The Copenhagen Post | Sep 21-27

Mohammed film protests come to Copenhagen

In bid to woo expats, city gets European school

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21 - 27 September 2012 | Vol 15 Issue 38

‘Mr Dave’ headlines CPH Blues Festival

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Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk PRIVATE PHOTO

NEWS

Deep cuts to bottle and can return system could lead to stores dropping the programme altogether, some say

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NEWS

DFer’s drunken rampage Viborg Council member punches and bites his way through a regrettable night out on the town

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Imprisoned and deported thanks to bad advice Green card seeker was told his stay in Denmark was legal – it wasn’t

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Nephews of American tourist killed in Copenhagen say information has been slow to come from officials

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JUSTIN CREMER

BUSINESS

Telecoms threaten Skype Danish companies put popular internet calling application and other free services in jeopardy

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Price: 25 DKK

Eight arrested for financing terror organisation Investigations into Roj TV lead to arrest of eight individuals suspected of financing Kurdistan Workers’ Party with upwards of 140 million kroner

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OPENHAGEN Police arrested eight people across Zealand on Tuesday who are suspected of financing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US, Canada and the EU. Police say that the eight individuals, who range in age from 27-71, have collected somewhere between 27 and 140 million kroner for PKK, police said in a statement. The wide range was attributed to police still needing to document how long each individual had been involved in collecting and distributing money.

According to the police statement, the arrests are related to investigations into the Copenhagen-based Kurdish TV station Roj TV, which was fined 2.6 million kroner in January for violating Denmark’s anti-terror laws. The station, however, hung on to its broadcast licence despite the verdict. The investigation was primarily focused on Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent who live in Denmark.

“The case is, among other things, based on information obtained by police while investigating Roj TV,” Jens Møller Jensen of the Copenhagen Police said. “In that investigation, there were indications that for several years money was collected in Denmark that benefited the PKK. It also seems likely that PKK-related individuals in Denmark have arranged money for the PKK and Roj TV.” Police said that the raised funds were being controlled by PKK’s “self-ap-

pointed legislature in Denmark”, Dansk Folkesamling, which was established in February at a meeting at an Ishøj school.

The arrestees were in City Court on Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing, at which all eight denied their guilt. The hearing was held behind closed doors and the names of the arrestees are being withheld from the public.

Outside of City Court, supporters of the arrestees were at hand to show their support, waving flags and holding signs protesting against the arrest.

A translator for one of the suspects, a 71-year-old Turkish citizen, told assembled media that his client felt judged before a trial had even begun and was considering a hunger strike in protest.

Prior to the January court decision against Roj TV, the station transmitted news, cultural and children’s programming to an estimated 30 million Kurds

worldwide. Although it held on to its broadcasting licence, the decision resulted in European broadcasting service provider Eutelsat removing the station from its signal. The station can still be seen in Denmark, western Europe and parts of Turkey.

The station has been a sore spot in the relationship between Turkey and Denmark. The Turkish government has long claimed that the station is a mouthpiece for the PKK, and Turkish authorities had repeatedly made formal complaints about the station. Denmark’s decision to prosecute Roj TV on terror charges was revealed by WikiLeaks as being a reward for Turkey’s support of the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Nato secretary general in 2009.

The Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen has offered to help Denmark in connection with this week’s arrests.

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…and many more!

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Week in review

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

CPH Post Word of the Week:

21 - 27 September 2012 THE WEEK’S MOST READ STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Anholdt (adjective) – arrested or detained. Where you heard it: Police were busy this week, busting eight people for financing terror on Tuesday and another 14 on Wednesday for plans to target police and public services

Danish telecoms threaten to block Skype

Roskilde Museum

Good find!

Students turn to alternative housing options Elephants on the loose in Copenhagen traffic Anger over Mohammed film reaches Copenhagen Explosives discovered in Copenhagen

FROM OUR ARCHIVES TEN YEARS AGO. PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen rejects talks of tax cuts until there is sufficient state revenue.

FIVE YEARS AGO. A record number of residency permits are issued to foreigners, and that figure is expected to keep growing.

ONE YEAR AGO. Another sin tax means that fatty foods will be a lot pricier.

Three amateur archaeologists struck gold ... er, silver ... outside Roskilde this week, uncovering a treasure trove of silver rings, bands and coins that date back to the Germanic Iron Age (400-500 AD). The finds will be given to Roskilde Museum for analysis and preservation

at 1,917, while south Jutland had 1,274. Fraud stats from the police include everything from social benefit fraud, illegal company loans, forgery, the misuse of credit cards and tax evasion.

Most fraud cases are reported by public authorities. Fraud can be punished by up to eight years in prison.

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

Pricey place

Swiss bank UBS revealed its annual survey of the world’s most expensive cities last week. Copenhagen came in as the fifth most expensive, while our northern neighbour Oslo nabbed the top spot. The study compared 122 different commodities and services throughout the 72 cities investigated, with prices adjusted for

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

currency fluctuation. The cost of living for each city was measured by dividing the price of goods by a weighted net hourly wage.

Along with Oslo and Copenhagen, Zurich, Tokyo, and Geneva rounded off the top five. The cheapest cities to live, according to the study, are Delhi and Mumbai, which are both in India.

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

Scanpix/Jens Nørgaard Larsen

The financial crisis has contributed to a record number of Danes committing fraud.

According to police statistics, in 2009 there were 3,872 cases of fraud, but this rose to 9,332 in 2011. The generally wealthy North Zealand area had the most fraud charges with 2,044.

Copenhagen was a close second

Colourbox

Colourbox

More fraud

CORRECTION Last week’s story on voter registration at the US Embassy included a file photo and not a photo from that event. The photo on page 3 was taken by Jens Nørgaard Larsen.

Battle royale

Astrid Krag will not enjoy a cakewalk into the Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF) party leader post after all. On Sunday, Annette Vilhelmsen (pictured), an SF MP and the party’s business spokesperson, threw her hat into the ring.

All indications are that the dramariddled party will have even more on its hands, now that Vilhelm-

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sen has shown herself to have a large backing amongst SF’s rank and file. Krag, meanwhile, has the party’s ministers on her side: outgoing party boss Villy Søvndal, the foreign minister; Thor Möger Pedersen, the tax minister; and Ida Auken, the environment minister, who was one of the early rumoured picks for the post.

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21 - 27 September 2012

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Anger over Mohammed film reaches Copenhagen

ALL PHOTOS THIS PAGE: CHRISTIAN WENANDE

CHRISTIAN WENANDE Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s rally at the US Embassy in Copenhagen remained peaceful despite some drama after it finished

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PWARDS of 500 people turned up in front of the US Embassy in Østerbro on Sunday afternoon to join a peaceful demonstration organised by the Scandinavian wing of the Islamic political organisation Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

The police had taken precautions and there were about ten vans outside the embassy, where demonstrators shouted slogans and held banners and signs denouncing the recent ‘Innocence of Muslims’ film that has caused violence and unrest in many parts of the world recently.

The anti-Islamic film caused an uproar after it was aired on the Egyptian TV station Al-Nas TV on September 8, and subsequent riots throughout the Muslim world have destroyed a number of foreign embassies and led to the killing of the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans on September 11.

The wide range of banners in Østerbro included such slogans as “Our prophet, our legacy, ‘your freedom’, your hypocrisy” and “Freedom of expression, a means of oppression” and the demonstrators heard speeches in Danish, English and Arabic condemning the US presence in the Middle East.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s spokesman for Scandinavia, Chadi Freigeh, contended that the demonstration occurred due to an intolerant and Islamophobic atmosphere that has been created by current and past US administrations.

“This insult should not be considered as a single action committed by some lunatic out there. It’s caused by the American policy in the Muslim world,” Freigeh told The Copenhagen Post. “So we are here to tell the Americans that their attempt to run away from their responsibilities, whether we are talking about this movie, all the other insults, or all the problems in the Muslim world, cannot be condoned.”

With the US flag above the embassy at half-mast, the demonstrators had congregated across the street where the men were in one bunch and the women in another, not permitted to demonstrate alongside the men. A number of children were also present.

The nearly two-hour demonstra-

The peaceful protest was organised by Hizb-ut-Tahrir, whose Scandinavian spokesperson, Chadi Freigeh (right), told assembled media that the US bears responsibility for Islamophobia, and was attended by upwards of 500 men, women and children, who segregated themselves along gender lines

Embassy employing “situational awareness” in wake of violence

We are here to tell the Americans that their attempt to run away from their responsibilities cannot be condoned tions remained peaceful throughout, but as it concluded, a group of young people began throwing rocks and powerful firecrackers.

Armour-clad riot police were quick to control the situation, and while at least one person was arrested, the police believed that the youths were an element that was not part of the Hizbut-Tahrir-organised demonstration, but were youths that had journeyed all the way up from the Odense suburb of Vollsmose to instigate trouble.

There was no activity inside the US Embassy, which had warned US citizens in Denmark to stay away from the embassy, while its employees had been instructed to do the same.

Women of the future

Scenes from Sunday’s rally outside the US Embassy in Østerbro

ROBERT Kerr, the public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Copenhagen, said that the embassy was practising what he called “common sense [and] situational awareness at this point” after Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, was killed when Libyan militants stormed the US consulate in Benghazi last week on Tuesday.

Since then, protests throughout the world against the film, ‘Innocence Of Muslims’, which portrays the prophet Mohammed as a womanising leader of bloodthirsty men, have led to a number of deaths.

In Sudan, two demonstrators were killed by police and security during a raid on the US embassy in Khartoum.

Two were killed in Tunisia after protesters breached the US embassy compound’s walls there. In Egypt and Lebanon, similar protests have also resulted in the death of demonstrators.

Protestors in Afghanistan and Pakistan have similarly targeted US enclaves. Taleban insurgents invaded a US air force base in southern Afghanistan, killing two marines in a self-proclaimed act of vengeance against the film. (HB)

Date: Monday, October 22, 2012 Place: Center for Employment, Language & Integration Hejrevej 10, 2400 NV or Language Center North Zealand Milnersvej 41 C, 4300 Hillerød

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4 Cover story Miscommunication leads to green card seeker’s deportation Peter Stanners Mahadi Hasan Tusher was able to apply for a green card and stay in the country despite being here illegally

Private Photo

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

Explosives discovered in city’s Sydhavn district Military called in to secure a bag of explosives that was found on a Copenhagen street on Monday

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xplosives were discovered by a pedestrian early on Monday morning in Copenhagen’s Sydhavn district.

Police received a phone call at 05:38 about the explosives on Borgmester Christiansens Gade and quickly evacuated buildings near the find and closed off the street to traffic.

Bomb-sniffing dogs and military explosives experts were called in to investigate, and the fire service was also on hand nearby.

The bag of military-style ex-

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orgetting to buy a ticket for a train can be expensive. But for Mahadi Hasan Tusher from Bangladesh, it cost him his stay in Denmark.

Tusher was deported in July and faces a two year reentry ban to Denmark and the entire Schengen Area after Udlændingestyrelsen (Immigration Service) found he was in the country illegally.

But Tusher argues his illegal residence in the country was an accident and the result of a miscommunication with an Udlændingestyrelsen employee who told him his stay in the country was valid while he awaited the outcome of his green card application.

“It’s strange that Denmark wants to attract highly educated foreign nationals with the green card scheme, but even when you carefully follow the instructions from Immigration Service, you risk such severe punishment as deportation and a re-entry ban from Schengen,” Tusher told The Copenhagen Post from Bangladesh. “From this point of view, it simply does not seem fair.”

After gaining his master’s in business economics from Mid Sweden University in Sweden on February 6, he arrived in Denmark and applied for a green card and paid the 6,200 kroner fee on February 12.

Tusher had yet to have a confirmation of an extension to his Swedish visa that ended on January 30. Concerned about his legal status in the country, he asked the immigration official, with whom he had lodged his green card application, what proof of residence he needed to show. Tusher alleges that the official told him the stamp in his passport, showing he had applied for a green card, was enough to prove he had residence.

Convinced that he had a legal residence in Denmark, Tusher cancelled his visa extension in Sweden and found a new place to live. On March 13, he emailed his new address to the

21 - 27 September 2012

plosives was found several hundred metres from the busy street Sydhavnsgade and several bus routes had to be diverted.

The police said it was a “substantial” find of explosives, though it did not pose a threat to people as they were not prepared to go off.

The military’s explosives experts secured the find by placing it in a blast proof trailer that they drove away.

After establishing that there were no more explosives on the street, police reopened the street a little after 8am.

The police are now investigating how military explosives ended up in the south Copenhagen industrial district. (PS)

Ruling against council could set precedent Christian Wenande Court rules that job centre didn’t do enough for client; meanwhile, councils are under-performing in their quest to go digital Tusher paid 6,200kr for his green card application, but now finds himself unable to return to Denmark

His behaviour hardly fits with the behaviour of an illegal immigrant Danish green card authorities.

It turned out, however, that Tusher was in the country illegally and when he was caught on a train without a ticket on July 4 – he forgot to transfer his bus pass from one jacket to another – he was arrested by police.

He was then transferred to the Ellebæk Prison in Sandholm Asylum Centre from where he was forcedly repatriated. The prison is normally used to house rejected asylum seekers who the authorities believe are at risk of going underground.

Tusher’s complaint is that the two-year re-entry ban from Denmark and the rest of Schen-

gen is excessive, a view that is shared by his lawyer, Åge Kramp from immigration specialists City Advokaterne.

“Tusher was unaware of his illegal status and his behaviour – paying the 6,200 kroner fee for a green card and keeping the authorities updated of his address – hardly fits with the behaviour of an illegal immigrant,” Kramp said.

Kramp argues that Tusher’s crime is merely that he followed bad advice from an ill-informed immigration official and as a result they filed a complaint with the Ministry of Justice.

In an attempt to discover how it was possible for someone in Denmark illegally to submit a green card application, The Copenhagen Post was passed around a number of different ministries.

In the process, we discovered the responsibility for approving an application was not Udlændingestyrelsen’s, although applications can be submitted through them as Tusher did.

Instead, the Danish Agency for Labour Retention and Inter-

national Recruitment within the Employment Ministry bears responsibility for approving green card applications.

Agency spokesperson Nanna Rytter Larsen told The Copenhagen Post that while the agency does as much as it can to verify an application when it is handed in, sometimes it’s hard to verify all the documentation.

“When the applicant submits their application, we inform them that the application may be refused, but we cannot prevent an applicant handing in an application. Then it is a question of whether we process the case,” she said. “We always look into whether they are in the country legally. In most cases it is easily ascertained whether a person is legally in Denmark or not, but sometimes you need to delve a bit deeper down.”

In Tusher’s case, despite emailing a change of address to Udlændingestyrelsen in March, it had still not yet been discovered by the agency that he was in the country illegally before he was arrested in July.

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case involving a job centre in Copenhagen failing in its duties is poised to become a benchmark for future instances after a court ruled in favour of a woman who sued the council over its lack of help.

The court found that the job centre did not do enough to get Ingelise Alma Pedersen, a 63-year-old teacher, back to work after she had a knee operation six years ago.

The court found that Pedersen was never given a work-ability test that could evaluate her work capacities, and the council admitted that the planned test was never administered.

“People themselves are responsible for making an effort to get back to work, but the council must also make an effort to help those on sick leave to get back in the job market. And they must be able to document it as well,” Søren Kjær Jensen, the lawyer who led the case for the teacher’s association BUPL, told Politiken newspaper.

The council was ordered to pay 500,000 kroner in compensation to Pedersen. It had stopped paying her sick leave benefits three years ago and she was forced to

live off her meagre pension.

The ruling, which the council has appealed against, could catalyse a number of similar cases to be filed against councils throughout Denmark, according to Jensen.

“It’s the first ruling of its kind. The council has been ordered to pay an amount that is roughly equal to what Pedersen would have earned had the council helped her into a flex-job or the like,” Jensen told Politiken.

Councils across Denmark, on the other hand, have their fingers crossed in regards to their appeal.

“I really hope that we win the case so that it does not set a precedent because it can have farreaching consequences. A defeat for us in the high courts will undoubtedly inspire many people,” Bodil Vendel, the head of a Nørrebro job centre, told Politiken.

The issue comes in the wake of councils’ problems surrounding the digitalisation of their communication with the public.

Despite political goals that stipulate that by 2015, 80 percent of all communication between citizens and the councils will be digital, most communication still occurs via the post, in person or over the telephone.

In the first half of 2012, there were 99,000 digital self-service transactions, compared to 68,000 during the same period the year before – far below expectations.

Online this week Solar electricity target reached early Solar electricity has increased so quickly in Denmark that already this year it may reach the 200 megawatt target that was set for 2020. With solar electricity increasing hundred-fold since 2010 – 36 additional megawatts are added every month – Dansk Energi, Energinet.dk and DONG Electricity estimate

that solar energy will contribute 1,000 MW by 2020 and 3,400 MW by 2030 if the current rate continues. The rapid increase in solar energy is mostly due to investments by private households and has helped push the share of Danish electricity produced by renewable sources towards the 35 percent target set for 2020.

Police search for clues in Tingbjerg shootings On Monday afternoon, Copenhagen’s Tingbjerg neighbourhood sounded like something out of a Quentin Tarantino film. Up to 20 shots were fired, but police are still unsure of the reasons behind the gunplay. Witnesses reported that shots were fired from two directions, but police as of Wednes-

day had found no evidence to verify that claim. “We have not found shell casings at the site that would indicate return fire,” Robert Jensen, an investigator with the Copenhagen Police, told TV2 News. Police said that no-one had checked into local hospitals seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.

Sortedam Lake gets a bridge Joggers running around the Lakes in Copenhagen can now cut corners with a clear conscience. Over the weekend, a temporary bridge crossing Sortedam Lake (at the Østerbro end) will open to the public. The floating shortcut will replace

some of the regular gravel paths next to the lake’s shore, reducing the regular route encircling the three lakes. To make room for the expansion of the Metro, part of the lake is also being drained.

The Metro expansion is expected to be finished by 2018.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

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THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

21 - 27 September 2012

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New European school coming to Copenhagen Denmark may join new PETER STANNERS 150 million kroner to fund a new European school that aims to keep Denmark attractive to foreign workers

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MAJORITY on the City Council has agreed to find the money necessary to establish a new European school in Copenhagen that will probably start accepting students from next summer.

During last week’s city budget negotiations, it was agreed that 150 million kroner would be set aside between 2012 and 2028 to help fund the school.

Each year group at the new European school will be divided into three language sections.

Two of them will offer instruction in both English and Danish and run parallel to each

other – the city’s 150 million kroner pledge will cover the Danish section.

According to Lars Berg Dueholm, a city councillor for the Liberal Alliance (LA), the school will help satisfy some of the demand for international school places in the city.

“We are committed to internationalisation and attracting foreign investment. Creating an international public school in Copenhagen is absolutely at the heart of what we would like for the city,” Dueholm told The Copenhagen Post.

The city will now apply to the EU to establish a so-called type-II European school that will offer free tuition for the children of EU employees. Their fees would be paid by the EU. Other students will be accepted based on criteria such as whether their parents are or have

been internationally employed.

The City Council will pay for the fees of Danish primary school students while the Danish state will pay the fees of Danish upper-secondary students attending the school.

LA helped negotiate the budget along with centrist and left-wing parties Radikale, Socialdemokraterne and Socialistisk Folkeparti.

Fellow right-of-centre parties Venstre and Konservative had left the negotiations due to a lack of consensus over tax cuts.

But according to Dueholm, LA remained in order to ensure the school became a reality.

“The Copenhagen Business Taskforce last year pointed out that there was a lack of international school places and so put it back on the agenda,” Dueholm said. “We hope that we can create a public school for expats in

the Copenhagen business community, which we know is a top priority for them.”

The government in March submitted an application of interest, which precedes a formal application, to the EU to open a European school in the city for 900 students from kindergarten to upper-secondary level – the city estimates that at least 2,000 international school places are needed.

And last December, Industriens Fond, an organisation that makes donations to projects aimed at improving the country’s competitiveness, committed 32 million kroner to help establish the European school.

The new school will be connected to the already established Sankt Annæ Gymnasium, with reports suggesting the two schools will be integrated into new premises in the Carslberg district of Vesterbro in 2017.

Cuts could can nation’s deposit system RAY WEAVER Government cuts could doom pant return system

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HE DANISH deposit refund system of paying a deposit (pant) on certain bottles and cans at the point of sale, and getting the deposit back when the container is returned to an authorised redemption centre, is considered one of the best in the world.

But Dansk Retursystem, the non-profit company that manages the system, said the government’s plan to cut 64 million kroner from its annual funding may cause serious damage.

“If they cut such a large amount, they run the risk that the return rate will drop,” Inge Fisker from Dansk Retursystem told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

“That much money cannot be

trimmed out of the system without feeling the effect.”

Currently, if a customer pays the deposit and does not return the bottle, that money is passed on to Dansk Retursystem, which uses it to update and modernise the service.

“If 64 million kroner disappears, brewers may be forced to increase their prices because the money is no longer in the system,” said Fisker. “Higher prices will increase cross-border trade and lower returns because products abroad are sold without a deposit.”

Fisker said that the loss in funds would result in a drop in service because Dansk Retursystem will not be able to collect containers from stores as often.

The shops may in turn opt to drop the entire system and simply toss the bottles and cans out.

Dansk Retursystem is cur-

If they cut such a large amount, they run the risk that the return rate will drop rently working on a number of projects designed to improve the collection system. One scheme involves setting up collection machines to accept German cans – which are sold without a deposit, and snatched up in large numbers by Danes crossing the border – if the government succeeds in negotiating a deposit deal with the Germans.

Dansk Retursystem is also testing its first unmanned collection station in Høje Taastrup.

Instead of placing the bottles one

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toft e

at a time into a collection machine at a supermarket, consumers place all of their bottles and cans into a single large bag and drop the bag off at the collection point. The bag has a chip that is tied to the customer’s credit card, and the deposit money then shows up in their bank account within ten working days.

“We are constantly trying to develop and streamline the deposit system,” said Fisker.

If the test at Høje Taastrup goes well, Dansk Retursystem hopes to establish a few hundred such stations across the country.

“It is important that the stations be located in places where people come, like large shopping centres,” said Fisker, who expressed concern that all of the new projects may be put on hold if the government cuts the funds that are primarily used to improve the system.

EU banking union PETER STANNERS Denmark may join the newly proposed fiscal union for the 17 Eurozone countries, but DF says a referendum would be needed

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OTH the Danish national bank and the economy minister support joining a new European banking union that is only compulsory for members of the Eurozone.

According to the European Commission’s proposal, the new union will hand oversight responsibility of the 6,000 banks in the 17-country Eurozone to the European Central Bank (ECB).

The ten non-Euro countries in the EU, including Denmark, will not be included in the union, though most are prepared to join if it would mean greater stability in the banking sector.

Nils Bernstein, the CEO of Denmark’s national bank, Nationalbanken, said he supported the proposal for a transnational supervising body.

“If [the union] is established, it could easily strengthen trust in the European banking sector, which would be difficult for Denmark to stand outside of,” he wrote in a press release.

“It’s important that we engage constructively with the negotiations of the proposal.”

European Commission president Manuel Barroso said that the new union was needed to help stave off another banking crisis.

“The crisis has shown that despite banks becoming more transnational, the oversight is still national,” Barroso said.

“And when things go wrong, it is the taxpayers that have to pay.

That is why we need a common oversight mechanism.”

Denmark’s economy minis-

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ter, Margrethe Vestager (Radikale), said that while many nonEuro countries were considering joining the union, it was not obvious how it would work.

“It’s actually rather tricky,” Vestager told Ritzau. “The way that the proposal has been made means it follows the ECB’s rules.

This means that only Euro countries have influence. And they actually cannot simply invite us to have influence.”

According to Vestager, it would not be acceptable for Denmark to join a union without having influence over how it is run. And despite initial fears that non-Euro countries would have no influence, there are indications that a compromise could be found to allow influence by nonEuro countries – a move Vestager said would benefit everyone.

“We have to consider the ability for Danish banks to compete,” Vestager told JyllandsPosten. “If we don’t join, we risk higher interest rates that would be passed onto consumers.”

Among the ECB’s new oversight powers would be the right to grant and revoke banking licences, a power that MEP Morten Messerchmidt (Dansk Folkeparti) argues would mean losing sovereignty.

“It is the job of Danish authorities to decide whether a bank can operate as a business,” Messerschmidt told Ritzau. “If these sorts of decisions are transferred to the EU, then there is no doubt that Danes will be heading to the ballot box.”

Europe’s ability to fight off financial crises was also strengthened last week when Germany’s constitutional court dismissed a challenge that would have prevented the country from ratifying the €500 billion bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

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This wonderful luxury flat is located in the desirable embassyquarters in Østerbro close to the green parks, Langelinie Allé, good shopping facilities and public transportation. From the building there is access to a large common courtyard, there is an elevator and private storageroom for all apartments in the basement. The apartment features: Entrance. Elegant diningroom. Three beautiful livingrooms, where one or two easily can be converted into bedrooms.

Masterbedroom. Nice light bathroom with a shower and both washer and dryer. Two nice children´s rooms. Lovely kitchen with good cupboard space and all domestic appliances. Hallway with access to the balcony. Guestbathroom with a shower. Guestroom. Pantry.

This fantastic luxury flat is located in the desirable embassy quarters on Østerbro. There is an elevator installed in the building and access to a cozy common courtyard.

Futhermore there is a private storageroom for every tenant in the building. Østbanegade is both close to Østerbro trainstation, good shopping facilities but also the central Copenhagen, to which one can cycle in 5 minutes. The apartment features: Spacious hall. Large bedroom/office.

Lovely dinningroom. Guestbathroom with a shower. Large livingroom with a nice inflow of light. Two good bedrooms.

Masterbedroom. Bright bathroom with a shower and both washer and dryer. Renovated kitchen with all domestic appliances and plenty of cupboard space.

www.rental.saxoproperties.com

Rental/price: 21.883 DKK Heating/water: 1000/0 Sqm: 202 m2 Rooms/bedrooms: 5/3

Rental/price: 30.263 DKK Heating/water: 1500/500 Sqm: 269 m2 Rooms/bedrooms: 7/6

Rental/price: 25.313 DKK Heating/water: 1500/500 Sqm: 243 m2 Rooms/bedrooms: 7/5

PROPERTIES

6

News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

Danish school day falls short of international averages Scanpix / Johan GadeGaard

Ray Weaver Experience has shown that longer school days result in better students, so why are students’ schedules still half-empty?

S

Sure, Danish students may be given shiny new iPads, but what a successful school in Taastrup shows is that they should be given more hours

Antorini admitted that a report from April of this year by Rigsrevisionen, the national audit office, showed that instructional time at the nation’s high schools was “very low”.

The OECD report also revealed that the number of people between the ages of 25 and 34 in Denmark who have completed upper secondary education is below average. In fact, Denmark ranked 26th, behind countries like Poland and Hungary.

The number of 25-34 yearolds who went onto and completed further education was also lower than the OECD average.

Meanwhile, students attending Selsmoseskolen in Taastrup appear to be living examples of the benefits of longer school hours.

The students attend class

every day from 8am until 4pm with a one-hour lunch break and two more 30-minute breaks during the day.

Even though many of the school’s students come from economically challenged backgrounds, 95 percent of them are bilingual and the school is outperforming the national averages in every category.

After six years as a full-day institution, the number of ‘slow readers’ in the third grade has dropped from just under 40 students to two, far better than the national average.

“We have seen improvement in our students at every level since we became an all-day school,” headteacher Ellis Andersen told DR News.

Ellis said her teachers can spend more time with each stu-

Nuclear waste set to stay put Christian Wenande After years of discussions, planning and studies, some in parliament want Denmark’s nuclear waste to stay where it is

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he 5,000 cubic metres of low-level waste from Denmark’s three experimental nuclear reactors was scheduled to be buried by 2018, but fierce opposition from the five councils shortlisted as possible sites for depositories looks to have altered the plans.

MPs from Venstre, Dansk Folkeparti and Enhedslisten have now come out in favour of keeping the atomic waste at its current site on the Risø peninsula, near the town of Roskilde, or shipping it out of Denmark all together.

The parties’ resistance could make it impossible to get parliament to approve plans to build an underground depository in one of six areas: Østermarie (Bornholm Council),

Rødbyhavn (Lolland Council), Kertinge Mark (Kerteminde Council), Hvidbjerg (Struer Council), Thise (Skive Council) or Skive Vest (Skive Council).

“We don’t want to force anyone to accept atomic waste against their will,” Venstre (V) spokesperson Henrik Høegh told Berlingske newspaper. “Ex-

Why should we build an atomic waste depot for hundreds of millions of kroner when the waste can remain at Risø under safe conditions? perts estimate that it is completely safe to keep it in Risø and when you look at the public outrage in the various councils, I

think it should stay where it is.”

The political shift has been met with relief by politicians from the five councils being considered. Earlier this year, they banded together in an effort to keep the waste from being moved.

“Why should we build an atomic waste depot for hundreds of millions of kroner when the waste can remain at Risø under safe conditions?” Struer mayor Niels Viggo Lynghøj told Berlingske. “It looks like some in parliament have listened to us, which pleases me greatly.”

The Risø facility was established in 1956 and housed the only nuclear reactors ever operational in Denmark. In 2000, it was shut down for good.

In 2003, parliament commissioned a study into possible burial sites. The original list of 22 sites was reduced to six earlier this year, and geologists are due to narrow the number down to two or three in the near future. The final decision will be in the hands of the health minister, Astrid

dent, or take a break and sing a song with the children, or send them out for a run to get some fresh air.

“Of course they can do the same things at other schools, but it cuts into class time,” said Andersen.

Andersen was also quick to point out that dedicated teachers and students were a big part of the school’s success.

The students themselves seem to enjoy the longer school day.

“I’m learning a lot, and it is more fun because we have three breaks,” fourth grader Salaheddine El-Bouhalati told DR News.

Fadwa Kassoudi came to Selsmoseskolen in the middle of the fourth grade.

“Before, I only went to school from 8am until 1pm and I did not learn as much as Scanpix / Niels Ahlmann Olesen

tudents at Danish schools spend less time in the classroom than children from other country members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to the study ‘Education at a Glance’ just released by the organisation.

The meagre amount of hours students spend in school comes despite the fact that Denmark remains one of the countries that spends the most money on education.

“The low number of hours in school, and fewer teaching hours compared to other countries, is one of the things we will look at in the context of school reform,” the education minister, Christine Antorini (Socialdemokraterne), told Politiken newspaper.

In the first and second grades (ages 7-9), students in Denmark spend an average of 701 hours annually in class, compared to the OECD average of 774 hours.

At the nation’s upper secondary schools (ages 16-19), students receive only 377 hours of direct contact with teachers per year, compared to the OECD average of 658 hours.

“The report shows that upper-secondary school teachers in Denmark teach for less than one fourth of their working day,” said Antorini. “Nevertheless, we must be careful when interpreting international data that may use different methods of calculation.”

I do here,” she told DR News.

“I have become better at science, technology and history, and now I can multiply double digit numbers, which I had not learned before.”

Teachers in Aarhus are also onboard with the idea of longer school days. They have decided to defy the wishes of Danmarks Lærerforenings (DLF), the national teachers’ union, and have agreed to spend more hours in school, starting from next year. The deal struck between the city’s 3,200 teachers, the council, schools and the local union means that educators will be in school for six hours each day and spend fewer hours working at home.

“We get more education for our money, create meaningful local solutions and ensure a good life for students at our schools,” Kristian Würtz (Socialdemokraterne), a local child and youth councillor, told Politiken.

Aarhus’s teachers are well aware that theirs is a controversial agreement, but insisted that they can see the benefits of spending more time in school.

“We know from satisfaction surveys that the conflict between work and family life is one of the things that affects most teachers.

Teachers take too much work home,” Søren Aakjær, the president of the Aarhus teachers’ union, told Politiken. “We will use the extra school hours to make sure we take fewer tasks home and hopefully improve job satisfaction.”

DLF chairman Anders Bondo Christensen was sceptical of the Aarhus deal.

“We will have to see how the experiment in Aarhus goes, but it is not the mindset we need in our 2013 agreement,” Christensen told Politiken.

The atomic waste from Denmark’s only flirt with nuclear energy is set to remain in Risø as the 2003 decision to bury has lost support

Krag (Socialistisk Folkeparti).

Nuclear specialists say keeping the waste in place has its advantages.

“The waste is located in Risø and moving it 500 metres would be easier than transporting it to Skive,” Kurt Lauridsen of Dansk Dekommissionering, the organisation responsible for decomissioning the reactors, told public broadcaster DR. “You don’t need a terribly complex depository for

this type of waste, so there is a good chance that it will stay where it is.”

The final depository will need to be designed so that the low-level waste will remain isolated from humans and the environment for at least 300 years.

Another 233 kilograms of spent fuel rods, which are classfied as medium-level waste, will remain radioactive for 250,000 years.

Nation preps for foreign strategy shift Ray Weaver Government focusing attention away from the EU and towards emerging markets

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he four top ministers within the Foreign Ministry are calling for a reorganisation of the Danish assignments abroad.

The ministers want greater focus on high-priority markets like China, India and Brazil and less on Denmark’s EU neighbours.

“In a rapidly changing world we must constantly ask ourselves whether we are focusing on the right places and in the right way,” Villy Søvndal, the foreign minister (Socialistisk Folkeparti), to JyllandsPosten newspaper.

Along with new export markets, the ministry’s list of new priorities includes the Arctic, human rights and green growth.

Søvndal stressed that the restructuring does not necessarily mean that Denmark will be closing any embassies.

The European minister, Nicolai Wammen (Socialdemokraterne), said the goal is to make sure that tax money is being used in the most effective manner possible. The other two ministers within the Foreign Ministry – the trade minister, Pia Olsen Dyhr (Socialistisk Folkeparti), and the development minister, Christian Friis Bach (Radikale) – agreed with Søvndal and Wammen that permanent changes should be considered.

Opposition party Venstre (V) recently criticised the government’s foreign policy as having “four ministers but no direction”.

Søren Pind, V’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said that Denmark lacked representation in major emerging markets.

“It would shock many Danes to know that there are only two employees working at our embassy in Brazil,” Pind told Berlingske Nyhedsbureau.

“It is absurd – we are talking about one of the world’s largest emerging markets.”

Pind said it was vital that a small country like Denmark be represented in the right places.

When the new government came into power last year, Dyhr dismissed five elder statesmen that had been appointed by the previous Venstre government to be export ambassadors to the same emerging markets the ministry says it now must court. The former foreign minister, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (Venstre), was among the retired ministers and members of parliament axed by Dyhr. Her argument was that said she could do the job just as well as the ambassadors and save 18 million kroner annually.

News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

7

Henry Butman

A late-night brawl at a local pizzeria ends with a 60-day prison sentence and exclusion from his party for Benny Ragner

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I

Benny Ragner, seen here in a file photo from before the drunken night (and the orange tan) is probably not smiling so broadly now that he has been kicked out of DF and sent to prison

into the scuffle in his defence.

Upon his release, Ragner told Ekstra Bladet he had a good reason for his behaviour.

“I haven’t hit anyone,” he told the tabloid. “I was just hammered on alcohol, so I had to spend the night in detention.”

A video from the pizzeria security camera, however, shows footage of a heavily intoxicated Ragner ferociously punching a man in the face, as well as his attack on Khademi.

In light of the video’s release, Ragner’s story changed from having no involvement in a fight to simply being so drunk that he couldn’t remember what happened.

“My client cannot remember anything from that evening.

Therefore he has no comment,” his defence lawyer, Niels Fjeldberg, told the media.

The case was finally settled last Friday, as Ragner, who showed up sporting a luminous tan to rival George Hamilton, was convicted of both assault and grave bodily assault. He received a 60-day prison sentence.

To add insult to injury, Ragner’s typically anti-immigration party has decided that although they would like immigrants out of the country, snacking on them is just a step too far.

“Immediately after the sentence was announced I spoke with Benny Ragner, and he knew very well that the sentence would have consequences for his future political career within the Danske Folkeparti,” DF’s organisational vice-president Carl Christian Ebbesen told Berlingske. “Therefore we decided that we should part ways, and he will now be excluded from the party.”

Two arrested for Café Louise stabbing Ray Weaver “Peaceful family man” murdered at early-morning bar with violent history

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wo men have been arrested in connection with the Saturday morning fatal stabbing of a 38-year-old man, originally from Ghana, at Café Louise on Nørrebrogade in Copenhagen.

The stabbing occurred as part of a mass brawl which left five other people severely wounded.

The two men, aged 27 and 31, are both charged with murder and attempted murder. Police said that the men are both residents of the area and are “of a different ethnic origin” than the victim.

Both men claimed innocence, but police say they have enough evidence to hold them on the charges.

“They both tried to escape, but there were fresh tracks near the site,” Copenhagen Police’s chief gang investigator Carsten Lerbjerg told Jyllands-Posten.

The two suspects knew each other and are said to be involved with gangs, but police said that they are still in the early stages of their investigation.

“We cannot say at this time whether the stabbing is gangrelated,” said Lerbjerg. “It is not clear exactly what happened, so we are keeping our options open.”

Lerbjerg said that there were at least 50 witnesses to the brawl, and that they have questioned three of the wounded victims.

“Their explanations differ, but they all believe that they are victims and not the cause of the incident,” said Lerbjerg.

Police are waiting for hospital clearance to interrogate the last two victims.

Interviews with staff and guests revealed that the atmosphere was tense in Cafe Louise on Saturday morning.

First one group of men was thrown out, then another, and knives appeared sometime during the ensuing melee.

“We do not know when the knives were pulled,” said Lerbjerg. “Definitely outside, but perhaps inside as well.”

K-9s have tracked down several knives in the area, but Lerbjerg could not say if one of them was the murder weapon.

About 200 people attended a peaceful demonstration in Nørrebro on Saturday evening to honour the memory of the

slain man, whose friends said he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“He is a family man with two children who worked and paid taxes,” Happy Koffi Djebou, the organiser of the demonstration, told TV2 News. “He just went out for some fresh air and wound up dead.”

Djebou said he believed his friend’s murder was a completely random event.

Some of Café Louise’s neighbours have had enough. They want the rowdy bar shut down.

“We are deeply tired of the place,” area resident Frederik Faurby told Jyllands-Posten.

“The place is a nuisance. There is constant noise and commotion, and the police are in front of the place nearly every morning.”

Faurby said it was normal for neighbourhood kids on their way to school to encounter drunks on area bike paths.

A guest at Café Louise was hit in the head and killed during a 2006 incident when a man opened fire with a pistol inside the bar.

Faurby said he cannot understand why the authorities allow the place to remain open, given its chequered history.

f the pixilated internet images of English royal Kate Middleton baring her chest aren’t up to your standards, Se og Hør is here to help. The tabloid is planning to jump on the topless-tabloid bandwagon with a 16-page supplement dedicated to Kate’s indecent exposure.

Se og Hør’s editor-in-chief Kim Henningsen said he was “unbelievably proud” that Se og Hør has obtained the photos and will be the only Danish media – so far, anyway – to run the shots that have made headlines the world over.

“Our readers love to follow the lives of celebrities and royals and are always looking for news that brings them up close,” Henningsen said in a statement.

“It is in Se og Hør’s DNA to entertain and satisfy our readers’ curiosity. Therefore, it is always relevant for us when a duchess, who is the future queen of England, is topless and willingly reveals her breasts towards a public road.”

The Duchess of Cambridge and her new hubby Prince William were sunbathing on a porch in southern France when Kate dropped her top and an

If it’s good enough for the French, it’s good enough for the Danes: royal boobs coming to a newsstand near you

It is always relevant for us when a duchess, who is the future queen of England, willingly reveals her breasts anonymous paparazzo snapped the shots.

The photos, first published in French gossip magazine Closer, have also made their way to Italian pages despite an injunction granted to the royal couple. The ruling, handed down by a French

court, demands that Closer hand the original photos over to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and forbids the media outlet from selling additional copies.

Media in the UK have forgone printing the pictures, hoping to rebuild their reputations following recent UK tabloid scandals, and the paparazzi fallout that may have led to Princess Diana’s death in 1997.

But Se og Hør has reportedly obtained a handful of the 200odd photos of Kate and Will.

The tabloid, however, won’t be putting the photos online. The royal jewels will only be available to those willing to buy them in print. The magazine is on newsstands now.

Rushdie: Copenhagen was a threat Christian Wenande

Colourbox

n the early hours of Friday, June 22, Benny Ragner, a member of Viborg Council representing Dansk Folkeparti, was feeling a bit peckish and stopped off for a snack at Crown Pizzeria in his hometown after a night out.

When the 57-year-old politician went to pay for his pizza, he required some extra cash and therefore asked to withdraw more than the amount for his pizza. But Ragner’s wasn’t a standard request: he wanted to withdraw 100,000 kroner over the price of his food.

Crown Pizzeria employee Hekmat Khademi, a 25-yearold originally from Afghanistan, was at work that night and had the unfortunate job of having to deny the intoxicated politician his desired withdrawal.

“I had no idea who Benny Ragner was at the time, but the whole thing was like a scene from a bad action movie,” Khademi told Viborg Stifts Folkeblad. “He attacked some of the customers, so together with a friend I tried to hold him off so he would calm down and stop attacking the customers. Then he bit me to try to get himself free.”

The rabid Ragner was later detained by police, along with two young men who had jumped

Scanpix/Preben Madsen

Linn Lemhag

Danish gossip magazine Se og Hør says it’s in its DNA to flash the royal pair in 16-page spread

Salman Rushdie’s new memoirs partially vindicate former PM Poul Nyrup Rasmussen’s decision to cancel the author’s 1996 trip to Copenhagen

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n late 1996, Indian-born author Salman Rushdie was due to visit Copenhagen but the prime minister at the time, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Socialdemokraterne), initially cancelled the visit due to security reasons.

Rasmussen’s excuse was lambasted by Rushdie and others for being fabricated in order to protect a lucrative Danish feta-cheese export deal to Iran, which had issued a fatwa on Rushdie for his book ‘The Satanic Verses’. Rasmussen’s cancellation was contradicted

by British intelligence, which informed the author that there was not a threat.

It was all seen as a massive political blunder by Rasmussen, who was forced to publicly apologise to Rushdie and re-invite the author back to Copenhagen, which Rushdie visited a few months later, humiliating Rasmussen by appearing in a bar dressed in a Christmas ‘nisse’ hat, drinking beer in public, clearly unconcerned by any security risk.

But, according to Rushdie’s

Rushdie’s new memoirs provide delayed redemption for former PM Poul Nyrup Rasmussen

new memoirs, ‘Joseph Anton’, British intelligence later told him that there was indeed a specific threat in Copenhagen, but that they couldn’t tell him at the time in order to protect a source.

In November of 1996, Rasmussen explained that his decision to not allow Rushdie into the country was purely due to security concerns.

“The reason was a threat evaluation. There were such large security risks associated with the arrangement, for Salman Rushdie and for the entire

event, that it would be irresponsible to have the event go ahead as planned,” Rasmussen told parliament. “Therefore, I would like to once again confirm my belief that the government took the necessary steps that were correct and responsible.”

While Rushdie’s new memoirs offer vindication for Rasmussen and his actions in 1996, they could very easily be used

by Islamists to further incite the trouble created by the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ (see story, page 3), according to Mikael Rothstein, a historian at the University of Copenhagen.

“For most Muslims, it won’t be worth a thought, but for the people who have decided to incite trouble, Rushdie’s text contains everything they could ever dream of,” Rothstein told public broadcaster DR. Rushdie incurred the wrath of the Muslim world after the publishing of his 1988 novel, ‘The Satanic Verses’, which contains a retelling of the life of the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

The following year, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a ‘fatwa’, a religious death sentence, against Rushdie which remains in effect today. The bounty for the death sentence continues to rise and cannot be annulled, according to religious law, as it can only be cancelled by the one who issued it and Khomeini died in 1989.

Scanpix/Eric Gaillard

Politician thrown out of DF for Kate’s boobs coming to Denmark biting pizza shop employee

8

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Freedom of expression and the holy Koran DR/AGNETE SCHLICHTKRULL

To err is human (to forgive is forbidden)

21 - 27 September 2012

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F IMMIGRATION experts themselves are getting the rules wrong, how can anyone else be expected to get them right?

There’s no doubt about it, Mahadi Hasan Tusher violated immigration laws earlier this year when he applied for a green card while residing in Denmark.

Nor is there any doubt that Udlændingestyrelsen was exacting the mandated punishment for illegal immigrants when it expelled Tusher from Denmark and banned him from returning to the Schengen area for two years.

Tusher’s decision to start living in Denmark while he was waiting for a decision about his green card application – which would have given him the right to live in Denmark while seeking a job to match his degree in economics – could have been the result of bad advice by Udlændingestyrelsen, as Tusher alleges. It is also possible that he simply misunderstood the advice that was given to him. But what isn’t disputable is that he made no effort to deceive immigration officials.

Not only did he contact Ulændingestyrelsen multiple times, he even sent them his new – Danish – address. This is hardly the type of behaviour you’d expect from someone seeking to avoid detection. Unfortunately, unyielding enforcement of regulations is something that immigrants (and would be immigrants) have come to expect from immigration officials over the past decade.

Apparently still ingrained in the culture of the immigration officials, the practice remains far from the ‘new era’ of immigration policy promised by the new government after it came to power 12 months ago.

Deporting someone for what may just be an honest mistake resembles the previous government’s immigration policies at their worst and does little to restore Denmark’s image as a tolerant country.

Coincidentally, precisely the same allegations of uninformed counselling are currently being levelled by a number of Jutland families against an Aarhus-based immigration consulting firm.

Indvandrerådgivningen, a for-profit company, has come under fire for the alleged gross misguidance of individuals – Danes as well as immigrants – seeking to bring their foreign spouses to Denmark (so-called ‘family reunification’).

Just as with Tusher’s complaint against Udlændingestyrelsen, it’s still unproven whether the owner-operator of the Aarhus firm gave bad advice. But, as a person with no formal qualifications to help immigrants, you wouldn’t be surprised if he got the rules wrong; the last people we’d expect not to know the rules backwards and forward are the people responsible for administering them.

Based on the allegations of the Jutland families, the national consumer watchdog Forbugerombudsmanden has announced it will investigate the Aarhus company. When they are done there, may we suggest they start sniffing around at Udlændingestyrelsen?

SHERIN KHANKAN

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HE DEBATE over the recent propaganda film about Islam, ‘Innocence of Muslims’, can be viewed in different lights, just as the 2006 Cartoon Crisis could be. Some claim that this is a clash between Islamic and Western civilisations.

Others say the debate is about the unfettered right to free speech and artistic freedom. Finally, there are those who argue that the film is the physical manifestation of Europe’s right-wing politics and the belief, forged with the birth of Orientalism and embodied by the 9/11 attacks, that Islam is a threat.

The 2006 Cartoon Crisis and the recent film evoke such strong reactions from Muslims around the world because they depict Islam as primitive, misogynistic and violent while casting their prophet in a negative light.

They attack the essential element of what Muslims feel lies at the heart of Islam: that the prophet was a merciful revolutionary who challenged all forms of discrimination, be it racial, national, social, religious and not least sexual.

The Muslims’ prophet is the living symbol of all that is just and good, and he is the supreme role

model for Muslims just as Jesus is for Christians.

The film also challenges the idea of the Koran as holy scripture. The sacredness of the Koran does not stem from some passive dogma, nor does it require that people refrain from taking an active, critical and interpretive approach toward its contents.

Many modern scholars have, in fact, urged both men and women to interpret those passages of the Koran that are open to interpretation in the context of their era and society.

The Koran’s sacredness comes from the deep sense of adab (‘decorum’ or ‘respect’) shown

by Muslims for the Koran and the customs established by the prophet Mohammed. Adab, which can also be translated as ‘good manners’, ‘sensitivity’ or ‘sense of propriety’, is observed by active Muslims and by many non-Muslims. But just as you don’t have to be a Muslim to understand adab, you don’t need to be a Muslim to express wildly irrational emotions about religion.

In the 1970s, Denmark’s Jens Jørgen Thorsen touched off an international firestorm with his plans to make a sarcastic film about Jesus. The Pope condemned the project and the Danish embassy in Rome received bomb threats.

The fact of the matter is religion has always and everywhere been an emotional flashpoint.

The 2006 Cartoon Crisis and the 2012 film crisis illustrate the potential for conflict when one group has the right and power to define universal principles for all groups. The Western concept of globalisation, for example, is not the same as the Muslim conception of globalisation. For many

practicing Muslims, the idea that the Koran is a sacred scripture is just as fundamental as freedom of speech is for those in the West.

However, this isn’t the same as saying that practicing Muslims don’t consider freedom of speech or a critical approach towards religion to be important.

What offends many Muslims is that their religion is made relative. For some, compromising the Koran’s sacredness at all is too high a price to pay to become part of the global community.

Ironically, some Muslims’ alternative conclusion, that Islam and freedom of speech are incompatible, is a win for both the European far right and the Muslim far left, which argues that Islam and democracy are mutually exclusive since only God can create laws. As the monopolisation by the West of values like democracy and freedom of speech turns something universal into something ‘non-Islamic’, we dig artificial divides between Islam and democracy, them and us, faith and secular thought.

Mutual acceptance MUSLIMS need to accept that there are different attitudes and interpretations of Islam and its message, but they can’t give up the right to use reasoned arguments to combat all forms of hateful speech and propaganda disguised as ‘art’.

Non-Muslims, for their part, need to accept that some Muslims have a relative approach to freedom of speech. They can accept the Koran as sacred and they can embrace freedom of speech.

Being able to accept two universal principles at the same time is, in

my view, essential. For Muslims, this means arguing that both principles are important, and that they are compatible. If Europeans and non-Muslims want to establish good relations with the new Middle East and with Muslims in the West, we need to accept points of view that differ from our own and we need to be aware that others have different values and sensitivities from our own.

The freedom of speech is not an unconditional right to say whatever you want; it is not a right to spew hateful propaganda.

In my opinion, we should contest the recent film about Islam with silence and with tolerance.

Such was the way the prophet Mohammed reacted when he was subjected to hate, ridicule and physical assault. He sought not man’s acceptance, but God’s. Thus, the Koran tells us: “But indeed if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous will and resolution in the conduct of affairs.” (42:43) The reaction to the new film about Islam should not be discussed in terms of freedom of speech and the sacredness of the Koran, since both are important for most Muslims, nor should it be discussed in terms of the clash of civilisations, since such conflict often takes place within the same civilisation. The film and the reaction to it should be discussed in terms of the particular form of a dangerous anti-Islamic rhetoric that is fostered by select far-right political groups in Europe, and which is a clear and present example of modern anti-Semitism.

The author is a sociologist and writer. She is also the founder and spokesperson for Critical Muslims.

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In ‘City of Cyclists,’ cops accused of putting cars first

when something goes wrong.

Rugratzz by website

A little history lesson is in order. During the 19th century, cyclists paved the way for modern motorists’ roads. Car drivers assume the roads were built for them, but it was cyclists who first lobbied for flat roads more than 100 years ago. Motorists were the johnny-come-latelies of the highways. Cyclists also helped pay for those roads through selftaxation long before motor vehicles were anything but an idea in someone’s head.

Una Nelson-White by website

The ratio of cars to cars is more than ten times the ratio of cars to bikes. AND, car-to-car accidents amounts to a lot of property damage; car-bike accidents can easily result in death, ALL because a driver thinks he or she is ‘dominant’. It is painfully simple: roads were NOT built for cars, they were built for the public.

Mark Brewster by website

Whoever uses the roads should be treated the same way, and any contradiction of any road law should be dealt within the same way. If I go through a red light (as a motorist) and pay a fine, so should a cyclist. Riding away from an accident (hit and run) should be treated the same way.

Many cyclists (I’m not saying all) think they are above the law, or that the laws aren’t intended for them. I have nothing against responsible cyclists in any way, just the ones that seem to have a death wish and then blame a car driver

Christian Values | I’m not afraid to say it: I love Copenhagen Agree! Love the place. In spite of the constant whining of the feedback regulars found here, Copenhagen is a freaking paradise compared to most cities around the world.

M_S_H by website Thanks so much for this article.

Sometimes, reading this website and its comments, I think there must be something wrong with me for absolutely loving living here. sorryaboutthat by website Here’s the thing. People DO go to London, Berlin, Beijing, New

York, Paris, Barcelona, Edinburgh etc and etc and complain about things there, too. The nice thing about some of these places, unlike in Denmark, is non-natives are allowed to kvetch, and may even be able to without being told to go home if we, as visitors, don’t just love everything about the home country. Yes, late night eateries, even really nasty ones, are a plus here. After living here and witnessing the messy drunks, however, I am less enamoured by open drinking.

HeidiakaMissJibba by website Love everything about the article, except the Yankees jersey.

Rob Harbic by website Mayor and police at odds over cannabis approach Supposedly progressive Denmark is lagging behind many US states and cities, as well as a number of other countries, in its approach to cannabis. I think the reason is that attacks on the cannabis trade, including casual users, have long been used as weapons against Christiania. If not for that, I suspect cannabis would be legal in Denmark by now, or at

least not a police priority.

Rich Jackman by website Smart man, Frank Jensen. Shame the Danish police are controlled by the media and not the politicians…

TeaTwo by website Prohibition in any manner will generally drive a trade underground, but will never eradicate it completely and simply puts the control and the revenue in the hands of organised or unorganised crime. I don’t think there is any country in the world free of such vices, irrespective of the prevalent legislature or ideology.

By taking logical steps, the government can probably remove the gangs from the scene and reduce the burden on the police.

Buddha_in by website Despite promises, transportation prices to rise … again I love that campaign poster: “40 percent billigere tog og buskort i KBH” – an accompanying caption should read: “There are lies, damn lies, and what Villy Søvndal says.”

Thorvaldsen by website

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

21 - 27 September 2012

Back off, rugbrød fascists

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Still Adjusting

BY JUSTIN CREMER The CPH Post’s news editor, Justin Cremer, is an American who has lived full-time in Copenhagen since 2010. Asked often if he likes it here, his usual response is “It depends on the day.” Follow him at twitter.com/justincph

FTER seven and a half years of marriage, my wife has learned that when a certain mumbling arises over the morning newspaper, she should brace herself for an angry diatribe.

Such was the case a few weeks ago when I read about a study conducted

by University of Copenhagen researcher Martha Sif Karrebæk that detailed the public shaming that young, immigrantbackground children received at the hands of their ethnic Danish teacher.

The small children’s offence was daring to eat a lunch that didn’t consist of that staple of the Danish diet: rugbrød (dark rye bread).

Karrebæk spent a year observing the lunchtime interactions of a school’s kindergarten class (kids aged 5-7) in Copenhagen. What she saw was the class’s teacher, ‘Louise’, an ethnic Dane, constantly harassing the minority students over the contents of their lunchbox, or more specifically the lack of rugbrød.

‘Louise’ meticulously inspected the minority students’ lunchboxes and castigated them for either not having rugbrød or for daring to eat their other, non-rugbrød food items first. In response, the children would resort to

hiding their food – often food representative of their own cultural heritage – from the teacher and sneaking bites when she wasn’t looking.

In one particularly heartbreaking example, ‘Zaki’, a boy of Somalian descent, was told that he shouldn’t eat his sausage rolled in Arabic flatbread and should instead eat his rugbrød. Karrebæk details how Zaki seemed “very happy” with his flatbread, until ‘Louise’ told him to put it away. He then slowly unwrapped and took a few small bites of rugbrød before sneaking a bite or two of his flatbread. At one point he grabbed the flatbread “with signs of great pleasure” before the teacher returned and forbade him to eat it. At the end of lunch, neither item was eaten, probably resulting in a long, hungry afternoon for Zaki.

Both ‘Louise’ and the school’s headteacher defended their approach, arguing, as Karrebæk put it, “the superiority of rye bread”. The headteacher said that many of the non-Danish students did not get the “right” kind of lunch, which begs the obvious question: right for whom? Why should a child be brainwashed into thinking that the Arabic flatbread that their parents have packed

for them is not “right”, while the typically Danish rugbrød is?

Karrebæk’s study revealed elements of almost everything that annoys me about Denmark: racism, conformity and an overarching belief that everything, regardless of what it is, is better when it is ‘Danish’.

That there is a racial undertone in the teacher’s actions is unquestionable.

Karrebæk witnessed one ethnic Danish student, ‘Mathilde’, never once bringing rugbrød in her lunchbox and yet never receiving a single comment about it from the teacher. Meanwhile, those minority students who didn’t bring rugbrød were told repeatedly that their food – packed for them, it should be remembered, by their own mom and dad – was unacceptable, unhealthy and even that the teacher “pitied” them for the contents of their lunch.

I’d often wondered about Danes’ obsessive worship of rye bread, and it has on more than one occasion led to minor spats between my wife and I. But with this sort of thing indoctrinated into young, impressionable minds, it is no wonder that every single Danish kid’s lunchbox looks nearly the same. In a land of conformists, who would dare

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subject themselves to the humiliation of not eating the same thing as Little Jens sitting next to you?

This conformist behaviour was displayed by one Danish parent in the study who thought the focus on the kids’ lunch was exaggerated but nevertheless “conformed to the expressed norm”.

Those immigrant families that refused to give in to the norms – good on them, I say – were disparaged by ‘Louise’ as “difficult to co-operate with in general”.

The argument is always that rugbrød is so wonderfully healthy. But just a few weeks ago, it was revealed that many bakeries’ ‘gourmet breads’, variations of rye bread included, have incredibly high salt content. And anyone who thinks that slapping a piece of processed, red salami on a piece of rugbrød magically makes a healthy lunch is kidding themselves.

As someone living with a Danish wife and half-Danish children, I’ve had the rugbrød debate many times. The merits of the bread aside, what pains me about Kerrebæk’s study is that it drives home the fact that my kids will face a society that seeks to snuff out anything different and views conformity as something to be strived for and encouraged.

Do you do Danglish?

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Crazier than Christmas

BY VIVIENNE MCKEE Vivienne McKee, Denmark’s best-known English entertainer, is this country’s most beloved foreign import. Over the last 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Copenhageners have enjoyed her annual Crazy Christmas Cabaret show at Tivoli, marvelling at her unique, wry Anglo wit and charm.

NEVER fail to be grateful for the fact that the Danes speak such good English. Of course I was less grateful when I was trying to learn the language. My first faltering attempts in a shop were always greeted with a condescending smile and an immediate response: “What is it you actually want?” I used to cook spare ribs for my husband’s dinner almost every night because it was the only name I could understand on the packet.

But now, 30 years later, when I earn my living from pointing out how Danish language and culture differs compared to other nationalities in my standup comedy performances, I couldn’t be more thankful for the Danes’ linguistic skills and, even more, their self-irony.

Sometimes I can be quite merciless about their inability to be instantly friendly to newcomers, their rudeness when they drive cars and their impossibly difficult language – but they always laugh good-naturedly at my often exaggerated comments.

In my annual Crazy Christmas Cabaret show at Tivoli, I took it one step further when I created a character called

Dr van Helsingør from Elsinore back in 1986. He is a Danish doctor (played by me) who dresses in a check suit, deerstalker hat, horn-rimmed glasses and has a full red beard. Not at all like a real Dane you may think, but actually he was modelled on the first Dane I ever met! A very nice red-bearded man who organised our first theatre tour around Denmark back in the ‘80s and who always wore – yes – you guessed it. He also spoke very precise English, which amused us a lot.

The doctor’s command of English is much worse than his real life counterpart. He makes dreadful mistakes and has the annoying habit of translating everything he says literally. “Hvordan har du det?” becomes “How are you having it? Are you having it good?”

Followed by the shocked reply: “If you must know doctor, I haven’t had it at all lately: good or bad.” When the doctor, whose first name is Bent, found out his name is also a slang term in English for homosexual, he said: “Det kommer helt bag på mig. Errr ... This is coming completely behind me!”

But of course, he is fictitious and

Jeg hedder Bond, Yames Bond bears little resemblance to real Danes who never make such mistakes, unless of course they are politicians. Villy Søvndal, the foreign minister, famously said: “Zeh ice is smelting at zeh pøwlz” ... followed by “We have the possibility to make high girls (goals).” The Danes were quick to mock him for his hopeless English, which was more of a question of accent than grammar.

But why are the Danes such excellent linguists? I think one reason is because they don’t dub any of their imported movies or TV programmes. Unlike the French or the Germans, they’re not afraid to read subtitles. The first time I saw ‘Jurassic Park’ was in France.

They all spoke French! Sam Neill sounded like Sarkozy stumbling along on his platform shoes. I expected T-rex and his dinosaur buddies to burst out

of the jungle and roar: “Oooh la la! Les Americains! Tres bien! Bon Appetit!”

French is one thing, but James Bond in Danish? “Jeg hedder Bond, Yames Bond.” It doesn’t work for me. Or even worse, Clint Eastwood shouting: “LAV MIN DAG!” Even the Republicans wouldn’t cheer him for that!

No – let’s be happy the Danes speak terrific English (and French and German and Swedish) and not smile condescendingly if they make small mistakes once in a while or, for that matter, be too shocked when they pepper their conversation with our English swear words. I once tried to turn the tables on them and use their swear words. I said: “Satan!

This is cancer-eating shit! For hell!” They looked horrified! But they happily use our F-word to their heart’s content.

But I shall not complain as long as they continue to appreciate my silly Danglish jokes. We all know Denmark is home to the best chefs in the world.

And as the Danish word for a chef is a kok, it means the Danes are understandably proud of the fact that Danmark har de største kokker i hele verden. No wonder they appreciate my Danglish so much!

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The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

Kevin McGwin Family thanks the Danish people, but say police and city officials could have been better at keeping them informed

Private Photo

Nephews of American tourist killed in HC Andersen theme park accident feel left in the dark by authorities no longer just a fairytale Christian Wenande But backers are adamant that prospective investors should be from the private sector and not from the state

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The nephews Jason and Michael Schoenfeld said that their mother (left) was very close to her brother Carl (right)

We’ve had tremendous help from Danes locally, but in the start there was almost a total lack of information from the police or the city accident, an autopsy needed to be carried out to determine the precise cause of death. What confused the family though was that the autopsy was performed with a rabbi present against their wishes.

“We spoke with the rabbi, and we spoke with the Jewish undertaker – so what happened?” Michael Schoenfeld said.

The family has yet to receive a police report or the autopsy report – which the brothers said were to be delivered to the US Embassy for translation as soon as they were prepared – but they were informed that their uncle’s body showed “nothing unexpected”.

“So it was like: what was the point of all that?” Jason Schoenfeld said.

And while the family says it is still too early to try and point blame for the

accident, the two brothers expressed concern for the driver of the vehicle.

“Our family feels terrible for him,” said Jason Schoenfeld. “It has to have been a terrible experience. Even it if does turn out to have been his fault, that’s not the sort of thing we’d wish on anyone.”

According to reports in the Danish media, city workers driving electric vehicles have asked to be sent out in teams, fearing public reprisals for the incident. Michael Schoenfeld called the development “terrible”.

“Our uncle’s death was tragic, but it was an accident. We don’t want others to suffer.”

“Honestly though, we just want people to know that he wasn’t just another American tourist,” Jason Schoenfeld added. “We wanted to put a face on him for all the people that helped. He held a PhD in psychology, he worked with kids in the Baltimore school system for 40 years, and he was our uncle.”

Private Photo

city has to do with its failure to respect Robinson’s last wishes that an autopsy not be carried out and that their religious beliefs be respected.

The family understood that due to the circumstances, it would be impossible to bury the body within 24 hours, as Jewish custom calls for, and they also said that they understood that, as an

he US has Disney World, Melbourne has Luna Park, Abu Dhabi has Ferrari World and soon Denmark may have Hans Christian Andersen World.

Ole Sohn (Socialistisk Folkeparti), the minister of business and growth, wants to boost Denmark’s tourism appeal by building a theme park based on Hans Christian Andersen’s worldfamous adventures and children’s tales.

It is especially the Chinese and other Asian tourists that Sohn hopes to attract, and to this end, he has urged private investors and industry professionals to embrace the project.

“Why don’t we have a HC Andersen World in global dimensions, so that it’s not just ten small little mermaids, but a massive park of international size based on some of Andersen’s famous tales? If it were up to me, it should be a huge investment – in the billions,” Sohn told Politiken newspaper.

And while Denmark already has sites such as Tivoli, Legoland and The Little Mermaid, Sohn argues that they’re simply not enough and that on his many travels to Asia it is Andersen who is the most popular.

“I have found on my trips to China, South Korea and Singapore that, unquestionably, Andersen is the biggest, oldest

and the most valuable brand Denmark has,” Sohn told Politiken. “His adventures are known throughout the world, including Asia and Russia. It’s odd that Denmark hasn’t utilised this incredible trademark to greater effect.”

Sohn was backed up by Christian Ingemann, a member of the executive board of the business advocacy group Dansk Erhverv, who called it “one of the best ideas he had heard in ages”, but was also adamant that investment should not come from the state.

According to Sohn, if the state were to assume responsibility for a theme park of such dimensions, it would be doomed to fail. He stressed that the project should be run as a commercial business.

Odense, which is Andersen’s city of birth, has reserved a large plot of land for the construction of a theme park, but Ingemann indicated that it must be situated in a place that can attract the big-city tourists, as well as the camping and summerhouse tourist crowd.

It’s not the first time that an Andersen theme park has been discussed. In May, Chinese billionaire Huang Nubo said he was interested in creating an Andersen-orientated theme park on Funen in a bid to attract Chinese tourists.

MP to unemployed mother: “It’s good you’re sterilised” Unemployed mother-of-three said she was shocked by the statement

FT.dk

t’s early morning in Arizona on September 11, and Jason and Michael Schoenfeld are planning an unexpected trip to the airport.

The previous day, the family was unexpectedly told that the remains of their uncle, Carl Robinson, who was killed by a runaway electric lorry in Copenhagen on August 29, had been loaded on a plane and were heading to Arizona.

The two nephews say that not knowing when the remains of a departed family member would be returned to them has been par for the course in dealing with Danish authorities over the past two weeks.

“We’ve had tremendous help from Danes locally, but at the start there was almost a total lack of information from the police or the city,” Jason Schoenfeld told The Copenhagen Post in a telephone interview.

He revealed that information only began to flow once articles appeared in the Danish press criticising the police for dragging their feet and being insensitive to the family’s wishes.

Copenhagen Police deputy superintendent Jesper Lotz, however, said his impression of his contact with the family’s mother was that the family was satisfied.

“We kept the family as updated as we could,” Lotz said. “I had contact with the closest members of the family, and I wasn’t made aware of any problems.”

Even without feeling they were being left in the dark, the circumstances of Robinson’s death were hard for the family to take: the recently retired school psychologist, 63, had been travelling on a Scandinavian cruise, when during a stopover in Copenhagen, he was struck by a sanitation lorry and dragged 20 metres underneath the two-tonne vehicle before it struck a wall.

A doctor, who happened to witness the accident, tried to help Robinson, but he was declared dead on the scene.

An investigation into how the lorry could suddenly start while the driver was out of the vehicle is still underway.

“We’re just devastated,” Michael Schoenfeld said. “He was the only family my mom had. A lot of people are going to miss him. We expect 100 people at his funeral and there will be a memorial for him in Maryland. He affected many people’s lives.”

Even with the problems the family have had, they underscored that they were “deeply grateful” to those regular Danes who had tried to help.

Much of the family’s criticism of the

If it were up to me, it should be a huge investment – in the billions

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“He wasn’t just another American tourist,” Jason Schoenfeld said. “He was our uncle.”

iberal Alliance chairman and MP, Simon Emil Ammitzbøll, told a woman during the shooting of a television show that he was glad she got herself sterilised.

The clip shows Ammitzbøll walking with 35-year-old Mette Hansen, a mother with three children from three different fathers.

“I think it is sensible that you have sterilised yourself,” Ammitzbøll said. “I think that’s fair if it means I’m not going to finance your life.”

Ammitzbøll also said that Hansen ought to cut her hair and remove her piercings in order to improve her chances of getting a job.

Hansen, who is opposed to abortion and has been receiving cash welfare

Ammitzbøll’s remarks received a lot of attention on social media sites

benefits for the past eight months, was shocked by Ammitzbøll’s statements.

“I’m shaken that someone like Simon Emil says it’s a good thing I got sterilised. It’s inhumane,” she said on the clip from the television show, ‘Velkommen til virkeligheden’ (‘Welcome to Reality’), which aired last week on Thursday. (PS)

Online this week Electric car sales faltering Less than 400 electric cars have been sold this year according to the environmental organisation Danmarks Naturfredningsforening (DN). While the number of sales is no less than the year before, it is far fewer than the 5,000 cars that the government hoped would be sold to contribute to Denmark reducing its carbon

Expert says Facebook audience targeting illegal emissions. Christian Poll from DN argued that while the numbers are low, they still indicated a positive trend. “Four years ago it was definitely something for nerds, but today there is a supply of products that people can relate to and that’s why we’re seeing the first stage of the switchover right now,” Poll said.

Among friends’ status updates, Facebook users are now being bombarded with targeted ads that a Danish expert on data protection labelled as “clearly illegal”. The ads are the result of Facebook’s new Custom Audience Targeting (CAT) platform.

Facebook says that CAT “allow[s] advertisers to target their spon-

sored story or ad to a specific set of users with whom they have already established a relationship on/off Facebook.” Charlotte Bagger Tranberg, an associate professor at the School of Law at Aalborg University, told Politiken newspaper that the new platform is a violation of the Personal Data Protection Act.

Two arrested for bomb planted in family home Two Polish men have been arrested by Copenhagen Police investigating a failed bomb detonation in Valby last month. The family discovered a cannister of petrol connected to a battery with wires in their garage on August 14. Several nearby houses

had to be evacuated after the police were called in to defuse the bomb. After the incident, the family said they had no enemies, but they did admit to having had a dispute with a labourer.

The incident is being treated as attempted murder.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

community

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

11

Football, fun and free food: What’s not to like ?

Photos: Tine Gregory Words: Henry Butman

The Scandia Housing Expat Football Event was once again held at Akademisk Boldklub (AB) at Gladsaxe Stadium on Saturday September 1. It was a fun day for all of Scandia Housing’s guests: while children enjoyed bouncy castles, a football tournament and lots of fun balloons (as seen here), their parents got stuck into some high quality food and the outdoor One of the many bouncy castles on hand at the event. Grace Barker (right), jumps around as Maya, May, Felicie and Vachette take a moment’s rest from the fun to smile for the camera bar, as the weather and sun co-operated to make the day a great success others make the bouncy castle their own personal air mattress

Henrik Norheim is handed a football to take to the pitch for one of Football matches dominated the day, as the children took Luke and Jules enjoy an ice-cold cola (or Carlsberg?) to wind down from Roasted vegetables, barbecued meat, and hefty plates of mac and cheese added to the delicious menu on hand for expats and their the day’s many showdowns to the pitch to duke it out, friendly-style a sweaty romp on the pitch families

Girls wait in line to be crowned by the balloon man, while others The pleasant weather led to the event hosts bringing the bar outside so the guests could soak up the sport their recently donned inflatables sun and the bubbly simultaneously

Event organisers Tine Gregory, Sophie Tylak, Daniel Mortensen, Jeanette and Peter Høyer (the owners), Kimberly Alford, Maria Dam Jensby, Charlotte Krøigaard and Christian For some, the fun and excitement of the day was almost too much to handle sanely Iversen smile in relief at the end of an incredibly enjoyable day

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21 - 27 September 2012

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

The entire school community of NGG International school in Hørsholm gathered on Saturday to celebrate their diversity at their annual International Activity Day. The 47 different nationalities who attend the school revved-up, dressed-up and took a trip around the world in one day! Dancing, singing, acting, pride, eating and laughing were the special ingredients of this beautiful annual multicultural event. Photos: Shannon Santora

Thai ambassador Piyawat Niyomrerks is bidding farewell to Denmark, and he marked the occasion by setting adrift some special vessels into Roskilde fjord on Thai Day on September 8 at the Viking Museum

COMING UP SOON Working with the Games Makers Conference Suite, Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Hammerichsgade 1, Cph K; Fri Sep 21, 11:00-13:45; 325kr for members, 400kr for nonmembers; www.bccd.dk/events The BCCD is hosting a lunch with David Huse, the head of the London Ambassador Volunteer Programme. Huse will share his experience working with ‘The Games Makers’, the 8,000 volunteers who helped welcome 10 million visitors from all over the world to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. They invested time and energy, showed enthusiasm and love for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and for their own capital city, playing different roles, located at 45 sites across Greater London Area.

Integration lecture at St Nicks Skt. Nikolai Pub, Nikolaigade 18, Cph K; Tue Sep 25, 19:3021.00; 75kr; www.meetup.com/ american-233/events, www.eventoversigten.dk A lecture to assist expat integration into Danish society, which focuses on mentality, habits and unspoken rules. Participants will be actively encouraged to share their experiences and knowledge during discussions and exercises.

Indian literature event Gyldendal Publishers, Klareboderne 3, Cph K; Mon 24 Sep 16:00-18:00; www.hum.ku.dk, www.indiatoday.dk The University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and Gyldendal Publishers are organising a series of literature events, which are being promoted by the Danish Holck-Larsen Foundation as part of a cultural exchange project. Danish writers Carsten Jensen, Astrid Saalbach and Kirsten Thorup, and Indian writers Mridula Garg, Githa Hariharan and Manu Joseph, will confront themselves and cultures through readings and lectures.

Human Rights Seminar iCourts, Studiegaarden, Studiestraede 6, Cph K; Thu Sep 27, 12:15-13:15; www.jura.ku.dk This seminar will analyse the mechanism of third-party interventions before the European Court of Human Rights, its long history and its importance for strategic litigation.

Lean start-up workshop Fidel’s, Dronningens Tværgade 9, Cph K; Wed Sep 26, 19:00 If you want to develop your business ideas, this is the right place to start. This workshop will help you debate several aspects of your project.

Kierkegaard Seminar Vartov, Farvergade 27, Cph K; Thu Sep 27, 15:00-17:00; www. skc.ku.dk The Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre is organising a series of English-language seminars that aim to discuss aspects of the philosopher’s work.

Sankt Pauls Kirke in Nyboder welcomed some very special visitors to its Saturday concert: the neighbourhood’s dogs and their owners! Organist Michael Due, whose own dog Rasmus sadly passed away recently, enchanted those gathered, some of whom valiantly sang along. And when the concert ended, the church erupted with appreciative applause and woofs. Photos: Bev Lloyd-Roberts

St Alban’s Anglican Church celebrated its 125th birthday on Sunday. A congregation of 150 celebrated the occasion and included Peter SkovJakobsen, the Lutheran bishop of Copenhagen, and the British Embassy’s charge d’affaires, Simon Wood. After the service, those gathered took a Netto boat through the harbour and disembarked at the Marriott Hotel for a special jubilee brunch. “It was a fantastic day, and one to celebrate the diversity and life of our community,” the church’s chaplain, Jonathan LLoyd, told The Copenhagen Post. Photo: Chris Parker

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 Celebrate 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.

Marsilio Ficino lecture University of Copenhagen, KUA 14.2.50, Njalsgade 76, Cph S; Tue Sep 25, 13:00-15:00; www. hum.ku.dk, www.marist.edu Follow this lecture by James Snyder, an assistant professor at the Marist College, on the humanist philosopher Marsilio Ficino, who was the first man to translate Plato and one of the most important voices of the Italian Renaissance.

Deported children seminar University of Copenhagen, KUA 14.2.50, Njalsgade 76, Cph S; Fri Sep 21, 10:15-12:15; www. hum.ku.dk An English-language seminar on one of this country’s hottest potatoes: the plans to administratively deport rejected asylum children to Afghanistan.

ANTONIETTA RICCI

AN ACTOR’S LIFE A resident here since 1990, Ian Burns is the artistic director at That Theatre Company, and very possibly Copenhagen’s best known English language actor thanks to roles as diverse as Casanova, Oscar Wilde and Tony Hancock.

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EAR READER, hope this finds you well and happy as we race into autumn. At least it’s still relatively warm and sunny. We should try to enjoy this, because if we fast-forward four weeks: W-h-o-o-s-h! What we will strain our eyes to try and see in the darkness, and worse the constant greyness, will be grim faces surrounding us in this fair city. I’m only making an observation.

I’m not criticising. How can I? I’m Scottish. We have the same weather as Denmark and when it’s miserable, it seems we are too.

People on boats are keen it seems to wave to everyone, and those being waved to tend to want to wave back. Different rules apply on dry land me hearties!

Another reason to celebrate all things British has just come to a close. We have had an extraordinary summer of sporting success with Andy Murray’s victory in the US Open deserving a special mention. But our ability to stage the Paralympic Games so well and so quickly after the

Olympics has confounded the sceptics. The athletes with disabilities have shown us all what is possible with their courage and skills.

I hope this positive, feelgood factor with and about ourselves as a nation continues. I hope that the idea of presenting alternative sports will capture the

I’m not criticising. How can I? I’m Scottish. We have the same weather as Denmark and when it’s miserable, it seems we are too imagination of the TV stations, and they’ll note that these can have financial benefits for them too. Viewing figures for the Olympics on TV and in the stadiums exceeded all expectations.

I’d rather watch proper sports as opposed to people who love themselves too much wearing sunglasses playing poker.

When did that become a sport by the way? I must have missed the meeting.

Talking of sports, I wonder why school sports aren’t encouraged in Denmark? Schools don’t seem to have playing fields or have the desire to fan the flames of future sports stars. I just think this is a shame and a missed opportunity. It would encourage an esprit de corps and pride of belonging to a school.

I’m not espousing school uniforms, but competitive school teams would have many benefits.

Is it because there aren’t any PE teachers, as such, I wonder? If fate hadn’t led me to become an actor, I would have been a PE teacher, probably with human biology as my other subject. Funny how things turn out, isn’t it?

Harold Pinter represents the best of British too. Our next play is one of his finest, ‘Old Times’, which runs from October 24 until November 24 at Krudttønden. Visit www.billetten. dk for tickets, and you are all welcome to follow That Theatre Company on Facebook or at www.that-theatre.com.

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21 - 27 September 2012

ANN CHARLOTTE VENGSGAARD Meet the Catholic cleric whose new creed is to fight climate change

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NLY AFTER the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught.

Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.”

Not a day goes by when the Cree Indian Prophesy doesn’t become more credible. Many might have stopped believing in God and trusting the media, but Climate Change? It is the irrefutable truth of our age.

Even Catholicism, the most traditional of religions, is taking responsibility and incorporating environmentalism into its teachings.

At the forefront of its efforts is the forward-thinking Father Robert Culat, the Catholic priest for the city’s Frenchspeaking community. He is the Ecclesiastical Environmentalist, a man on a mission to get his concerns and message across to anyone who is concerned about the future of this planet.

Speak to him about the environment, and it’s like you have activated a volcano that has been dormant for centuries.

He rhythmically punctuates his sentences with hand-claps.

He is prone to jumping in his seat when excited. When heated, he raises his voice and shouts, loudly. And when exasperated, he slaps his knees, furiously.

Because he is angry. Angry about our choices. His faith in God is strong, but his faith in mankind is in decline.

ings and the current pope as well. And very recently the bishops of France wrote a document specifically about that. So in the official teaching of the church, it is something that is considered important.

While I don’t know about the other Catholic countries, the majority of the French Catholic population unfortunately don’t care about the environment.

It might now be part of the official teaching of the church, but they don’t really care. Yes, you have faith, you go to mass, you pray, but are you environmentally concerned – no, it’s optional.

So while I preach about it on Sunday in church, it must be in relationship with the readings. It would be very artificial on my behalf to address it every Sunday. But if there’s a connection, then I take advantage and remind them of the church’s teaching on the subject.

Still, I don’t think preaching is the most effective way to make a specific point like that. A better way could be to have meetings during the week, or in the afternoon or evening. And from this September, I’m offering the French Catholic community a chance to meet me to talk about it. But my fear is that nobody will come – because the people don’t seem to have a great interest.

How do you include your environmental concerns in your preaching?

Is preaching enough?

THE ENVIRONMENT is now a part of the social teaching of the church. Jean Paul II has written a lot about this in his teach-

I THINK that obviously if we don’t give examples, our teaching has no value. For example, I have heard that in the Vatican the pope has had solar cells installed on the roof. Ha-ha! It

Factfile | Father Robert Culat Father Robert Culat was born in Marseille in 1968. He was raised in a “not so Catholic family” and only really discovered the church at the age of 13. It was a rapid conversion and he quickly decided he wanted to become a priest.

“It was like in my child’s mind I was saying to God that if I should thank you properly for the gift of the faith, I shall become a priest,” he recalled.

Upon his 18th birthday, he embarked on his mission, studying theology at the University of Avignon for two years, taking a year out to complete his military service, and then studying for a further five years at the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana in Rome. He was ordained as a priest in 1993.

Together we can make a difference makes me happy because it’s a sign that the hierarchy of the church has understood that in our times teachings are okay, but examples are more important. It’s sending out the message that if the church builds a new house for the parish or a new monastery, we must make it in an environmental way or not at all.

Many believe that the world’s population could be heading to an unsustainable level. Is the church’s teaching on not using contraception in any way to blame for this?

I DON’T THINK the problem is demography itself. The problem is global economics.

For example, when one country exports agricultural practices to another, it is very bad for the people living in that country’s countryside. Like India, where American genetically-modified cotton was imposed on the farmers as a miracle solution, but it was just a lie. The cotton wasn’t that good or productive, the farmers ended up in debt paying for the seeds etc, and this led to a lot of suicides.

Or Argentina. Using genetically modified agricultural methods, they are growing soya beans, but what are the consequences of that? Obviously, there is the deforestation required to find the land, and then there are the people living there. They are kicked out, but where do they go? To the great cities, and the demographic problems begin, because if you are killing the countryside with your economics and globalisation, then demography becomes a problem.

We end up with monsters like Mexico City: cities that have 20 million inhabitants, many of whom live in great poverty.

ANN CHARLOTTE VENGSGAARD

The ecclesiastical environmentalist :

13

That’s the problem. But it’s not demography by itself because these people were previously cultivating their portion of Earth, generation after generation. Yes, they had five or six children, but it was a necessity because they were all working in the fields, normally without machines or pesticides. They were part of a local economy, which was healthy for the earth and for the people. So when we want more and more out of the land, we are effectively digging ourselves into a hole, creating more and more poverty.

Obviously, in Europe and the USA, we have less children and are very rich, have welfare states and so on, but we are not ready, really, to share our wealth with others.

How can we make a difference?

WE MIGHT have fair trade products in our shops – and part of me is happy to buy these products when I can - but when you go to Irma, what’s the percentage of their fair trade products: two percent! But if you reflect deeper, what this really means is that 98 percent of our goods are unfair trade. It’s terrible. It indicates that most of our commercial exchanges are unfair. As long as we continue to not want to pay the right price, there is no hope there could be proper development in those countries. The question is are we ready to pay more for our food or not? And when I say more it is perhaps just 10 kroner more.

But that all adds up and makes a huge difference to those countries. Our choice as consumers can make a huge difference.

Find out next week which consumer choice Father Robert Culat believes is our most important.

After nearly two decades in his home country, Father Robert felt the need for a change, and when the opportunity of resettling in Copenhagen came up in 2010, he jumped at it. Primarily the priest for the French-speaking Catholic community in the city from his base at Sakramentskirken (Nørrebrogade 27C, Cph N), he also conducts services, teaches and provides spiritual guidance in three other languages – English, Spanish and Italian – and speaks several others.

Moving from a Catholic country to one where the religion is a minority one has challenged Father Robert, but he believes it is actually a godsend as “people tend to be more motivated in their faith and perhaps more engaged or conscious of the importance to go to church”.

“It’s a very lively community. I would say the French community in Copenhagen is the kind many priests in France dream about having!”

14

sport

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

Hosts lose out to old enemy in gaelic football final Malmö owns the Øresund after defeating Copenhagen to win the Pan-European Gaelic Football Tournament

mary and second possession and ran out deserving winners.

Nevertheless, it was overall an excellent tournament for the home side with some notable displays. Defenders Dave Drenan and Ger Hartnett were tenacious at the back, in the middle of the park Simon Cahill and the aforementioned Walsh, the player of the tournament, played some superb football, while up front Coogan was always a goal threat and contributed generously on the scoring front.

Meanwhile, in the ladies competition, Copenhagen had much better luck against Malmö, winning by a point in the group stage after a thundering comeback. But they did not advance. Earlier in the day they

Alex koziel

Terence Donnelly

T

he city’s local gaelic football side, Copenhagen GAA, can take a great degree of satisfaction from their performance at the Pan-European Gaelic Football Tournament at the Kløvermarken Idrætsanlæg on Saturday, but in the end they came up short, finishing runners-up to Malmö, a side they had drawn with earlier in the group stage.

The tournament was the first of the season’s pan-Europeans – Denmark had not hosted an event of this size for three years – and 23 teams from all over Europe participated in three categories: men’s senior and intermediate and a ladies competition. Cph GAA had two sides taking part: one in the men’s intermediate and one in the ladies.

The Copenhagen side got off to an uncharacteristic flying start against their German opponents Frankfurt. Some fine point taking by talisman midfielder Robert Walsh and a hat-trick from the turbo-charged attacker Sean Coogan saw them comfortably on their way. It was a perfect

had lost out to a well-drilled Munich side and a strong Paris team. The excellent Belgium side won the ladies tournament after a thrilling last gasp one-point victory over the Netherlands.

In the senior competition, the reigning European champions from 2011, Guernsey, overpowered the opposition in the group stages and showed their class in the final against Luxembourg.

The next stop on the European tour is Vienna, where Cph GAA in a month’s time will be hoping to return with more than a silver medal.

Anyone interested in joining the club and giving Gaelic football a try should contact Cph GAA via info@cph-gaa.dk.

start to the tournament for the boys in red and blue and a solid platform for the next match against their strong local rivals from Malmö.

The Scandia side were fired up and quickly established a seven-point lead – victory seemed assured. But the battling Copenhageners hadn’t read the Swedish script, valiantly battling back against all the odds, which included losing a player due to an off-the-ball incident, to finish all-square.

With Everest conquered, nothing could seemingly stop the Danish side now, and they went into their semi final against their Belgian opponents brimming with confidence. And so it proved as the local side enjoyed a proverbial goal feast, scoring seven in just half an hour.

But had they peaked too early, and had their opponents in the final, Malmö, who had convincingly dispatched Paris in the other semi-final, learnt from their previous mistakes? After

the heroics in the earlier game, hopes among the Cph GAA ranks were high that they could do better this time round. And trailing by five points to one at the break, and now playing with the advantage of a stiff breeze, there was a tangible feeling in the air, on both the pitch and the sidelines, that the Copenhageners were in with a shout.

Alas, it was not to be, and a physically stronger, fitter Malmö side pressed home their advantage. They dominated both pri-

Alex koziel

Talk about a ball chase - the ladies’ competition was a keenly contested affair

Ger Hartnett (right) and Terence Donnelly lead the Cph GAA charge

Jens Rørbye City’s gridiron side bidding to put years of misery behind them to win first Mermaid Bowl since 1995

Jeppe Toustrup

Copenhagen’s invincibles: Towers head for semi-finals undefeated

W

ith a perfect record of 10-0 in the regular season, the Copenhagen Towers have won the right to play at home at Gentofte Stadion in the semi-finals of this year’s play-offs on Sunday.

The undefeated season was the culmination of three years of service from Californian quarterback JR Artozqui, who at the helm of the offence, helped his side score 421 points – the equivalent of six touchdowns per game. In terms of offence, they

ranked behind only one team: ominously their semi-final opponents, the Søllerød Gold Diggers The Gold Diggers also had a superior defence (the Towers once again took second place courtesy of conceding only 108 points and four shutdowns). But when the sides met, it was the Towers who were triumphant, winning 33-0 at home and 2917 away.

The shutdown at home might lead to the assumption that the Towers are clear favourites to win at home in the semifinal, but the Gold Diggers, coached by the experienced Kim Ewé, are always dangerous opponents and should never be underestimated. Key players, who were missing for the defeats, are

returning from injury to play in the game.

As the only undefeated team among the ten National League teams, the Towers were the top seeds in the play-offs and subsequently had a first round bye.

The Gold Diggers hosted and defeated the Aarhus Tigers in the wild card round this past weekend to earn their spot in the semi-final.

The last time the Towers were undefeated at this stage in the Danish top flight was in 1996, but they then lost to the Roskilde Kings in the championship game, the Mermaid Bowl, a trophy they had won the previous season.

The semi-final kicks off at 3pm. Should they win, the final is on october 6 in Vejle.

Sports news and briefs Maltese revenge mission

Danes fear Spain pain

Kamilla’s new man

England’s handball star

Sponsor raises Maze’s spirits

Riis signs Czech climber

The national rugby league side take on Malta at 14:00 on Saturday, September 29 at Gentofte Stadion (tickets cost 50 kroner), and they will be boosted by the news their opponents are missing Dragan Cerketa and Dylan Frendo.

The match is the return leg of a series between the nations that started with a comfortable 2412 win for the Maltese in Valetta back in June.

The Danish under-21s were last Friday handed the hardest possible draw for the October play-offs to qualify for the 2013 European Championship in Israel. The Danes will need to beat Spain, the defending champions. Nevertheless, La Rojita could be vulnerable as they have a new coach, Julen Lopetegui, following their failure to advance past the group stage at the 2012 Olympics.

Following Thomas Laybourn’s retirement from badminton, his mixed doubles partner Kamilla Rytter Juhl is teaming up with Mads Pieler Kolding at the Yonex Denmark Open (October 18-23), the first Superseries premier event to take place since the Olympics, which should ensure all the top players take part. Laybourn and Juhl bowed out in the quarters in London.

Despite losing all their games at the Olympics, Team Great Britain’s Louise Jukes did enough to attract the attention of second tier club SK Aarhus. The 28-year-old, who scored twice on her debut, told media she was hopeful of playing at least a season for Aarhus before moving back to England and getting “involved with some coaching of the sport to carry on the legacy of London 2012”.

Table tennis player Michael Maze might have finished outside the medals at the Olympics, but his performance didn’t go un-noticed by Energy Denmark, which has since become his sponsor. It is therefore with renewed confidence that he is preparing for the forthcoming World Cup in Liverpool (September 28-30) and European Championships (October 1721) on home soil in Herning.

Bjarne Riis has added another cyclist to his Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank for the 2013 season. The Czech Republic’s Roman Kreuziger, 26, is not only a strong climber, but also a solid time-trialer. His signing follows the acquisitions of Nicolas Roche, Matti Breschel, Daniele Benatti and Marco Kump as Riis seeks to kick on from Alberto Contador’s success in the Vuelta a España.

Business

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

15

Magnus Barkman

AmCham summit addresses foreign investment gap incentives, improved access to financing for small and medium enterprises, and an energy agreement for investment in sustainable energy.

AmCham executive director Stephen Brugger then took to the stage to present the findings of AmCham’s 2012 Business Barometer. He revealed that although 46 percent of the surveyed foreign companies expect to increase their Danish investments in 2013, 47 percent indicate that they have or are considering moving jobs and investments out of Denmark – citing the high cost of doing business as the main reason.

Brugger was followed by top economist Joseph Quinlan, who talked about the importance of the transatlantic relationship and encouraged the EU and Denmark to focus on the United States, not the BRIC nations.

Quinlan was followed by Christian Jervelund from Copen-

Dave Smith Domestic businesses investing close to half a trillion more kroner abroad than overseas companies are in Denmark

Danish telecoms threaten to block Skype Ray weaver VOIP and other free services in jeopardy

F

ears are increasing that Danish telecommunications companies are getting ready to block the free use of services like Skype and Apple’s free SMS service.

Telenor, TDC and Telia have all written language into their standard conditions that says that they may block Skype and similar services from any mobile phone, laptop or tablet computer that can be used to call or send text messages.

At Telia, 80 percent of their network is used by data traffic while 80 percent of its revenue comes from voice services.

“We need to have price plans that hang together,” Telia spokesperson Mette Honoré told Berlingske newspaper.

She said that the company could not continue to pour billions of kroner into expanding mobile networks if they couldn’t find ways to generate income.

Many cellular operators worldwide – including some companies in the US, the UK, France and Spain – prohibit their customers from downloading Skype’s software or outlaw

the use of voice over internet phone services in their standard sales contracts. Other carriers have imposed fees to undermine Skype’s attraction. Barriers to Skype and similar internet calling services are coming under increasing scrutiny as the internet goes mobile. By 2013, the number of internet-ready mobile phones will surpass the number of computers in the world for the first time, according to Gartner, a research firm.

Most operators and network equipment makers see Skype and other internet phone call providers as freeloaders, stealing their customers while they invest billions of dollars to build and upgrade mobile networks.

Honoré said that Telia would not go out on a limb and be the first Danish company to start charging, but that “there is no question that something is coming.”

Telenor’s legal director, Nicholai Kramer Pfeiffer, told Berlingske that his company only put the language in its agreements in order to be prepared to deal with the issue “if the opportunity arises, but not at this time”.

Honoré said that should any changes happen, they would be done above board and in a clear and honest fashion. She said that the intent of any possible change was not to single out Skype.

“We want to bundle the packages together, so customers can chose the one that works best for them,” she said.

Economist Martin Salamon of Forbrugerrådet, the consumer council, was highly critical of the idea of charging for the previously free services.

“The telephone companies are setting the stage for a violation of net neutrality by restricting access to the free internet,” Salamon told Berlingske.

Trine Bramsen (Socialdemokraterne), a government IT spokesperson, said she was “shocked” and will introduce legislation guaranteeing that customers can continue to use Skype and other services for free.

“When they write it into their contracts, it must mean that they intend to charge,” she told Berlingske. “We need to look at whether we can lay down rules to ensure users’ net neutrality through stricter legislation.”

Bramsen said she would ask the business and growth minister, Ole Sohn (Socialistisk Folkeparti), who is in charge of the Danish telecommunications market, to hold a conference call with all of the telecom companies to discuss the issue.

“We might as well have a completely clear law, so both consumers and telecom companies know what we think,” said Bramsen.

business news and briefs Longer Netto hours

Banks to merge and close branches

Netto is set to extend the opening hours of 392 stores across the country from October 1. The selected supermarkets will stay open from 8am until 10pm every day, thanks to new reforms concerning opening hours. The changes reflect both Danes’ shifting shopping habits and an increase in revenue made during the late evening.

The nation’s banking sector is preparing for dozens of small Danish banks to close in the coming decade while the larger banks will shut hundreds of branches in order to remain competitive. Jyske Bank’s chief executive Anders Dam confirmed that his bank, Denmark’s third largest, is ready to merge or buy other banks following

the implementation of tougher banking regulations. “I anticipate that there will be significantly fewer banks in 2020,” Dam told Politiken newspaper. “The number of banks could be reduced by half.” Dam believes smaller banks will allow themselves to be bought up as they struggle with the new rules, which include increased capital requirements.

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Pamela Juhl

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Danish telecom companies have written language into their contracts that seems to pave the way for blocking, or charging extra for, Skype

enmark continues to receive global praise for its business-friendly environment. Nevertheless, over the last ten years, Danish companies have invested more abroad than foreign companies have in Denmark, leaving Denmark with a ‘FDI gap’ of close to half a trillion kroner.

It is a concern for a country seeking to secure future jobs and growth and it was the main focus of AmCham’s 2012 Foreign Investor Summit at the Foreign Ministry’s Eigtveds Pakhus conference centre last week on Thursday, at which many private and public sector leaders gathered to share their thoughts and concerns regarding the future of foreign investment in this country.

“Denmark is open for business, and we are working intensively on improving the conditions for foreign investors,” keynote speaker Pia Olsen Dyhr, the minister of trade and investment, told those gathered.

Dyhr underscored the government’s commitment to the business community and outlined several new initiatives to support renewed growth, including capital investment tax

hagen Economics, who presented a report commissioned by AmCham’s healthcare committee on the importance of investing in innovative healthcare to get people back to work before it is too late.

After 52 weeks on sickness benefit, a person is only 25 percent likely to re-enter the workforce.

Jervelund’s study projects a potential annual gain of 3-7 billion kroner for the public budget, if the right investments are made in a timely manner.

And then Brugger concluded with a call to the Danish government to make foreign investments a top “long-term” priority.

“Denmark has tremendous potential to meet the challenges ahead. However, given its market size, ‘average’ is not good enough,” he said, referring to the country’s recent fall out of the top 10 of the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Index.

“Denmark has to be the best.”

Among those in attendance were (left-right) Joseph Quinlan, a leading economist at John Hopkins and the Bank of America Global Wealth Management, US ambassador Laurie S Fulton, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the minister of trade and investment, and AmCham executive director Stephen Brugger

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK

UK Market Access Seminar The UK is a large and close market which is attractive to many Danish businesses. Although Denmark and the UK are close trading partners, there are still differences in the way business is being conducted in the two countries and it is important that these are understood and overcome. Would you like to hear more about some of the challenges Danish companies have faced, and overcome, when entering the UK market? Are you interested in some practical advice about how to conduct business in the UK? Two events will be held jointly with the Danish UK Chamber in Aarhus and Copenhagen. Join us, and get insight into the current British business climate and how you could succeed in this market. The major considerations regarding export and capital when setting up in the UK will be outlined and some possible solutions offered. The forum will focus on sharing the experiences and knowledge gained by people and companies who have tried it. Plus, it will also be an excellent networking opportunity!

This event is free of charge for everyone. Please specify which day you would like to attend. Please note the deadline for registration is 4 November 2012.

Venues 14 November 2012 Delacour Dania Lille Torv 6 8000 Aarhus C Denmark 15 November 2012 Delacour Dania Langebrogade 4 1411 Copenhagen K Denmark Speakers Laura Thorborg, The Royal Danish Embassy, London Hans Monberg, UKTI, Copenhagen Bent Bang Haulrik, KapitalBørsen Martin Williams, European Business Solutions Preben Paulsen, Planova

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

Price in kroner for one unit of foreign currency

If you would like to attend then please send us an email (event@bccd.dk) or call +45 31 18 75 58

Date: 11 September 2012

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

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.

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

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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.

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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#.

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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.

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

English as an Additional Language Teacher (EAL PYP) 60% position coPenhagen international school is looKing The Student Department Copenhagen InternationalPositions: School is inviting applications for the toServices fill theatfolloWing position of EAL teacher within the Primary Years’ Programme (PYP). This position is part-time (60%) and will begin as soon as the appropriate candidate has been found.

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.

Qualifications: The successful applicants be qualified teachersorwith a minimum 2 years’ working within an early years programme.

• Ashould degree in Education related to theoffield ofexperience Education The position will start on August 1st 2012.

• Further qualifications in EAL

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

We are looking for teachers who have knowledge and experience of the international Baccalaureate Primary years Experience working with children whose primary language is not English and who require language programme (iB PyP), and who: support: • 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 Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: acquisition and play based learning • Assisting in the preparation and implementation of the English as an Additional Language • have a strong work ethic and excellent organizational skills (EAL) student programming.

• have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player • Reinforcing organizational skills: providing immediate feedback, in order to promote the • have willingness and commitment to contribute to the development of the curriculum acquisition of language goals.

• have willingness and commitment to contribute to the greater school community • Working collaboratively as a member of the support team in the classroom and school.

• will demonstrate professionalism in its broadest sense

•

Knowledge and experience of the IB PYP would be an asset

Please note a Danish work permit is required for this position.

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

Applications should be made in writing, including a curriculum vitae and a cover letter including the The Kindergarten and Grade 1 teams are looking for additional Assistants to join the existing teams. The successful candidates should be qualified to work names of three current referees (with e-mail addresses).

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:

Please send applications addressed to the attention of Karen Watts, Director of Student Support karenwatts@cis.dk We are lookingServices for early at years’ educators who:

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.

• 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

Primary & middle school danish teachers

Kindergarten and grade 1 assistants

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.

• have a caring and nurturing approach with children The closing date for applications is October 1st, 2012.

• 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

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 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.

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper The successful applicants must be Danish native speakers.

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 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 • have a professional level of written and spoken English

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 Pre-Kindergarten Assistant (3-5 year olds) – Permanent Position • have a strong work ethic and excellent organizational skills

Administrative Intern

COPENHAGEN RENAISSANCE

The Copenhagen Post is seeking an Administrative Intern to join our team

MUSIC FESTIVAL 7 - 20 NOVEMBER 2011

FROM SCHÜTZ TO GEIST

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

Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival Special advertising section INSIDE!

ISRAEL

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

Photo: Karsten Movang

interested candidates should email a letter of application, cV and contact details of three current referees as well as any further inquiries to immediately. mette trock-Jansen at mtj@cis.dk. the closing date for applications is may 31st 2012, however applications will be handled on an on-going basis and appointments may be made prior to this date.

HOLMENS CHURCH

THEATRE OF VOICES

CHRISTIAN IV

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

You will be assisting with various tasks including administration, marketing and customer service-sales support.

6

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

NEWS | 3

SPORT

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

4

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

14

A new budget to ‘kickstart’ the economy JENNIFER BULEY

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

HISTORY | 19

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

contact details:

You must have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Hellerupvej 22-26, 2900 Hellerup be able to work daily for approximately 20/25 hours per week. A knowledge of T +45 3946 3311 www.cis.dk Danish is an advantage. mtj@cis.dk

The internship is unpaid.

InOut

Please send your application and CV to hr@cphpost.dk noting ‘Administrative 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

coPenhagen international school looKing Copenhagen International School is looking to fillis two positions: to fill the folloWing Positions:

The successful candidate should be qualified to work with children between the ages of 3 • have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player Kindergarten grade 1 teachers andand 5, with aPre-Kindergarten, strong background experience earlyand year’s education and should have a • have willingness commitment to contribute to theand development of theincurriculum • have willingness and commitment to contribute to theexperience. greater school community minimum of two years full time The successful applicants should be qualified teachers with a minimum of 2 years’ experience working within an early years programme.

• will demonstrate professionalism in its sense The position will start on August 1stbroadest 2012.

Kindergarten Teacher (5-6 year olds)- Maternity Cover • have a professional level of written and spoken English

is a position cover a maternity leave from 1st of November WeThis are looking for teachersto who have knowledge and experience of thethe international Baccalaureate2012 Primaryuntil years the end of programme (iB PyP), and who: February 2013.

• can design effective and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities interested candidates should email a letter of application, cV and contact details of three current referees as well as any further inquiries to • can demonstrate a track record of excellent classroom practice including in-depth understanding of differentiated instruction, second language The successful candidate should to work between the ageswillofbe5 handled on an on-going mette trock-Jansen atand mtj@cis.dk. the closing datebe forqualified applications is maywith 31st children 2012, however applications acquisition play based learning • have a strong work ethic and excellent organizational skills and 6, with a strong and experience in early year’s education and should has a basis and appointments may be madebackground prior to this date.

• have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player minimum of two years full time experience.

• 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 Qualifications: contact details: For both positions, we are looking forHellerupvej 22-26, 2900 Hellerup someone who is enthusiastic and have: T +45 3946 3311 • Caring and nurturing approach withand children Kindergarten grade 1 assistants www.cis.dk • Organized and effective classroom practice The Kindergarten and Grade 1 teams are looking for additional Assistants to join the existing teams. The successful candidates should be qualified to work mtj@cis.dk strong with• childrenAbetween the work ages of 5ethic and 7 with a strong background and experience in early years’ education and with a minimum of two years of experience working early yearscollegial programme.relationships The position will start on August 1st 2012.

• in anStrong • Preferably knowledge of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme We are looking for early years’ educators who: • have a caring and nurturing approach with children • are organized and demonstrate effective classroom practice Applications including C.V. covering letter, a brief statement of educational philosophy and the • have a strong work ethic names of three current referees with contact information should be sent electronically by the • have a track record of being an effective collaborator and team player 12th October 2012 to: Audrey Amos-Frederiksen at aaf@cis.dk • preferably have knowledge and experience of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. (IB PYP)

Please note: Copenhagen International School reserves the right to make an appointment Primary & middle danish before the closing date mentioned above. Aschool Danish work permitteachers is required for Wethese 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 positions.

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 Stockholmsgade 59 Hellerupvej 22-26 experience.

2100 Copenhagen Ø 2900 Hellerup The successful applicants must be Danish native speakers.

T +45 3946 3309 T +45 3946 3311 www.cis.dk www.cis.dk We are looking for teachers who:

18

culture Culture

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

21 - 27 September 2012

Tako Lako, over a latte, explain psychedelic gypsy beat www.facebook.com/TakoLako

Allan Mutuku-Kortbæk Identified by MTV as one to watch, and with a new album under their belt, the band are keen to explore the international market in 2013

B

alkan beat is a rowdy, raunchy concoction of a music genre, popularised by the efforts of acts like Goran Bregovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia and the well-known New-York based band Balkan Beat Box. Here in Denmark, it remains something of a stranger to the mainstream despite its increasing popularity in underground music circuits.

This may well change though, thanks to the efforts of a band cited as one of the greatest up-and-coming acts in Denmark

by MTV, the critically-acclaimed Danish/Serbian outfit Tako Lako, who in their own words are “more than just another Balkan Beat band”.

The Copenhagen Post caught up with three of the band’s members – harmonicist Andreas Broby Jensen, bassist Philip Zubin Hormozi Køppen and multiinstrumentalist Malene Brask – for a quick chit-chat following the recent release of their eagerly awaited debut album, Through the Mud. First and foremost, for all the

the Balkan wave, by Balkan beat.

Bands like Go Gol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Shantel and so on.

In time, however, we changed – particularly over the last two years. We found our inspiration from bands who are not related to the gypsy genre as such.

Køppen: The thing with Balkan is, we all adore it, but it’s not necessarily full of substance and meaning, especially lyrically. So we feel that we’ve added an extra element of meaning to the genre through Ognjen’s lyrics.

So what does Ognjen sing about typically?

How Frank Zappa would have looked had he been a gypsy

people who don’t know you guys, who are Tako Lako?

Jensen: Tako Lako is a band that plays psychedelic gypsy beat; that’s what we choose to call what we do. It’s a pretty mashed-up type of music. We combine heavy beats with a psychedelic acoustic vibe.

Køppen: So far we’ve been known mainly for our live shows, up until releasing our debut album, Through the Mud. What about the name Tako Lako. Where does it come from?

Jensen: (grins) I think it’s a bit of a coincidence. Tako Lako means ‘so easy’ in Serbian. We started out brainstorming with names.

Brask: There are some themes on our CD, particularly family traditions and coming from Serbia. Ognjen’s family comes from Serbia. He knows how it was in the war. He also knows what it means to be left out.

Køppen: It’s also about the past and the clash that one’s past represents for the future.

[Vocalist] Ognjen [Curcic] came up with it – it looks good written and maybe people can remember it. It also reflects our music. Our music is kind of complex, but we wanted to turn it into something that is comprehensible.

Køppen: It’s a name you cannot categorise, much like our band – it’s completely movable contextually, which reflects us as a band. Tako Lako has changed a lot. I mean Tako Lako can be everything.

A bit like discovering one’s own identity perhaps?

Køppen: Exactly. In a way it’s about our own story as well. The battle that we’ve been through.

We’ve been compared to other Balkan beat bands, but we’re trying to find our own place.

Many people would call you a Balkan beat group, for the sake of classification at least. What are some of your main influences, if any, within Balkan Beat?

Your album Through the Mud has just dropped. Gaffa has given it five out of six stars. You

Jensen: Of course, at the beginning, we were very influenced by

must be pretty happy with it.

You’ve been performing since 2008. What took you so long to make an album?

Jensen: Two years ago when we made our EP, we decided we’d wait a while before making an album. If you listen to the EP, you can tell that something is happening, but it’s not finished yet. It just took us a while to find a sound that we can all agree on.

Køppen: The thing is that we’re really busy as a live band. We’ve had a lot of gigs over the last few years and have been really busy despite us not having any recorded material (laughs).

Brask: At the start we almost only worked on our live performances because we just love being on stage. We really love it! We wanted to see how far it could take us, so that’s where our focus was, but we also had to find a bit more substance in our music. We needed time to become more of a unit.

What are you up to now then?

Køppen: We’ve got a busy schedule this autumn. The plan is to focus on the Danish market to see how far we can take Tako Lako, promoting the new album and so on. Next year we’ll head south, into the German market and of course the UK. The full-length interview is available at www.mutukz.blogspot.com.

Tine harden

Sofie Gravers Jacobsen

Messias HHHHHH

kglteater.dk

Who’s Who of Nordic Noir More anthropological than divine

Sofie Gråbøl, or is it Sarah Lund? We don’t know anymore

Dominic Summers Move over Krak Vejviser, this is the guidebook every visiting Brit wants this Christmas

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or a tiny, wet, windy, rye bread-munching country, Denmark manages to shift a lot of exports – Carlsberg, bacon, wind turbines and hearing aids spring to mind, and don’t forget all the TV dramas it produces from a pool of barely 15 actors.

And now one self-confessed superfan of Nordic Noir is compiling a guide to ‘Forbrydelsen’ (‘The Killing’) for all those Brits gripped by the phenomenon.

The book has been written by Emma Kennedy, an English writer and actress whose last job was providing the voice to Elf in

the award-shy animated film ‘Arthur Christmas’.

Kennedy spent time in Copenhagen watching the third series being shot and confessed to Sofie Gråbøl, who plays the lead Sarah Lund, that she wished her character was real. “She is, quite simply, one of the greatest female characters ever created,” Kennedy wrote in an article extolling Lund’s originality – or was it Gråbøl’s?

The book will include a foreword from Gråbøl, character profiles, plot summaries, language guides, walking tours of filming locations, and instructions for knitting a Lund-style jumper (surely worth the cover price alone).

‘The Killing Handbook’ will be released in mid-November to coincide with the release of the latest series, conveniently in time for Christmas.

linn lemhag He is a 35-year-old journalist and the TV host of the show ‘So Ein Ding’ on DR2.

What is ‘So Ein Ding’?

It means ‘so a thing’ in German and is a consumer show where Sonne reviews the newest technological gadgets. Any reasoning behind the title being in German remains unknown.

So it’s just him talking about computers?

No, he reviews everything, from cameras, mobile phones and laptops to any other new Inspector Gadget-style items in the technology market. Though there isn’t room for much else to shine with those big Apple-tinted glasses Sonne always seems to be wearing.

So he’s a bit biased to Lord Jobs then?

It most certainly seems that way.

He considers the iPhone to be the “most powerful gadget the world has ever seen” and claims to have taught himself to sail by reading online instructions via his iPad. Some viewers have even gone so far as to call the show blatant advertising for Apple.

What else happens on the show?

Apart from the aforementioned gadget reviews, not much else.

A new season of the show just started up again on September 12, and this time Sonne has a hot new female co-host. But he’s probably not too keen on that fact, seeing as he doesn’t seem to hold the female gender and their technological skills in too high esteem.

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hristmas comes early this year if you associate Händel’s ‘Messiah’ with Yuletide, but this is one present you won’t be keeping to show your friends on Boxing Day. The Royal Danish Opera has taken the rather untraditional step of turning the composer’s most famous oratorio into a two-hour opera, and it’s difficult to understand why it bothered. So if you thought you were going to get an early dose of festive cheer, think again and wait for the real McCoy in two months time.

Saying that, the music remains magical. The chorus was splendid and there were the obligatory goose bumps when they broke into ‘Hallelujah’. Likewise the soloists sang beautifully – the bass, Florian Plock, and mezzo soprano, Hanne Fischer, especially made lasting impressions.

And the orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, conducted by Lars Ulrik Mortensen, confidently accompanied the singing – despite a few bum notes from the trumpet.

So given the beautiful singing and music – what’s not to like? In a nutshell: the direction

by Australia’s David Freeman.

Who is Nikolaj Sonne?

Crucifixion’s a breeze - seriously, was ‘Life of Brian’ an inspiration?

‘Messiah’, an oratorio telling the story of Jesus Christ’s life, is a joyful piece, but yet the singers looked frightened and unhappy throughout. They are poor Christians in a desert village, more often than not engaged in elaborate acrobatics where the singers stood on one leg waving their arms frantically, crawling on the floor like sheep or walking about like doped-out zombies. The absence of any real

storyline and stilted character development leave the audience confused rather than entertained. Had it been Christmas, they would have been forgiven for thinking it had been directed by the Grinch.

‘Messias’ is currently being shown at Gamle Scene in Kongens Nytorv and continues until September 30. For more details, see page G2 in InOut.

Say what?

A Euroman interview with Sonne from March of this year sheds light on some pretty archaic and downright sexist opinions. Including that only men are able to master a machine to perfection along with the ever so original “women can’t drive”. Sonne maintains this is due to some distinct biological differences: men are focused hunters, whereas women are scatterbrained creatures who are continually being distracted.

So he’s single then?

Sonne isn’t married and doesn’t have any kids yet – but when he does he plans on passing on his extensive sailing knowledge to his son. Should he only havedaughters, one of them will have to do.

DENMARK THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

21 - 27 September 2012

19

One man’s long journey to the centre of the earth’s creation ALEXIS KUNSAK While Saxo Grammaticus gave us a history of Denmark, Johannes Vilhelm Jensen went one better: he rewrote the Bible!

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will captures it from the volcano with a torch.

With it he lights campfires to keep away wild beasts.

In the end the other primitives cause his death, but he has already brought order from chaos.

He determines the concept of time from

the movement of the stars and love as a civilized intercourse between individuals.

T i m e lapses between each book.

In the next two books, the climate is cooling and there is a general migration to the south. One man

sets off in the opposite direction to the icy lands of the north to wrestle with hardship. Defying the cold, he grows hardy and strong. With a woman he meets in the north, he becomes the father of the Nordic race and makes fire by striking it out of two minerals. And thus he founds a new civilization.

And the final two books cover the invention of locomotion: wagons and boats driven by oar or sail. The later books describe the Cimbrians marching on Rome and the Vikings’ raids. At the end Columbus finds a new dream of a tropical paradise.

Interpreting nature and history is for Jensen a spiritual process. For Jensen, a medical student who grew up in the countryside and became a writer in Denmark’s largest city, biology is life’s poetry. In the spiritual undertones of the book, Jensen does not make a clear choice about creation. It is driven by both spirit and matter, not one or the other. He works in the interplay between mind and matter to show the process as a struggle in holistic interpretation, that spirit and matter both condition and enrich each

other. Jensen wants to keep the notion of life as a miracle without losing the logic and science of evolutionary theory.

Jensen was both a shy and self-conscious writer; however, in his opinions he was often strict and challenging. He created a new kind of environment-orientated, evocative prose and poetry in Denmark in the first half of the 20th century. In 1944 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “for the rare strength and fertility of his poetic imagination with which is combined an intellectual curiosity of wide scope and a bold, freshly creative style”, the Nobel Committee noted. “‘The Long Journey’ is like a series of huge decorative paintings in which characterisation is less important than the range of composition and the incomparable skill of the brush strokes,” its chairman Per Hallström added.

And out of all of his works, this series on primitive man’s development has lingered the longest in the imagination. Not least as an inspiration for the Danish artists Asger Jorn and Pierre Wemaëre, whose huge, 14-metre long, collaborative tapestry work was also entitled ‘The Long Journey’ (1958).

NATHAN MCCORD, U.S. MARINE CORPS

N 1908, the well-established Danish writer Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, the father of Danish modernism, had the audacity to imagine the impossible. It took him the next 14 years to complete his magnum opus – an alternative to the Bible.

‘Den lange rejse’, published in English as ‘The Long Journey’ in 1924, is a mythical epic with deep spiritual purposes. Jensen’s idea was to provide a realistic account of human existence, based on Darwin’s ‘Theory of Natural Selection’. He used the Darwinist ideas as a model for his description of human development from the Ice Age until Christopher Columbus. Ultimately he wanted to emphasise that the reality of human existence is itself still an absolute wonder.

‘The Long Journey’ consists of six separate books. The work was not originally planned as a narrative of human existence and development from before

the Ice Age until modern times.

It was developed in pieces, after Jensen wrote ‘Bræen’ (‘The Glacier’) in 1908 and ‘Skibet’ (‘The Ship’) in 1912, he began to realise the scope of the work he had started.

The outbreak of the First World War intensified his progress on the books, as he felt the need to privately counter the destruction of war and mass killings with a new version of the creation story. His working notes for the six volumes explain his motivation, and they were published in a literary testament called ‘Aesthetics and Development’ (1923), which was reprinted at the end of the collected works. In this postscript he places his work in the literary tradition of favourite poets such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Knut Hamsun, HC Andersen and Adam Oehlenschläger.

The books (see Factfile) make for grim reading in places, because evolution is a tough business. The first two books take place somewhere in the primeval forests of Europe near a volcano with a summit of fire and trails of lava.

Primitive man worships the fire until a man with a mind and a

Factfile | Johannes V Jensen

Factfile | The six volumes of ‘The Long Journey’ •

The Lost Country: Tertiary, millions of years ago

•

The Glacier: The Last Ice Age, approximately 100,000 BC -10,000 BC

•

Norne Guest: The three archaeological eras: - Stone Age (3000 BC-700 BC) - Bronze Age (700 BC-300 BC) - Iron Age (300 BC-400 AD)

•

Cimbrernes Train: 115-101 BC

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The Ship: Viking, circa 700-1000

•

Christopher Columbus: Gothic and Renaissance, 1400-1500s

The son of a veterinarian, Johannes V Jensen was born in 1873 in Farsø in northern Jutland. In 1893 he moved to Copenhagen to study medicine, while on the side he began to write poems and articles, of which some were published in Revuen magazine between 1895 and 1898 under the pseudonym Ivar Lykke, and several books.

In his first notable literary effort, ‘Himmerland People’ (1898), Jensen looked to his roots in Jutland and created stories about the fates of peasants who were inextricably tied to their instincts.

And then three years later, he published the first of his masterpieces, ‘Kongens Fald’ (‘The Fall of the King’, 1933), a novel about Christian II, which in 1999 was named Danish book of the decade.

Even when writing ‘The Long Journey’, Jensen simultaneously put out essays, cultural criticism, translations and poetry: he was generally inexhaustible until 1920, after which he withdrew a little (he travelled extensively, including to the United States where he wrote the poem ‘På Memphis Station’) and started dedicating more time to his biological and zoological theories, many of which were polemic.

He courted controversy with some dubious racial theories, although he was not a fascist.

However, it was his sister, Thit Jensen, who was the black sheep of the family. She also achieved fame as an author, writing about feminist, erotic and social themes, and was the founder of an abortion clinic in 1924.

Johannes V Jensen died in 1950 aged 77.

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