopes to make condoms cool

nly about half of young people wear condoms with new sexual partners, according to a study by the national health authority Sundhedsstyrelsen.

The study also revealed that young people stopped using condoms because they were unafraid of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD).

In connection with the study, Sundhedsstyrelsen is launching a campaign with the family-planning association Sex & Samfund to promote condom use.

The study revealed that threequarters of adults aged 18-25 thought that the chances of being infected with an STD was either small or very small.

The reality, however, is that a third of all Danes will contract an STD before the age of 25.

The reasons people gave for not using condoms ranged from the fact they knew their partner beforehand, that the female was using birth control, or that

they simply forgot to use one.

The campaign hopes to promote condom use by getting people to think about what they want to be remembered for. Two-thirds of adults aged 18-25 said they want to be remembered for being a good sexual partner whereas almost 99 percent think it’s “bad style” to give a STD to a sexual partner.

“Most young people remember their sexual partners, good and bad,” Søren Ingemann Zinck from Sex & Samfund told Ritzau. “They remember the experience, whether their partner was a gentleman, but also whether they were infected with an STD.” The incidence of chlamydia has doubled since the mid 1990s with about 30,000 new registered cases every year.

The high incidence led to the Swedish health authority last November warning Swedes to use condoms with Danish sexual partners. (PS)

Online this week Denmark to enforce smokeless tobacco ban The government has decided to give in to EU demands that all forms of snus, a type of chewing tobacco, be banned in Denmark. The capitulation follows a formal notice in June from the EU Commission warning that Denmark would be hauled before the courts in violation of the EU tobacco directive prohib-

iting the sale of tobacco for oral use. It is currently legal to sell loose snus in Denmark, although the small pouches are banned.

The EU is demanding that all smokeless tobacco products be removed from the shelves in accordance with its rules. The government’s effort to ban snus faces political resistance.

Nationwide ‘pizza check’ debated Since January 17 of this year, Yellow Rose pizzeria in Vesterbro has received 13 ‘Bad Smileys’ from the Food Ministry’s food inspection scheme and has been reported a dozen times to the police for breach of hygiene and food product laws. But somehow, it’s still serving customers. Venstre (V) is now demanding that

the food minister, Mette Gjerskov (Socialdemokraterne), take action. They want to see a “pizza check” of the entire pizza industry in Denmark. “The food administration [Fødevarestyrelsen] should check and administer the general conditions in the pizza business,” Venstre spokesman Erling Bonnesen told metroXpress.

Online artists put Copenhagen in their Street View If you’re strolling around Copenhagen this month on an unusually warm and sunny day and catch yourself thinking: “Why aren’t the painters and artists out today?”, here’s an answer: they’re online. Bill Guffey, a US-based artist, has created a

new project that, this month, comes to Zealand. The project, called ‘The Virtual Paintout’, unites international artists at one location every month to be inspired to paint whatever they see. The catch? It’s all online, using Google’s Street View.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

14 - 20 September 2012

11

A salty surprise from Silver Spoon on the sands of Urban Beach PHOTOS: LINN LEMHAG

WORDS: HENRY BUTMAN

Tiffany Ng and James Digby, two of the three co-founders of Silver Spoon, a company that offers ‘Guerila Dining’ – an experience in which Nordic cuisine is taken to different venues where the guests create the event as much as the creators. “It’s a performance experience,” explained Ng

The master chef of the day, Bachir, a native of France, mixes the mussels with an extra dose of wine in the true style of his homeland

Bachir and his sous chef Luke, originally from New Zealand, prepare some of the 2,000 kilos of mussels on site for the event

Helen (left) and Rose (right), both from Denmark, chose the venue Filipa (left) and Xania (right) put on a show of how to eat mussels Nicolas (right) from Germany helps his son Mikkel crack the often Thomas, Jacob, Daniel and Jesper (left to right) patiently await as a chance to catch up and be outside as the summer winds down correctly – with curiosity and two hands unco-operative mussel shells. Mikkel wonders why that tray is their crack at the mussels. After reading about the event in a newsletter and attending last year in Nørrebro, the group decided empty! to make a reappearance.

Every event (like every batch of mussels) needs its share of wine, Jordan Shoesmith, a German-American travelling This foursome – Irene from Italy, Roman from Switzerland, Christoffer from Denmark and New Englander Henry Butman, currently a resident of Coand if it weren’t for Frederik Trebbien of Grape Wise, the events of- through Copenhagen, couldn’t pass up at least a Høvard from Norway (left to right) – gave the New England mussels a truly international penhagen, remarked that the mussels tasted as good (if not better) than they do back home ficial wine supplier, guests may have gone thirsty glass of wine flavour

The mussels on the grill, soaking in big pots of white wine sauce, and in the tin foil serving trays with carrots, onions and parsley

Linda (right), Sarah and baby Marvin sit and digest the mussels As the event lasted until 11pm, the DJ kept the mood mellow durthat disappeared quickly from the tin foil tray in the garbage ing the day, but had a chance to get the party started later on

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COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

14 - 20 September 2012

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

The first ladies of the Diplomatic Corps recently made a trip to the Danish Design Museum on Bredgade to attend the ongoing Dragonfly exhibition

Northern Irish actor Liam Neeson (right) was in town on Monday at Imperial Bio for the premiere ofhis film ‘Taken 2’, which comes out nationwide on October 4. Here he is pictured with Irish ambassador Brendan Scannell (left) and his wife

The British Embassy was pleased to welcome Denmark’s lightweight four rowing team, who won Olympic bronze in London, to its beer garden party on August 29. The embassy’s chargé d’ affaires Simon Wood (left) welcomes (left-right) Morten Jørgensen, Kasper Winther Jørgensen, Eskild Ebbesen and Jacob Barsøe. It really surprising to discover one of these guys is 40 (pssst, second right)

COMING UP SOON Oktoberfest Fabrikken, Drechselsgade 10 Cph S; Fri Sep 14, 17:30; 650kr for members, 750kr for non-members; www.handelskammer.dk The German chamber of commerce in Denmark is holding an all-out Oktoberfest celebration with beer, music, and sauerkraut.

So strap on your lederhosen to celebrate autumn the German way!

Di(vine) meeting!

Skovgaard Messen 2012, Skovgaard Vine København, Vallensbækvej 6, Brøndby; Fri Sep 14, 18:00-20.30; tickets 100kr; www.skovgaardvine. dk “Let’s drink, let’s drink from the joyous chalices that beauty so truly enhances.” Follow Alfredo’s advice from Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and enjoy an evening in the spirit of deliciousness and taste, tickling your appetite with 200 kinds of wine from all over the world for only 100kr!

Rytme, rum og retning Fuglsanghus, Gammel Hovedgade 2, Hørsholm; starts Sat Sep 15, 14:00, ends Sun Oct 14, open Fri, Sat & Sun, 12:00-17:00; 4576 5330, bjn@c.dk Enjoy the result of a collaboration of three artistic minds – artists Esther López and Clementina Looms, and poet Marina Testa – who all have Danish/Spanish cultural backgrounds. The event is organised by Mikkelborg Kunstforening.

US Voter Registry Cafe Globen, Turesengade 2B, Cph K; Fri Oct 5, 17:00; free adm Calling all US citizens in Copenhagen – make sure you’re ready to vote in November’s presidential elections by registering at Cafe Globen – after all, why would you want to register at an embassy when you can do it in a bar? Cafe Globen will have three voter registration experts on hand to guide you along – just remember to bring your proof of citizenship with you. For all non-US citizens who aren’t eligible to vote, but are still eligible to drink a beer, come along and keep the yanks company!

Mindfulness and Meditation Workshop Copenhagen International School, Hellerupvej 22-26, Hellerup; Tue Sep 18, 18:30-21:30; 150kr; www.europeanpwn.net /copenhagen The European Professional Women’s Network is holding a workshop with a focus on mindfulness and meditation, and how to modify your response to stress. Led by the dynamic Nikki Gordon Skovby, who holds degrees in both medicine and psychiatry as well as heading up her own medical consulting company, the workshop will also include guided meditations and meditation exercises.

Ukrainian ambassador Mykhailo Skuratovskyi (centre left) celebrated his country’s independence day on August 29 with a reception that included traditional food and costumes and sabre and fire dancing (left).

Vietnam celebrated its national day with a celebration at the ambassador’s residence on August 30. Among those helping newly settled Vietnamese ambassador Lai Ngoc Doan (second right) to mark the day was the South Korean ambassador Geun-hyeong Yim (left) and John Andersen (right), the director of international affairs at the University of Copenhagen

Party with a purpose Café Kant (KBH Kulturcenter), Drejervej 15 Cph NV; Sat 15 Sep, 16:00-18:30; free adm; www.kvindetilkvinde.dk, www. meetup.com/Friendsproject Every year FriendsProject and Kvinde Til Kvinde help HopeNow and its fight against human trafficking through the promotion of a charity party.

Live music, cakes, drinks and a raffle with good prizes will accompany the event.

Danish democracy lecture Cph Volunteers, Nyropsgade 3, Cph V; Mon Sep 17, 19:0022:00; register at info@cphvolunteers.dk; www.cphvolunteers.dk Deepen your understanding of the Danish welfare system: its basis, the principles of universalism and flexicurity, and the challenges presented by a global economy. All sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Trip to the temples Copenhagen Central Station on Sat Sep 22 at 07:00; IID members 400kr, non-members 425kr, over-2s 250kr; www.indiansindenmark.com/events Celbrate Ganesh Chathurthi with Indians in Denmark by visiting the Sree Vel Murugan Temple in Slagelse, Sree Abirami Amman Temple in Brande and Lord Ganesha Temple in Herning.

ANTONIETTA RICCI

A Polish-Danish Chamber of Commerce has been launched. Pictured here is the chamber’s leader Jens-Christian Møller, the managing director of BIC Electric, standing outside the Polish Embassy in Hellerup on launch day on August 29

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.

S

OME 125 years ago this 1901. She laid the foundation weekend, a special event stone on 19 September 1885, took place here in Copen- and less than two years later, hagen. The little church with the church was consecrated and the big spire next to the Gefion opened. With no power tools or Fountain was opened. Taxi driv- modern equipment, the builders call it ‘the English Church’, ing went up with a speed, fired by three decades but its real name of planning by is St Alban’s Ana committee glican Church. of dedicated Named after volunteers. the first English In many ways, St The architect Christian mar- Alban’s is a symbol was Sir Arthur tyr, it is now a Blomfield, who popular visiting of the heart of the built The place for tourwarm Danish/British had Strand and sevists, pilgrims eral other key and worship- relationship London locapers. On just one day last month, we had tions. The ceremony on 17 over 1,000 visitors. At Christ- September 1887 was attended mas there are so many people, by Edward and Alexandra, along we have two services of nine with the king and queen of Denreadings with carols. This little mark, the emperor and empress church in the corner of the city of Russia, the king and queen has a special and unique history. of Greece, as well as the Danish In many ways, St Alban’s is a crown prince and Princess Masymbol of the heart of the warm rie of Denmark. Four hundred people packed into the church, Danish/British relationship.

The realisation of the vision and there followed a luncheon for the building was down to on the royal yacht Osborne. one person. Princess Alexandra, An historic account reads: “The the Danish princess, married bright sunshine, the gay dresses Edward VII and became Queen of the ladies and the varied uniAlexandra of Great Britain in forms of the many officials made

the scene at once splendid and striking; while the surroundings of the site, the trees, moat, citadel, and harbour, added to the picturesqueness.”

Earlier this year, Prince Charles visited us and planted a tree to commemorate both his mother’s Diamond Jubilee and our 125th anniversary. As he handed me the spade, he said: “I plant many trees around the world and I want them to grow, so please water this regularly Jonathan.” With that royal command, you will now see me running out between weddings or funerals with a watering can.

I don’t fancy a sojourn in the Tower of London, so this dutiful citizen is obeying the heir to the British throne.

But the most important thing about St Alban’s is its people. For the last 125 years, committed and dedicated volunteers of all nationalities and backgrounds have come together to form a living Christian community, caring for a heritage building without receiving any ‘church tax’ or help from the national church.

That is something worth celebrating.

13 Mary Poppins touches down in the city to save the day COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

14 - 20 September 2012

DAVE SMITH For a nanny state, Denmark’s awfully short on professional child carers, but one Hungarian expat is about to change all that

I

F YOU’VE ever lived in Paris, London or New York, you’ll probably know that nanny agencies are an established phenomenon, essential to the lives of many families across the world. In Stockholm, the first agency was launched in 2009 and has already achieved considerable success. And if it is up to Nora Moltke, Copenhagen will have its first serious nanny agency this year. She used to work as a nanny for one of London’s high-standard agencies, and now she has imported the concept to Copenhagen and named it NannyCPH. “There are kids everywhere in Copenhagen,” Moltke explains.

“Playing, learning, smiling, crying. In cafés, in stores, on the Metro and on bikes. Unlike in London, Budapest and Paris – where I have lived before – children are a natural, visible and audible part of Copenhagen life.”

Moltke is originally from Hungary, but last year she moved to Copenhagen from London with her Danish husband. Today she lives next to Kongens Have and is expecting her first child in October.

“I can’t imagine a better place to have a baby,” she says. “Only one thing has surprised me: how

hard it is to find qualified help to take care of your child. If you don’t have your family living close by, and you don’t want an au pair living in your home, your options are limited.”

Moltke is quick to recognise that Denmark has a unique and positive culture when it comes to childcare.

“Copenhagen has wonderful kindergartens, pre-schools and nurseries,” she observes.

“But modern life doesn’t always respect the opening hours and boundaries of our traditional institutions. Many parents are forced to entrust their children with well meaning amateurs who lack the childcare qualifications and skills needed. This is not possible.”

Moltke explains how her nannies have been systematically interviewed and carefully handpicked for their previous experience as nannies, teachers or nurses.

“It should be easy to entrust your kids with someone qualified, caring, and reliable,” she contends.”

I only hire nannies I would entrust my own child with.”

Moltke is currently designing a training programme together with child psychologist Christine Vinum, Jordemoderhuset and the Danish Red Cross.

But are the Danes ready for a nanny agency? “Copenhagen is slowly changing into a more international city, and the Danes are gradually opening up to new ideas,” says Moltke.

“But I realise that making

time for your kids means a lot more to Danish parents than it does to parents in other places I have lived. In Copenhagen the world really revolves around our children. We put their happiness before everything else. But sometimes I think we can forget how much our kids need happy parents – parents who haven’t lost spontaneity in their lives, romance in their relationships, or given up stimulating challenges in their worklives.”

Moltke realises it will take some getting used to. “Taxes are high in Denmark and paying for housekeeping, handy work and childcare has traditionally fallen outside the system,” she said.

“This means that the nanny and babysitter professions haven’t developed like in other countries.

Because as long it resides on the wrong side of the law, it can’t be discussed as openly here. And the black market prices are making it hard for anyone like me to start a constructive business.”

Moltke predicts that business is going to start slow in terms of attracting Danish clients, but is confident in the long-run. “Already, before the website was launched, we were getting calls and started working for international families who are used to relying on nannies as part of their family life,” she reveals.

“But we can’t wait to get started for real.”

NannyCPH has just launched a new website at www.nannycph.dk, and has been open for business since September 1.

Nora Moltke is the spoonful of sugar the city’s parents have been waiting for

Romney vs Obama, it starts here! US expats rock embassy house to get out the vote RAY WEAVER The US Embassy last week hosted an event for expats needing to register for the country’s upcoming elections

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EORGIA, MAINE, New York and Maryland were just a few of the states represented by expat US residents who turned up to register at a three-hour voter registration event held by the US Embassy on Dag Hammarskjölds Allé in Copenhagen last week on Thursday.

After negotiating the gauntlet that is security at the embassy, people munched on Fritos or sipped on warm soft drinks as they waited to register at one of three computer stations or by filling out paper forms. Both methods resulted in a paper request for a ballot that was then sent via embassy mail to local election officials in the US. New laws this year required that US residents living abroad submit a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to receive an absentee ballot. About 60-70 US citizens living in Denmark showed up to make sure they would receive

their absentee ballots in time to vote in November.

John Webster, the embassy’s consul, was pleased with the turnout.

“This is an important election,” said Webster. “We are electing a president, all 435 House members, a third of the Senate and a handful of governors. We want to make it as easy as possible to help people to vote.”

Prospective voters plucked

We are electing a president, all 435 House members, a third of the Senate and a handful of governors.

We want to make it as easy as possible to help people to vote guides from tables decorated with red, white and blue balloons and candles, and refreshed their memories of the name of the last county in the last state

Embassy employees helped voters fill out ballot requests

they voted in while still living in the US. Young half American/half Danish voters, who have never lived in the US and are casting a ballot for the first time, questioned embassy staff and volunteers from Democrats Abroad and the Women’s Club of Denmark about the process.

“I think my dad lived in Georgia,” said a stylish young woman voting for the first time.

“Should I register there?”

Volunteers and staff thought that the reports coming out of both party’s conventions – the Republicans had just wrapped up their show in Tampa, Florida and the Democrats were kicking off in Charlotte, North Carolina – reminded people that the election is just around the corner.

“We have been doing a lot of outreach to make sure that

Americans in Denmark remember to exercise their right to vote,” said Webster.

Webster said the embassy has been focusing especially on students studying in Denmark who may have turned 18 and are eligible to vote for the first time.

He pointed out that computersavvy young people can register – without coming by the embassy for a warm Fresca – online

at www.FVAP.com. Once they have printed out their FPCA and the postage paid envelope to their local officials, they can save international postage and drop it by the embassy.

Although ballots can be dropped off anytime, the embassy will be holding a ballot event on October 26. Voters can bring their completed ballots and once again take advantage of embassy mail to get them sent back to the US in time to be counted. The embassy will also help voters who have not received an absentee ballot, fill in a federal write-in ballot during the event.

“People get busy and deadlines creep up on them,” said David Miller of Democrats Abroad.

Voters with questions can contact the embassy’s voting assistance officer at 3341 7222 or at CopenhagenACS@state.gov.

Anyone stopping by the US Embassy should remember to leave their computers and cameras at home. They are emphatically NOT allowed inside the building and cannot even be left at the guard station. Cell phones and iPods are checked in at the gate and can be picked up again when the visitor leaves.

14

sport

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

14 - 20 September 2012

Christian Wenande Despite dominating most of the match, Denmark made a disappointing start to their qualification campaign with a draw

scanpix/Keld Navntoft

Czechs frustrate in 2014 World Cup qualifier stalemate Contador

F

ollowing a poor showing against Slovakia in a recent friendly, coupled with star striker Nicklas Bendtner’s ban for his infamous pants stunt, Danish fans could be forgiven for being apprehensive about their team taking on a Czech team that progressed past the group stage at this summer’s Euro 2012.

But it was a revitalised Danish squad who took to the field on Saturday night, realistically knowing that they needed a result against the Czechs at home if they want to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil – particularly as their next two games, against Bulgaria and Italy, are both away.

Young forward Nicolai Jørgensen, who FC Copenhagen signed permanently on Monday following a brief loan period from Bayer Leverkusen, was the man given the arduous task of replacing Denmark’s only quality

Despite Nicolai Jørgensen’s best efforts, Czech keeper Petr Cech kept the Danes in check all night

striker up front, and although he worked tirelessly, it was clear that he favours playing in the wide position.

Michael Krohn-Dehli, Simon Kjær, Christian Eriksen and a looping header from Dennis Rommedahl all went close to giving the Danes the lead in the first half, but luck and dependable, world-class Czech keeper Petr Cech stood in the way.

The Danes continued to dominate in the second half.

Jørgensen fluffed a shot after getting an opening inside the box, substitute Leon Andreasen headed over from two yards out, while an Eriksen free kick forced Cech to make another save at his near post.

But the Czechs had come for a draw and, as time continued to tick away on the scoreboard

in Parken, it became apparent that it was just one of those days for Denmark. And when Cech made another solid save to deny a powerful Andreasen effort, the draw became a reality.

National team coach Morten Olsen was pleased with the way his team played, but was disappointed they were unable to break the deadlock.

“We are all disappointed at

not getting the ball across the goal line, especially when you look at the stats,” Olsen told TV2 Sporten. “We look at it critically, but also positively because we created so many chances. Now there are two away games ahead of us in difficult conditions, but there are always new players coming in, so there are more to choose from.”

Olsen can take other positives from the match too. Leon Andreasen hadn’t played football for two years due to chronic injuries and he gave the Danes some power and drive in the second half. The much-criticised Simon Kjær hardly put a foot wrong or lost a header and looks to be part of a formidable defensive constellation alongside Daniel Agger. And 19-year-old Andreas Cornelius came on in the second half and looks an able Bendtner replacement in the future.

With the draw, Denmark and Czech Republic have one point and are tied with Italy and Bulgaria, who drew 2-2. In the group’s other game, Armenia beat Malta.

The next game is in Bulgaria on October 12, followed by the trip to Italy four days later on October 16.

José may be the lord of the Bernabéu, but one fan has had enough and wants the club president to ring some changes

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ove him or hate him, José Mourinho gets the job done wherever he goes. FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and current club Real Madrid can all attest that the Portuguese coach’s unorthodox managing style has brought success.

But one fanatical Real Madrid fan has had enough, and he just happens to be a half-Danish Hollywood star, who sometimes goes by the name of Aragorn, son of Arathorn, the unofficial leader of the Fellowship of the Ring.

The critic is, of course, DanishAmerican actor Viggo Mortensen, and in a recent interview with Spanish sports magazine Marca, he shocked Spain, and no doubt most of The Shire, with an attack on Mourinho, calling him a coward.

“What kind of a man goes

around sticking their fingers in people eyes?” he asked, referring to the incident when Mourinho poked Barcelona’s then assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye.

“There is a reason why he poked Vilanova and not Simone [Athlético Madrid’s coach]. Had he done that, Simone would have kicked his ass.”

Mortensen went on to say that Mourinho lacked respect and that he didn’t like his presence at the club.

“He can’t even apologise like a real gentleman, and it doesn’t soothe me that Real Madrid hasn’t had this type of person [presumably he means eye gouger, a bit like an orc perhaps] at the club before,” Mortensen raged.

Mortensen, who is currently in Spain promoting his forthcoming Argentine film ‘Everyone has a Plan’, went on to snub Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo by calling Lionel Messi the world’s best player. (CW)

Lord of the rings

Let Mordor be my witness, Mourinho is a coward!

To kill the king? Here’s one orc-slayer who’s more than willing to do it

reigns in Spain

Cyclist achieves one of the most famous comeback wins in modren times thanks to a spectacular surprise attack

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ust one month after completing his two-year drug ban, Alberto Contador won his second career Vuelta a España on Sunday, passing the finish line just over a minute ahead of his two rivals and compatriots Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez.

It was a great victory for his embattled Danish team manager Bjarne Riis and their Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, who had been enduring a below-average season.

But what was even more amazing was how Contador won the race. The Spaniard had trailed Rodriguez for much of the race, unable to shake him on several of the mountain stages, but on the rather pedestrian stage 17, Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank staged one of the most brilliant attacks in Vuelta history.

Contador initiated a surprise attack and rode solo for about 50 kilometres to cross the finish line in first place and steal the lead from a bewildered Rodriguez. Contador’s effort has been described by some as a kamikaze mission but by others as one of the most spectacular efforts in modern times.

“I took a massive risk that day, and many would say that the attack was launched too far from the finish line, but I had to do something new and surprising,” Contador said on Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank’s website.

While Contador’s victory completes a massive personal triumph, Riis will be fuming that the UCI ruled that his team won’t be getting the valuable tour points because any points won within two years of a cyclist finishing his ban will not be counted.

Meanwhile in other cycling news, Denmark’s Lars Bak, who races for the Lotto-Belisol team, has won his second victory of 2012. On Sunday he triumphed in the French one-day race Grand Prix de Fourmies. (CW)

Sports news and briefs Top ten tumble

On course for Israel

Better than Brazil

Malaysian midwicket misery

Viral and going

Hand it over

Following her elimination in the first round of the US Open, Caroline Wozniacki, 22, has officially dropped out of the world’s top ten for the first time in three years. The world number eleven dropped 895 ranking points and two places down the ladder, and she now looks likely to miss the prestigious season-end’s WTA tournament for the first time since 2008.

The Danish under-21s are through to the final 16 of the Euro 2013 qualifiers. They made it as one of the best four runners-up. A draw on Friday at 14:00 will determine who they will meet in the play-offs (Oct 12 & 16) to qualify for the finals (June 5-18 in Israel). In their final game, they beat Northern Ireland 3-0 in Aalborg. Michael Laudrup’s son Andreas was among the scorers.

Denmark remain above Brazil in the current FIFA world rankings, clinging onto their position at number ten, two places above the five-time World Cup winners. The rankings have come under increasing criticism of late, and Denmark’s superiority over Brazil is often cited as proof they don’t work, along with England’s lofty status at number three and Greece’s position of eleventh.

The national cricket team have failed to win promotion to the World Cricket League Division Three. On Monday they finished fourth in the six-team division in Malaysia, despite last week beating one of the promoted teams, the USA, and winning three of their first four games.

An inferior run rate ultimately cost the Danes, who needed promotion to keep their 2015 World Cup dreams alive.

A video clip from the third tier of Danish football is quickly going viral this week. Because not only did Jakob Køhler, the goalkeeper for Danish Second Division East side BK Frem, score an equaliser in injury time, he did it with an overhead kick. Following which, the iPhone user recording the goal recovered his composure to film Køhler celebrate with more gymnastics.

Women’s handball side Viborg HK is taking a novel approach in its bid to buy a new right back: it is asking its supporters to invest in the transfer fee. The central Jutland club are charging 500 kroner a share and is aiming to sell a total of 700 – a target that would raise 350,000 kroner. And the club’s employees have already bought 300 of them, according to Sporten.dk.

Business

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

15

Minister defiant on tax issue Amnesty offer tempting tax evaders Jyllands-Posten

Skat’s programme has many considering reporting their offshore bank accounts

D

Despite widespread criticism of his plan to withdraw tax exemption for Danes working abroad, the tax minister, Thor Möger Pedersen, would not relent on the issue

Christian Wenande

international experience and knowledge, while conveying Danish expertise to our foreign activities,” the letter sent to Pedersen said. “All of the above strengthens Danish workers and companies in the global competition.”

The two-page plea to Pedersen goes on to remind him that Denmark’s neighbours, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Finland, all have rules that make them exempt from taxation at home when working overseas for longer periods. The rule change could have a dire effect on Danish workers and companies alike.

“If Danes working abroad are to pay full Danish tax, they face a considerable wage reduction, or alternatively their employers must pay a higher salary. If the expense of hiring a Dane increases by 30 to 50 percent, Danish companies will be forced to hire foreign workers at the expense of Danish counterparts,” they wrote in the document that was addressed to Pedersen and sent on September 3.

And it’s not only big business that will suffer from the law change. A number of aid organisations, such as Doctors Without Borders, are highly critical of the

Despite facing criticism from several fronts, tax minister stands firm on his plans to axe tax exemptions for Danes working abroad

T

ax minister Thor Möger Pedersen (SF) has come under fire from several fronts after revealeing his plans to scupper the tax assessment law, section §33 A, as part of the government’s hotly-debated tax reform plan.

The proposed law change will mean that Danes who work abroad for more than 183 days a year will be forced to pay Danish taxes on their earnings, an expense they have been exempt from until now.

Twenty-four of Denmark’s top business leaders, including AP Møller-Mærsk and Carlsberg, jointly authored a letter to Pedersen urging him to reconsider his plans to drop the law, claiming that it will hinder Denmark’s ability to compete on a global scale.

“In addition to creating jobs and income for Denmark, the posting of Danes abroad garners

law change, arguing that it will affect Danish aid workers operating throughout the world.

But despite the criticism, Pedersen would not relent on his position that Danes stationed abroad should pay full tax like everyone else.

“It’s important to remember that this proposal is part of a tax reform that will greatly reduce taxes for the average Dane and will strengthen companies’ ability to compete,” Pedersen told Politiken newspaper. “And for me it’s more important that all Danes see tax alleviation rather than just a few.”

Pedersen said that he would follow the case closely, but the law change, which would affect about 6,000 Danes working abroad, remains on track.

“If the consequences of the law change turn out to be undesirable, then we have to address the proposal once again. But as of now, we believe that everyone who has a duty to pay taxes in Denmark must contribute to the welfare society.”

Parliament is scheduled to ratify the tax reform before September 15, and the new laws are set to come into effect in the new year.

business news and briefs Holiday pay pain for Brøndby The financial future of the country’s football clubs became even more precarious after the courts on Tuesday ruled in favour of the players association, and against Brøndby, in the long-running holiday money test-case. The cashstrapped clubs of Brøndby and Aalborg will be especially hit hard for not paying numerous current and former players their

Increase in exports to US holiday money as per an agreement from 2004. Brøndby will potentially have to pay around 23.4 million kroner. Despite the 2004 agreement, several Danish clubs told players that their holiday money was included in their signing fees and bonuses. The court decision is expected to set a precedent for more than 1,500 cases currently being processed.

Danish exports to the US have risen sharply over the past five months, mostly due to pharmaceutical companies.

Lundbeck, Novo Nordisk and Leo Pharma were the companies most responsible for the increase.

Export of medicinal and pharmaceutical products increased by 44 percent to 6.4 billion kroner for the first five months of 2012 as compared to last year.

anes with money hidden in bank accounts outside of the country are being offered the opportunity to report the funds and avoid criminal prosecution for tax evasion.

An amnesty plan set up by tax authority Skat is not set to expire until June 2013, but private tax advisors report that many citizens have been asking how they can report their foreign assets to take advantage of the amnesty and avoid penalties for stashing money in foreign banks. The burst of honesty could mean a windfall for the state coffers.

Torben Bagge, one of the country’s most experienced tax lawyers, said he was “very surprised” at the number of his clients who have sought legal help and advice on hidden fortunes in countries like Luxembourg and Switzerland.

“Everyone from regular employees with good jobs and pensions to the self-employed are trying to ascertain whether they can register their earnings without risking being prosecuted,” said Bagge.

Bagge explained that some Danes have been stashing as much as 100,000 kroner annu-

Tax evaders may come clean to dodge prosecution

ally in foreign banks. He called some of the cash “ill-gotten gains” and said the rest may have come via inheritance or real estate deals.

“Often people drive to countries that don’t ask a lot of questions and put their money in accounts that pay higher interest,” said Bagge.

Although Skat reported that only five people have actually signed up to take advantage of the tax amnesty plan, Bagge predicted that more people would turn themselves in over the winter.

The amnesty scheme began on July 1 and was introduced to give Danes who have stashed millions abroad the chance to avoid prosecution for tax evasion.

Apparently not every tax cheat can take advantage of the

amnesty plan, though. Some 500 “wealthy Danes” recently received a letter from Skat informing them that they were already in the agency’s crosshairs for transferring money abroad.

Skat said that amnesty only applied to people that turned themselves in, not those who were already being investigated for cheating.

Some 11,000 people and businesses have been selected for further investigation after analyses of transactions between Danish bank accounts and accounts in tax havens. About 800 of those have received tax bills amounting to 735 million kroner. Skat said that approximately 300 of that number could be punished by fines or imprisonment, depending on how many they decide to report to the police.

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK

David Huse, Head of London Ambassadors Programme Greater London Authority “The Game Makers” – they welcomed the world to London and showed them the very best of the capital and the spirit of Britain.

David Huse has worked as the Head of London Ambassador Volunteer Programme which placed 8000 volunteers around 45 sites across London to help visitors coming to the capital in 2012 with information and guidance about London and the Games this summer. David was also responsible for the recruitment element of the volunteer programme for The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

We will be presenting the BCCD-BIU Scholarship to Jakob Hohlmann Villumsen.

Date: Friday, 21 September 2012 Time: 11.45 Venue: Radisson Blu, Royal Hotel

Exchange Rates Australian Dollars AUD

Canada Dollars CAD

Euro EUR

Japan Yen JPY

Russia Rubles RUB

Sweden Kronor SEK

Switzerland Francs CHF

UK Pounds GBP

United States Dollars USD

Sell

5.81

5.81

7.35

0.07

0.17

0.85

6.06

9.18

5.72

Buy

6.34

6.28

7.58

0.08

0.19

0.89

6.26

9.55

5.98

Non-members are very welcome. Please contact BCCD or go to www.bccd.dk for further information

If you would like to attend then please send us an email (event@bccd.dk) or call +45 31 18 75 58 Price in kroner for one unit of foreign currency

Date: 11 September 2012

• official media partner Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

scanpix/Jens Nørgaard Larsen

scanpix/ Torkil Adsersen

14 - 20 September 2012

THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE SPOUSE: Monika Sysiak FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen / eastern Zealand QUALIFICATION: Master degree in Environmental Engineering from Cracow University of Technology. Major in Water Supply, Sewage and Waste Treatment and Water Quality Protection.

Completed one semester in Environmental Engineering at Engineering College of Aarhus.

EXPERIENCE: Internship during studies in designing water supply systems and sewerage systems.

LOOKING FOR: Graduation programme, internship, training, part time or full time job related to mymqualifications.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Polish (mother tongue), English (fluent), Danish (starting).

IT-EXPERIENCE: AutoCAD, MOUSE DHI, MS Windows, MS Office.

CONTACT: EMAIL: monikasysiak@gmail.com Tel: +45 50 43 70 43 SPOUSE: Clotilde IMBERT FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen Qualification: Master of town planning and development and master of urban geography (Paris IVSorbonne) EXPERIENCE: 5 years in field of town planning and development: - Coordinator in urban project in a semi-public company: supervised a major urban project in Paris area (coordination of studies, acquisition of lands, worked with Planning Development of the Town Council, architects, developers to define the master plan and implement the project...); - Officer in research and consultancy firm (urban diagnosis, environmental impact assessments, inhabitants consultation...).

LOOKING FOR: A job in urban project field: planning department of Town Council or consultancy firm in town planning, environment and sustainable development, architecture firm, real estate development company.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: French (mother tongue), English (professional usage), Spanish (basic), Danish (In progress).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office, Abode Illustrator, AutoCad (basic), PC and Mac. CONTACT: clotilde.imbert@gmail.com 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: Sadra Tabassi FROM: Iran SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master of Business Administration (MBA) LOOKING FOR: Any full time job related to my qualification field LANGUAGE SKILLS: Languages Fluent in English; Native in Farsi (Persian) and elementary level of Arabic.

IT EXPERIENCE: Basic knowledge about computer (Windows), Office 2010 (Word, Excel, Power Point),Statistical software (SPSS) CONTACT: sadra.tabassi@gmail.com, Tel:+4550337753 SPOUSE: Jawon Yun-Werner FROM: South Korea SEEKING WORK IN: Healthcare, Hospitals, Elderly/Child Care (in Greater Copenhagen Area).

QUALIFICATION: B.A. in Nursing, Masters in Public Health. I am AUTHORIZED to work as a Nurse in Denmark. (Have Danish CPR and work permit).

EXPERIENCE: 1O years of experience as a nurse and midwife from the prominent hospitals.

LOOKING FOR: Any healthcare related jobs (hospitals, clinics, elderly/childcare places). I am open to any shift or day.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Korean, Danish (Intermediate, in progress, Module 3).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office, SASS Statistical Software CONTACT: cuteago@yahoo.com Tel: +45 30 95 20 53 SPOUSE: Margaret Ritchie FROM: Scotland, UK SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: BA Business Administration majoring in Human Resource Management EXPERIENCE: Worked in the field of Education within a Scottish University. 12 years of experience.

Administrating and organising courses and conferences and also worked as a PA to a Head of School. Great communication skills.

LOOKING FOR: Administration work, typing, audio typing, data input. Can work from home.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Mother tongue: English, very basic Danish IT EXPERIENCE: A good user of Microsoft Office package, access to Internet CONTACT: megmagsritchie@googlemail.com Tel: 71182949 SPOUSE: Jennifer Bouma FROM: The Netherlands SEEKING WORK IN: Egedal Kommune, Copenhagen 30 km.

QUALIFICATION: Managers Secretary, hands on, reliable, structured, self reliant, social, team player).

LOOKING FOR: Secretary job.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Dutch, Danish, English, German, French, Italian.

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office ( Word, Excel), Outlook, SAP. CONTACT: jenniferbouma@ hotmail.com SPOUSE: Jik Boom FROM: The Netherlands SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Teacher EXPERIENCE: CELTA (Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) see also Linkedin profile http://dk.linkedin.com/in/jikboom) LOOKING FOR: Work in the area of teaching (English), proofreading (English) and translation (English/Dutch - Dutch/English) LANGUAGE SKILLS: Dutch, English, French, German, Danish IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office (Powerpoint, Word, Excel) CONTACT: jikboom@yahoo.com, Tel: +45 42129175 SPOUSE: Mayurika Saxena Sheth FROM: India/USA SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen & nearby areas, Greater Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MCA, PGDMM(MATERIALS), B.SC (COMPUTERS) CERTIFICATIONS: CSTE, CSQA, GREEN BELT SIX SIGMA, TSP/PSP. EXPERIENCE: Eleven years of software development work/IT/BUSINESS experience with prestigious organizations (onsite and offshore): Microsoft, General Electric, Primus Telecommunications (AUSTRALIA), CitiFINANCIAL(USA), ISS and Imany.

LOOKING FOR: Full Time Job in IT, Management, Consulting or Business/Financial Field.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: ENGLISH fluent, HINDI fluent, DANISH AND SPANISH (Beginner).

IT EXPERIENCE: Testing tools like Test Director, Quality Center, Access Server, Product Studio, Polyspace Analysis, .NET testing, Web Page testing, Electronic Appliances testing, development in Winrunner, ASP, HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, Jscript, Oracle, Cold Fusion, SQL, Access, COM/DCOM, MTS, Siebel as well as UNIX, Tuxedo, C, PL/SQL, VB.Net/ ASP .Net, VB.Net. C#.

CONTACT: mayurika.s@gmail.com Tel: +45 7169 5401

PARTNERS:

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, Tel: + 45 52177084

SPOUSE: Francis Farias FROM: Venezuela SEEKING WORK IN: Greater København QUALIFICATION: Master in Spanish Studies from Universidad de Cadiz, Spain, as a Spanish Teacher and BA in Teaching English as a Second Language. Diplomas in Digital Photography (from Venezuela and Spain).

EXPERIENCE: 7 years experience as a teacher of English and Spanish at JMV University. Academic translator (Spanish-English/English-Spanish) and freelance photographer.

LOOKING FOR: Spanish language teacher, translator, interpreter, photographer.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish (native). Basic Danish.

IT EXPERIENCE: Office tools, Photoshop.

CONTACT: carolina1928@gmail.com, Tel: +45 50814073

SPOUSE: Shilpa Lingaiah FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and nearby areas of the mentioned cities.

QUALIFICATION: PG Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (JSS University, India); Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (RGUHS, India). Danish agency for international education has assessed the above qualification and corresponds to Danish Master’s degree in Health Sciences.

LOOKING FOR: Research related to health science, jobs in pharmaceutical industry or new challenging career opportunities.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English(fluent written and spoken), Enrolled for Danish language classes, Indian languages(Kannada and Hindi).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office.

CONTACT: drshilpalingaiah@gmail.com Tel: +4552742859

SPOUSE: Chia-Pei CHEN FROM: Taiwan SEEKING WORK IN: Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching in corporations, institutions or International schools.

QUALIFICATION: A certified teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language. A degree in Social Science discipline. Continuously participation in training program (organized by Beijing Hanban of CHINA and CBS) to teach Chinese to foreigners in western context. Enrolment to distance Chinese teaching education system that keeps professional Chinese teachers resourceful.

EXPERIENCE: I am a certified teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language to foreigners.

And I have started teaching Chinese with English in my class for 2 years. I design suitable materials to teach Chinese with different phonetic systems (PinYin for China and HongKong, and Mandarin Phonetic Symbols for Taiwan) as well as to interpret differences between simplified and traditional Chinese characters. My past positions were Chinese language-related, such as: reporter, translator and social science researcher. Students who I taught before regard me as a sincere, discreet teacher who helps learners to progress in short time.

LOOKING FOR: Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Chinese (mother tongue), English (Fluent), French (basic), Danish (beginner).

IT EXPERIENCE: Word Office, SPSS statistic software, Basic Video and Audio editing, Blog writing.

CONTACT: teacherchen@live.com, Tel: 25 81 65 18

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: Katarzyna Szkaradek FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Mental hospitals, voluntary(Ngo) organisations, kindergartens, nurseries, babysitting QUALIFICATION: Ma in Psychology (2008), post graduate studies in psychotherapy (4th year/ 5 year).

EXPERIENCE: I am a highly motivated and creative individual with excellent communication skills.

From January 2010 till August 2010 I worked independly in private practice. For the last 2 years (January ,2009 -October, 2010) I worked with children (also with special needs -Autism, Asperger, Down syndrome etc) and their families as a psychologist. My duties included organizing games, monitoring children’s development , consulting teachers and parents where appropriate and providing individual therapy. For the last 10 years I was member of NGO organisation and I was a volunteer in Israel, Italy, Portugal and Romania.

LOOKING FOR: Internship in mental hospitals, part – time or full time jobs in kindergartens, nurseries, job as a babysitter, voluntary job in hospitals.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English–advance level (C1), Danish – (module 3 /module 5), Polish-native speaker IT EXPERIENCE: MS Windows, basic MS Office, Internet.

CONTACT: szkasienka@gmail.com Tel: 50828802 SPOUSE: Isaac P Thomas FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: East Juthland preferably Århus QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science).

EXPERIENCE: Process Consulting, Quality Assurance, CMMI, ISO, Quality Audit, Process Definition, Software testing, software development, data analysis, best practice sharing, quality gap analysis and “sharepoint” expertise.

LOOKING FOR: Process Consulting, Quality Assurance, CMMI, ISO, Quality Audit, Process Definition LANGUAGE SKILLS: Danish beginner, English, Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil.

IT EXPERIENCE: 8 years experience in IT Industry in software quality assurance, software quality control, software development.

CONTACT: isaacpthomas@gmail.com, Tel: +4552225642 SPOUSE: Debjani Nandy Biswas FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Would like to join in kindergarten, School teacher in English, official work in English.

QUALIFICATION: B.A., M.A in English literature and language (American, European and Indian).

EXPERIENCE: Temporary school teacher in Bongaon, India and involved in social work (handicapped society).

LOOKING FOR: A possibility in getting practical experiences in kindergarten or any international school, official work (administration) in English, voluntary work also.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali, little Danish (currently learning).

IT EXPERIENCE: Diploma in basic computer applications.

CONTACT: debjaninb@gmail.com, Tel: +45 50219942.

SPOUSE: DR TESSA KATE ANDERSON FROM: UK SEEKING WORK IN: University, education, research, social science, geography, GIS, spatial analysis, urban geography.

EXPERIENCE: PhD from UCL (UK) in GIS and road safety, Assistant Professor at University of Canterbury, New Zealand for 3 years, Assistant Professor in GIS at University of Queensland for 1 year, Research Fellow at University of Hong Kong for 3 years. I have experience in project management and working in both the private and public sector. I have taught up to Masters level and have design courses and taught extensively.

LOOKING FOR: Research, teaching, consultancy positions.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, French (small amount), Chinese (beginner), I am enrolled at Danish language school IT EXPERIENCE: ArcGIS, MapInfo, GeoDa, Global Mapper, GWR, Python, Image J, SPSS, Excel, Work, PowerPoint, Access, Dreamweaver, Adobe, SAS, open source GIS programmes.

CONTACT: tessaanderson@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, Tel: +45 29707430

SPOUSE: Sucharita Reddy FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Anywhere in Denmark QUALIFICATION: Bachelor in Technology (Electrical Engineering) EXPERIENCE: 4+ years of professional experience in SAP ABAP & OO-ABAP programming for Material Management(MM), Plant Maintenance(PM), Document Management and Record Management System(DM/RM), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) , Sales and Distribution(SD) and Finance (FI) modules.

LOOKING FOR: Job opportunities in IT(technical or Functional),Consulting,Management or Business Field.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Proficient in English & Hindi. Danish(learning Intensive course) IT EXPERIENCE: SAP ABAP/4 technical skills include ABAP Programs (Dialog Programming, Standard and Interactive Reports), ALV Reporting, Smartforms, User Exit and Field Exit Development, Interfacing Data with external systems, Data conversions, Programming using BDC, ABAP/4 Workbench, Data Dictionary ,Batch Job management ,Workflows, Adobe Forms, Webdynpro, ABAP Objects CONTACT: sucharita17.reddy@gmail.com, Tel: 0045-5271184.

SPOUSE: Dr Shivanee Shah FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Homeopathic Medicine Doctor, Medical transcriptionsit, Medical auditor for medical insurances.

EXPERIENCE: 5 years of experience of running own clinic, medical transcription, medical audits with national level scheme LOOKING FOR: Full time/part time opportunity with pharmaceutical company, as assistant doctor, medical transcription, medical bill audits for insurance companies, data entry related jobs.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi, Danish class to commence shortly CONTACT: pranavdsc@yahoo.com. Tel: +45 71841109 SPOUSE: Anisha Kanjhlia FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Arhus in Teaching/Training/Administration/Media/Public Relations QUALIFICATION: Post Graduate in Advertising & Communication.

EXPERIENCE: 6+ years of professional experience in Training, Customer Service, Promotions, Brand Marketing, Content Analysis and Team Management. Strong experience in planning and executing initiatives. Extensive training experience and influencing skills that will assist me in building a high potential, motivated and an effective team. Hands-on training in soft skills like crucial conversations and people management Branch Manager & Head of Training for Cosmo Aviation Training School in New Delhi, India. Proficient in analysing market trends to provide critical inputs for decision making and formulating training strategies.

LOOKING FOR: Part time or full time in Aarhus.

IT EXPERIENCE: Comfortable with all the basic computer knowledge like Excel, Word, Power Point, Internet browsing.

CONTACT: anisha.feb@rediffmail.com, Tel: 4522305837 SPOUSE: Deepak Kumar Koneri FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: M.Sc in Electrical Engineering specialization in Embedded Systems (Jönköping, Sweden), B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Hyderabad, India).

EXPERIENCE: Worked as Electrical Distribution Design Engineer in Electrical Consultant company for more than 2 years. I was responsible from the start of design definition phase till the implementation phase of individual project.

LOOKING FOR: Full and part time job opportunity in Energy, Robust Electronics design, PCB Design, Thermal Analyst, Design & Modelling of power systems, power optimization, simulation and also in constructional, architectural consulting organization.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (Fluent), Hindi (Mother Tongue), Swedish (Basic) and Danish(Basic, Currently learning).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS-Office (word, Excel, Power point, Visio), CFD (Mentor Graphics FloTHERM, FloVENT, Noesis OPTIMUS, Electrical CAD, Assembly Programming (PIC 16f77, 8086,8051), WireMOM, Telelogic SDL-99, C and VHDL. CONTACT: konerideepak@gmail.com, Tel: 71561151

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

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. Remember to get it removed in case of new job.

Biotech Job Vacancies Leo-Pharma

Business Analyst EU5+ Pharmacovigilance Specialist in Global Pharmacovigilance Project Manager for Energy Optimization and GMP HVAC Analytical Scientist for Pharmaceutical Product Support – two vacancies

Copenhagen International Schoolschool is looking foris an: looKing coPenhagen international IB Primary School Classroom Teacher for Grade 5 This isthe a temporary position (maternity leave cover) for one year to fill folloWing Positions: starting in December 2012 The applicant should be a qualified teacher with a minimum of 2 years experience working in a similar position.Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and grade 1 teachers The successful applicants should be qualified teachers with a minimum of 2 years’ experience within an early Please see the International Baccalaureate Primary School Teacherworking job description onyears the programme.

CIS website http:// The positionwww.cis.dk/page.cfm?p=303 will start on August 1st 2012. for more details of the general responsibilities attached to this position.

We are looking for teachers who have knowledge and experience of the international Baccalaureate Primary years We are looking for a teacher who has: programme (iB PyP), and who: • Excellent classroom practice • can design effective and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities • A strong work ethic • can demonstrate a track record of excellent classroom practice including in-depth understanding of differentiated instruction, second language • Excellent organizational skills acquisition and play based learning • Excellent communication skills • have a strong work ethic and excellent organizational skills • Ability to build strong collegial relationships • have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player • Willingness and commitment towards ongoing collaboration with classroom and other subject • have willingness and commitment to contribute to the development of the curriculum teachers • have willingness and commitment to contribute to the greater school community • Demonstrate professionalism in its broadest sense • will demonstrate professionalism in its broadest sense

•

Knowledge and experience of the IB PYP would be an asset

andstatement gradeof1 educational assistants Applications including Kindergarten C.V. covering letter, a brief philosophy and the names of three current referees with contact information should be sent electronically by the 12 October 2012 to: The Kindergarten and Grade 1 teams are looking for additional Assistants to join the existing teams. The successful candidates should be qualified to work Audrey Amos-Frederiksen at aaf@cis.dk

with children between the ages of 5 and 7 with a strong background and experience in early years’ education and with a minimum of two years of experience working in an early years programme. The position will start on August 1st 2012.

Lundbeck

Regional Market Access Manager Medical Advisor, Corporate Medical Affairs Senior Medical Advisor, Corporate Medical Affairs

Novozymes

Laboratory Technician Category Manager Laboratory Technician

Ferring

Formulation Scientist, Late Stage Development, Global Pharmaceutical R&D Formulation Scientist, Late Stage Development, Global Phamaceutical R&D (temp) Project Statistician, Global Biometrics

Novo Nordisk

Temporary Administrative Associate Global Project Manager IT Project Manager Business Analyst or Auditor Global Market Access Manager Regulatory Professional Department Assistant Student Assistant IT,MES Specialist QA Professional Clinical Trial Administrator Vice President Personal Assistant Senior Regulatory Professional

Please note: Copenhagen International School reserves the right to make an appointment before the closing date mentioned above.

We are looking for early years’ educators who: • have a caring and nurturing approach with children • are organized and demonstrate effective classroom practice Hellerupvej 22-26 • have a strong work ethic 2900 Hellerup T +45 3946 3311 • have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player www.cis.dk • preferably have knowledge and experience of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. (IB PYP)

Stockholmsgade 59 2100 Copenhagen Ø T +45 3946 3309 www.cis.dk

For more information and other job vacancies visit our webpage www.cphpost.dk/jobvacancies

Primary & middle school danish teachers We are looking to fill one full-time and one part-time position (60%) to join our team of Danish teachers. These positions are to teach both Danish Denmark’s only English-language newspaper Language A and Danish as an Additional Language.

The positions will start on August 1st 2012. The successful applicants should be qualified teachers with at least two years full time teaching experience.

The successful applicants must be Danish native speakers.

We are looking for teachers who: • can design effective and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities • can demonstrate a track record of excellent classroom practice including in-depth understanding of differentiated instruction, second language acquisition and play based learning • have a strong work ethic and excellent organizational skills • have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player • have willingness and commitment to contribute to the development of the curriculum • have willingness and commitment to contribute to the greater school community • will demonstrate professionalism in its broadest sense ISRAEL Copenhagen Post is seeking an Administrative Intern to join our team • have a professional level of written and spokenThe English

Administrative Intern

COPENHAGEN RENAISSANCE

MUSIC FESTIVAL 7 - 20 NOVEMBER 2011

FROM SCHÜTZ TO GEIST

Early German Baroque Music 1600-1700 In commemoration of Christian Geist (c.1650-1711)

Discovering Israel: Inside the Holy Land Special advertising section INSIDE!

Photo: Karsten Movang

Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival Special advertising section INSIDE!

HOLMENS CHURCH

THEATRE OF VOICES

CHRISTIAN IV

immediately.

COPENHAGEN 1660

HAIFA

TEL AVIV

JERUSALEM

*ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT*

4 - 10 November 2011 | Vol 14 Issue 44

MASADA

*ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT*

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk ILLUSTRATION BY PETER STANNERS

NEWS

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

interested candidates should email a letter of cV and contact detailstasks of three current referees as well asmarketing any furtherand inquiries to Youapplication, will be assisting with various including administration, Get in or get out mette trock-Jansen at mtj@cis.dk. the closing date forservice-sales applications issupport. may 31st 2012, however applications will be handled on an on-going customer A new budget to ‘kickstart’ the economy basis and appointments may be made prior to this date.

6

Exploiting ‘fat tax’

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

NEWS | 3

SPORT

Is now the time to join the euro, or to run like hell?

4

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

14

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

9 771398 100009

Price: 25 DKK

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

C

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

Cheering a Muslim as we do a Murderer!

FULL TIME MBA and sit in on a class.

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.

The one-year general management full-time MBA at CBS

focuses onTIME leadership,MBA entrepreneurship, and real-world experience.MEETING FULL - INFORMATION Organise a personal meeting hear how the MBA can giveprogram Join Scandinavia’s mostand internationally diverse your career a new dimension.

Thursday 17th November 17:30-19:00 E-mail lm.mba@cbs.dk or call 3815 6022

The one-year general management full-time MBA at CBS focuses on to organise a personal meeting.

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Practical Business Skills.

E-mail lm.mba@cbs.dk or call 3815 6022 to sign up for the meeting.

Copenhagen Business School

Copenhagen Business School Porcelænshaven 22, 2000 Frederiksberg Porcelænshaven 22, 2000 Frederiksberg www.cbs.dk/ftmba www.cbs.dk/ftmba

Page 10

You must have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and be able to work daily for approximately 20/25 hours per week. A knowledge of Danish is an advantage. contact details: Hellerupvej 22-26, 2900 Hellerup

T +45 3946 3311 The internship is unpaid.

InOut

www.cis.dk mtj@cis.dk and CV to hr@cphpost.dk noting ‘Administrative Please send your application Intern’ in the subject line.

The CPH Post Entertainment Guide | 16 - 22 Sep

KIDS ON FILM YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER! THE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE page

G9

BLUES w w w. c o p e n h a g e n b l u e s f e s t i v a l . d k

COPENHAGEN

Free access to 65 museums and attractions in the entire metropolitan area

See more at copenhagencard.com

SEPT. 28 - OCT. 2 · 2011

FESTIVAL

John Primer w. Nisse Thorbjorn Band [US/DK] Joe Louis Walker [US] | Holmes Brothers [US] Mud Morganfield w. Peter Nande Band [US/DK] Louisiana Red & Paul Lamb [US/UK] | Janice Harrington w. Kenn Lending Blues Band [US/DK] Keith Dunn Band [US/NL] | Johnny Max Band [CA] Delta Blues Band | The Healers | Shades of Blue Thorbjorn Risager | Troels Jensen | Alain Apaloo H.P. Lange | Mike Andersen & Jens Kristian Dam Tutweiler | Fried Okra Band | The Blues Overdrive Bluesoul | Grahn & Malm | Ole Frimer | Paul Banks Jacob Fischer Trio | Svante Sjöblom | Jes Holtsoe

See full programme: w w w.copenhagenbluesfestival.dk & w w w.kultunaut.dk

For more information Please contact: Kevin McGwin E-mail: kevin@cphpost.dk Tel.: 3336 3300

Title: Sr. Health Technical Officer Qualifications: University degree in health or related fields, preferably post-graduate Degree in Public Health, Health Policy, Planning, Management, Health Financing or other related Health field; 10 years of international health development experience.

Primary Responsibility: The primary responsibilities will be to identify new partners and consultants and to lead and collaborate the preparation of high quality proposals for international donors and technical agencies within the PH field and undertake assignments where relevant. The Sr. Health Technical Officer will also provide technical assistance to other EHG staff on technical and overall issues related to proposal development.

Duties: Business Development, Networking and Project Acquisition (60%) Strategic business development / business acquisition Proposal writing and management In-country fact finding missions Identification of experts Building strategic alliances/partnerships (creating networks and partnership) Technical advisor within various PH and M&E areas Project Management and technical Backstopping (15%) Backstopping of projects from head office and occasionally in project countries Ensuring compliance with project/donor requirements Monitor progress of projects Consultancy assignments (25%) Public Health Advisor – with various technical skills Ad hoc Assist with developing strategic directions Development of promotional materials Location: EHG HQ Office Copenhagen (Søborg) and regular travel to developing countries anticipated at minimum of 25% of overall time.

Please include a CV and cover letter highlighting your skills and expertise in the areas listed above and your international experience; e-mail to: Susanne Andersen - sandersen@ehg.dk

18

Culture culture

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

14 - 20 September 2012

Eliminated, reinstated, celebrated, soon to be commemorated themselves facing the Dutch defending champions in the semi-finals and defeating them.

And the final against Germany on that sunny day in Gothenburg was something dreams are made of. Germany had won the World Cup only two years earlier, but an outstanding Peter Schmeichel and a wonder crack from John ‘Faxe’ Jensen brought glory to the Danes.

Two decades later and the fairytale miracle is finally on its way to the cinema. DanishEnglish producer Kris Thykier,

Christian Wenande Twenty years after Denmark’s biggest moment in football, the story of Euro1992 will finally be hitting the silver screen

I

rolling on Denmark’s proudest sports moment.

‘Denmark 92’ is its working title so far, and Kasper Barfoed has been confirmed as the director, while the screenplay will be written by Anders August, the son of legendary director Bille August, who won an Oscar for ‘Pelle the Conqueror’ back in 1987. August Jr wrote last year’s ‘SuperClásico’, a footballthemed comedy that represented Demark at the 2011 Oscars.

Speculation is already rife over who will play goalkeeping

t was destined to happen. A sporting drama that has it all. Drama, suspense, war, an underdog going the distance and a heartwrenching human factor. It’s amazing that it’s taken 20 years, but it’s finally official. Denmark’s Euro 1992 miracle is coming to a cinema near you.

They weren’t even supposed to be there.

Given just over a week’s notice to get prepared for the European Championships in Sweden, when Denmark were given the green light to replace Michae l Fassbe udrup Yugoslavia due nder Brian La to the War in Bosnia and HerIn the absence of Michael, Brian was the leading man, and zegovina, most there are none better right now than the Irish-German star of of their players ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and ‘Prometheus’ were already on their holidays, lounging around on beaches who oversaw the making of giant Schmeichel, embattled in the Mediterranean and films such as ‘Kick-Ass’ (2010), coach Richard Møller Nielsen ‘Harry Brown’ (2009) and ‘The and blue-eyed Flemming PoulsCaribbean.

No-one gave them a chance Debt’ (2010) will team up with en, and according to Foldager, to progress from a tough group Meta Foldager, who is no slouch the search has begun.

“We haven’t cast any acfeaturing England, France and herself having produced ‘A Royhosts Sweden. But somehow al Affair’ (2012), ‘Melancholia’ tors yet, but naturally there they overcame the indomita- (2012) and ‘Antichrist’ (2009), are a few specific people we ble odds and suddenly found to get the ball and cameras have in mind,” Foldager told

an

Klinsm Jürgen

Deep-se

a diver

We needed a star who could give Jürgen the German depth

Tipsbladet newspaper.

“Because the team was quite young back then, we probably have to find some new actors, but we also have some stars in mind. Who they are, I can’t reveal right now.”

But despite the dynamic story already being written for them, the filmmakers face the daunting task of trying to recreate the magic of 1992 that took place on the pitch. Although football might be the most popular sport in the world, films about the sport are notoriously difficult to choreograph so they look genuine. One only has to look at travesties such as the ‘Goal!’ trilogy, ‘Young Giants’, ‘When Saturday Comes’, and a host of other feeble attempts to portray the great game to realise that the filming of ‘Denmark 92’ won’t be an easy task.

Fortunately, there are a few films that could provide the filmmakers with some confidence. Yes it may feature Sylvester Stallone as a goalkeeper, but ‘Escape to Victory’ is one of the few films where the football choreography isn’t complete twaddle.

‘Denmark 92’ is expected to premiere sometime during the winter of 2014. In the meantime, we here at The Copenhagen Post have decided to beat Foldager to the punch and make a number of suggestions for the cast (see pictures).

And what about you? Do you have any ideas who could play the gang who won Europe’s hearts in 1992?

Let’s see them in the comments section on The Copenhagen Post website.

hel

chmeic

Peter S

Dolph L

undgren

“If he dies, he dies.” And with Ivan Drago on board, they could get Brigitte Nielsen to play a young Pia K

nsen

axe’ Je

John ‘F

Danny M

cBride

A fitting choice given that until that day Faxe, in front of goal, was always the bridesmaid never the bride

Richard

Møller

Nielsen

Anthony

Hopkins

As long as he doesn’t have to eat Preben Elkjær’s liver with a nice chianti, Hopkins will be game

dr/Flemming Jeppesen

Who is Chris MacDonald? linn lemhag He is a 39-year old American lecturer and health specialist who has been living and working in Denmark since moving here in 1999.

What exactly is his job?

That’s not the easiest question to answer – MacDonald’s website describes him as a “top-motivator, inspirer and lecturer”.

‘Coach’ and ‘scientist’ have also been thrown around at his many, many media appearances.

Scientist?

He was given the 2001 Young Scientist of Europe award for his research in physiology. Having founded such revolutionary concepts like “Strong Body – Strong Mind”, you know it was well deserved.

So what does he do these days?

Apart from writing the occasional health and nutrition piece for various media outlets like Berlinske and BT, MacDonald tours the country giving lectures about quality of life and well-being.

So businesses pay him to come and tell their employees to eat vegetables and exercise?

Yes. The irony of a man from the fattest nation teaching one of the

healthiest about nutrition is lost on those who hire him. Maybe the Danes just enjoy laughing at his accent.

How would I recognise him?

You might have seen him on the DR TV shows ‘Chris at the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Chris on the Scales’. If you missed them, you can catch a recap on his modestly named ‘Chris TV’ player on his website. Just look for the man in

a tight black t-shirt – it’s his signature, although he probably copied it off Steve Jobs or Simon Cowell.

So where can I pick up some of his health tips?

Try his website. Here MacDonald shares some of his professional scientific insights on health in his weekly articles. Titles include “exercise doesn’t come in a pill”, “health is energy” and “change creates progress”. Revolutionary!

Denmark through the looking glass The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

14 - 20 September 2012

19

fritz Melbye

www.denvestindiskearv.dk

The Akwamu: the beginning of the end of Danish colonial power

wilhelm marstrand

Frederiksted, St Croix: not the place to be in 1848 if you were a slaver

www.blogtrotta2.blogspot.dk

Outrageous! The artist made these slaves stand in the same position for three weeks

The government house in Christiansted, another imaginatively named Danish colonial town, on Saint Croix

Henry butman Denmark prospered in the West Indies in the 17th and 18th centuries, but in the end it was the wrong kind of slave that precipitated its downfall

T

he Danes arrived a little late to the colonial party in the West Indies during European expansion into the Americas, and by the time they first settled on the Caribbean island of St Thomas in early 1672, many European nations had booming trades on nearby islands and in North American colonies.

These pre-existing economies facilitated Danish growth in the area by virtue of the wellknown ‘Triangle Trade’ – the route of cargo from America to Europe, Europe to Africa, and from Africa back to the Americas. While commodities such as sugar and cotton were sent to Europe for profit, it was the cargo that came west that drove the entire venture: slaves.

The first Danish mission to the colonies was an arduous one,

leaving just 29 survivors to settle on the island of St Thomas.

A year after its establishment, the first ship bearing African ‘cargo’ arrived, bringing 103 slaves to the colony and immediately establishing a slave-majority population.

As St Thomas developed into a prospering economy thanks to the labour of the slaves, producing sugar, cotton, indigo and tobacco, the Danish West India and Guinea Company laid claim to the island of St John in 1684, expanding their colonial presence. But that didn’t necessarily mean more Danish settlers: in 1688, 338 white inhabitants populated St Thomas along with 392 slaves.

In 1724, when St Thomas opened its harbour to ships flying the flags of most western European countries, the Danish economy and the slave population that drove it reached a new high. On St Thomas in 1725, there were 4,490 slaves and only 324 white inhabitants. The island of St John had a similarly disproportionate number of slaves to non-slaves. In 1733, it’s estimated that the island had nearly 1,100 slaves and only 200

non-slaves.

The Danish colonies imported their slaves from just one place: Accra, a port town along the southern Guinean coast in modern-day Ghana. When the Danes first entered the slave trade in 1657, the port was owned and operated by the Accra tribe. The Accra tribe used another tribe, the Akwamu, to facilitate the flow of merchandise to the port from inland Africa through trails in the forests and jungles. It was an arrangement that was ultimately going to prove costly for Danish operations.

The Akwamu, notoriously skilled warriors, demanded a part of the profit being made by the Accra tribe as an allowance for passage through their tribe’s territory. When they were denied, they allied with the Accra’s neighbouring tribes and eventually led a successful attack in 1677, conquering the Accra tribe and becoming the dominant tribe in Accra and along the ‘slave coast’ of Africa.

But the Akwamu abused their power, mistreating those they conquered, and eventually faced a rebellion themselves.

When they were defeated in

King Christian VIII with the legislation to confirm the slaves’ freedom

1730, thousands of Akwamu men, women, and children – citizens of a tribe whose members considered themselves to be warriors and nobles – were sold into slavery at the Danish fort in Christianborg and put on ships to St Thomas and St John.

In 1733, approximately 150 slaves – all Akwamu tribesmen and women – staged a rebellion on the island of St John. The slaves, who outnumbered colonists at a rate of nearly 5:1, assumed control of the fort at St John’s Coral Bay and proceeded to take possession of many of the plantations through violent means, often killing the white plantation owners.

Although French and Swiss ships arrived from nearby islands to help Danish forces end the rebellion, the success of the slaves gave Danish authorities an obvious wake-up call. Many residents of St John left the island for St Croix, an island purchased by Denmark from France in 1733, located south of St Thomas and St John.

St Croix, like St Thomas and St John before it, relied heavily on slave labour. By 1792, the population of St Croix

amounted to 22,000 slaves and only 3,000 non-slaves. In that same year, King Christian VII commissioned an investigation into the slave trade. Finding high mortality rates, low fertility rates, and a slave population incapable of reproducing itself, Christian declared the first official ban on the slave trade, to begin in 1803.

In 1847, King Christian VIII declared that all slaves would be freed in 1859. But in 1848 (the year of Revolutions in Europe), a large group of slaves gathered in Frederiksted, St Croix to demand their immediate freedom.

The then governor-general of the island, Peter von Scholten, outnumbered and facing another potential rebellion, signed an emancipation proclamation on 3 July 1848.

Two years later, Denmark ceded its territory in western Africa to Britain. In 1915, a labour union was established to facilitate the employment of the freed slaves. And in 1917, Denmark sold the islands (St Thomas, St John and St Croix) to the US for $25 million. The US renamed them the Virgin Islands of the United States.

In very recent history, the question has been raised whether or not Denmark should apologise for its involvement in the slave trade, but the answer isn’t as simple as whether or not the country is sorry. For starters, an apology from a state often leads to some financial compensation, and it is believed Denmark may be waiting for a UN verdict regarding compensation due to the transatlantic slave trade – an issue that was raised in 2001 but has not yet been resolved.

Additionally, as the Virgin Islands are now a part of the US, a Danish apology may have a negative effect on diplomatic relations between the two countries. The US only apologised for the slave trade in 2009. Denmark’s apology may be seen as interference in US domestic affairs.

But according to Astrid Nonbo Andersen, a researcher on the politics of apology, it could still happen. “If the US one day offers Denmark the possibility of apologising and possibly paying some form of compensation,” she told Science Nordic. “Then it may happen.”

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Contact our counsellors by phone 3815 8521 or read more about Danish for Foreigners at www.vuf.nu

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