The Copenhagen Post | Mar 18-Apr 5 by The Copenhagen Post

The first of a new series on life as a half-Dane

Danes temporarily trapped after African coup

28 March - 5 April 2013 | Vol 16 Issue 13

From egg hunts to bunnies: Your guide to Easter

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk SCANPIX / ALBERTO E RODRIGUEZ

NEWS

Pork, beef or horse? Who really knows? Food minister is “furious” after the latest meat scandal

NEWS

No Danish allowed New coalition in Greenland looks to ban Danish from the parliamentary speaker’s rostrum

The tower behind the Thrones

NEWS

Exclusive interview with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the rising Danish star of ‘Game of Thrones’ Visitors can meet a variety of sea life at Den Blå Planet, which hopes to become a tourist hit

SPORT

It’s official: Teacher lockout to take effect on April 2 CHRISTIAN WENANDE

Back on the road to Rio! Denmark have resurrected their World Cup hopes by defeating the Czechs, but must beware Bulgaria

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Price: 25 DKK

Talks break down, leading to a lockout that will affect some 875,000 school children and adult learners nationwide

ALF a million public school students headed into their Easter breaks with their families not knowing when they will be able to return to their schools. Talks between the finance minister, Bjarne Corydon (Socialdemokraterne), and the teachers association, Lærernes Centralorganisation, collapsed on Monday, meaning that some 17,000 state-employed teachers will be locked out following the Easter break. That puts the state-employed educators – primarily teachers at

after-school institutions and technical schools – in the same boat as their council-employed counterparts, who saw their talks with local government association KL officially break down last week on Friday. Both negotiations ended when the parties were unable to come to terms on teachers’ working hours. Anders Bondo Christensen, the head of the teachers’ union Danmarks Lærerforening (DLF), said the teachers never stood a chance in the talks. “The result was written beforehand,” Christensen said according to public broadcaster DR. “It couldn’t be changed by so much as a comma. I have never experienced negotiations like this. It is completely grotesque and absurd.” According to DR, the lockout will affect some 875,000 students nation-

wide, as the 566,660 public school students will be joined by over 20,000 adult foreigners in language classes, 24,000 children in after-school institutions, and tens of thousands of students in other state and council-run learning centres. Schools around the country were forced to prepare for an impending lockout, and at many schools, the number of teachers who will be available to teach students during the lockout is expected to be despairingly low. Some teachers have been asked to hand in school keys and won’t receive pay, while other schools have drawn up emergency plans and only 10,350 teachers will be available to cater to 500,000 students, or about one teacher for every 55 students. “By far, most of the children won’t

be able to go to school, and at many of the schools, there won’t be more than three or four adults. They can’t watch over all the children,” the leader of headteachers’ union Skolelederne, Anders Balle, told Politiken newspaper. “The only [teachers] I can use are the ones outside the unions.” Last Friday was the last chance for KL and DLF to reach an agreement before the Easter break. Negotiations collapsed on two separate occasions during the evening. At a KL meeting last week, the organisation’s head, Erik Nielsen (Socialdemokraterne), said that the DLF are “trapped in a time capsule from the previous century”, that they are “naysayers” and that the current teacher

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Lockout continues on page 3

Week in review

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

CPH Post Word of the Week:

28 March - 5 April 2013 THE WEEK’S MOST READ STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Cypern (noun) – Cyprus. Where you heard it: The EU gave Cyprus an eleventh-hour ten billion euro bailout in a bid to keep the small island country from being forced out of the Eurozone

Life after cannabis prohibition: The city announces its ambitions

Scanpix / Torkil Adsersen

Cold welcome

Men can now urinate on Strøget ... legally Danish researchers: The universe is older than we think New aquarium makes a splash with more than just fish Lockout likely as Easter approaches

FROM OUR ARCHIVES TEN YEARS AGO. A team at the Niels Bohr Institute unveils plan to be first astronomers to probe the asteroid belt 400 kms from Earth. FIVE YEARS AGO. Around 1,000 Copenhageners marched from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv to protest against violence after the death of a 16-year-old paperboy. ONE YEAR AGO. City’s unexpected windfall delivers 900 million kroner to ten schools and eliminates forced daycare closures. It’s a sure sign of spring when Bakken – the oldest operating amusement park in the world – opens its doors for the season, even if the weather seems more naturally suited to Santa and Mrs Claus than the park’s mascot, Pjerrot

will be updated less frequently than usual so that our staff can enjoy time off with the rest of the nation. Also, as a reminder, at 2am on Sunday March 31, Denmark will enter daylight savings time, so don’t forget to spring forward. From everyone at The Copenhagen Post, we wish our readers a nice holiday.

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

Training grounds

The domestic intelligence agency, PET, has for the first time seen a clear connection between people from the Danish gang environment and militant Islamists fighting in Syria. According to PET, several members of the toughest gangs in Copenhagen are currently in Syria, or have been there, waging holy war. PET

President and Publisher Ejvind Sandal

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fears that those who go to Syria risk becoming radicalised and will use the warfare skills they learn in Syria on the streets of Denmark. Jyllands-Posten newspaper wrote that gang members from Blågårds Plads Gruppen in Nørrebro, La Raza from Valby and Bloodz from the suburbs all have members who have fought in Syria.

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Colourbox

Due to the Easter holiday, this issue of The Copenhagen Post will cover the period of 28 March-5 April, two more days than usual. Our next issue will be out on Saturday April 6. During the Easter period – in which Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday are all public holidays – our website

Scanpix / Bulent Kilic

Colourbox

Holiday time

CORRECTION We incorrectly wrote that the Storstrøm bridge was closed to all traffic. Only freight trains are barred from the bridge.

Big ol’ mess

Used pizza boxes, hot dog wrappers, cigarette packs and other bits of rubbish are piling up on the country’s streets and sidewalks. According to a Politiken Research survey of the nation’s 98 councils, only two of the 44 that answered said that the amount of trash on the streets was lower than five years

Layout and design Justin Cremer Aviaja Bebe Nielsen Logo by Rasmus Koch Published by CPHPOST.DK ApS Printed by Dagbladet, Ringsted.

ago. The survey also showed that councils were not spending more money on cleaning up – about 350 million kroner a year – than they were two years ago. A cultural researcher told Politiken that she didn’t think Danes were becoming more prone to littering, but simply that more people are now living in the cities.

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

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News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

Christian Wenande The Danish meat industry clearly doesn’t respect its customers, according to food scientist

Colourbox

Minister “furious” after latest meat scandal

Beef patty, horse patty or pork patty? These days it’s increasingly hard to be sure

eral beef products.” Gjerskov was backed up by food scientist Orla Zinck, the head of catering advocates Dansk Catering Center, who argued that the national meat industry has a very poor image that it doesn’t seem very eager to improve. “The meat industry is not doing enough to better its image, and this is another nail in the coffin,” Zinck told Politiken newspaper. “The investigation conveys that the industry is loaded with poor morals and a disdain for the consumers they depend on. And that is thought-provoking.” While three of the samples contained horsemeat, the amount was in such small con-

The meat industry is not doing enough to better its image, and this is another nail in the coffin centration that the authorities considered it to be the result of sloppy work rather than premeditated fraud. But Zinck maintained that the investigation proves that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Danish food control system. He added that

customers who don’t eat certain meats because of their religious beliefs are not being respected. “We can’t say if the meat fraud has been done on purpose, but at any rate, it implies sloppy work, an indifferent attitude towards customers, no control of production and no respect for customers who don’t eat pork,” Zinck told Politiken. “And if it is done on purpose, then the motive is obvious. It’s money, because pork is cheaper than beef.” In response to the findings, Gjerskov has lambasted the industry and will meet with leaders in order to sort out the issues. At the same time she will launch a significant food control campaign aimed at meat fraud.

he two Danish-Somali brothers who were accused of financing terror and training for terrorist acts last month were found guilty on Tuesday in Aarhus. The brothers, aged 19 and 24, were each handed prison sentences of three and a half years by presiding judge Poul Holm, who put emphasis on a number of phone conversations between the 24-year-old brother, who was in Somalia between November 2011 and March 2012, and the 19-year-old in Aarhus. On recordings of their conversations, the older brother

said that he would “assemble a whole group [to] go to Europe and murder everything”. The judge and all the jury members, aside from one, found that the brothers were training for terror purposes. The Aarhus case was unusual as it was the first time individuals were convicted of receiving training and preparing for a terror attack while in a foreignbased terror training camp. The two brothers were also charged with providing financial support to al-Shabaab – which is considered a terrorist organisation by several European countries, the US, Canada and Australia – but were found not guilty on that charge. The state prosecutor, Torben Thygesen, had argued that the brothers intended to carry out a terror act at a later time.

Scanpix / Feisal Omar

Aarhus brothers convicted of training for terror Both sentenced to three and a half years after audio from phone conversations suggested that they intended to embark on a murderous rampage in Europe

Study: Newcomers not learning enough about Denmark Students enrolled in Danish language programmes say they aren’t being adequately prepared to pass immigration exams

he national food authority, Fødevarestyrelsen, has uncovered another meaty scandal after finding pork meat in food products that were labelled as beef. As part of a screening initiative that the food and agriculture minister, Mette Gjerskov (Socialdemokraterne), launched in the wake of the horsemeat scandal earlier this year, Fødevarestyrelsen has taken 70 samples from random food companies and 29 samples from a specific slaughterhouse in Jutland. Out of the 70 random beefproduct samples, three contained traces of horsemeat while 11 contained swine meat. In seven of the samples, the amount of pork was over one percent, which could suggest that it was purposely mixed in. While the results indicated that the Danish meat industry doesn’t have the massive horsemeat issues that other EU countries have experienced, Gjerskov was still alarmed over the findings. “The consumers must be able to trust what is written on the packages, whether it is horse, pork or something else,” Gjerskov said in a Fødevarestyrelsen press release. “That’s why I am furious that Fødevarestyrelsen was able to find pig meat in sev-

Two brothers, aged 19 and 24, were found guilty of training for terror, but not guilty of financially supporting al-Shabaab (pictured)

“The distance from receiving terror training to attempting a terror act at a later point is not far,” Thygesen said in his closing arguments when advocating for the younger brother to receive the same punishment as the elder. “When you are together in

the deed, then the punishment should be the same.” The brothers’ lawyers appealed against the decision and requested that the young men be released pending the case reaching the high court. That request was denied. (CW)

ewcomers to Denmark are not learning enough in the classes designed to prepare them for immigration exams, according to a report from the Social and Integration Ministry. Every third new arrival to Denmark argued they don’t learn enough about the labour market, education system, democracy or history during their classes, which are taught as part of their Danish as a second language programmes and form the basis for citizenship and permanent residence exams. The figures concerned Hanne Pontoppidan, the head of Udannelsesforbundet, a union representing 11,000 teachers. “The language centres are an essential component in preparing a person to adjust and make it in Denmark,” Pontoppidan told Berlingske newspaper. “It is very serious that a third of the people taking the classes are not learning about important aspects of Danish society, and that needs to change.” She added that the results of the study outlined a similar picture to the one painted by her members. “Teachers are telling us about being under pressure and forced only to prepare the students for

the language test,” Pontoppidan told Berlingske. “Time to focus on the broad understanding of what Danish society is about has been cut to save money.” The report, entitled ‘Fakta om Integration 2012’, showed that more than 52,000 new arrivals took Danish language and culture courses in 2011, up from 34,000 in 2007, and that the total cost to the Danish state amounted to one billion kroner. The report categorised students as foreign workers, students, refugees, those moving to Denmark to live with a spouse or family member, and foreigners receiving unemployment benefits who are looking to improve their chances of finding work. Foreign workers and students were most critical of the courses. A third of them said they learned little or nothing they could use in their daily lives. As part of the 2013 budget negotiations, the government had proposed to cut 200 million kroner from Danish as a second language programmes, but that decision was reversed after government ally Enhedslisten (EL) protested. “The teaching is a prerequisite for people becoming integrated properly,” Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen, EL’s immigration spokesperson, told Berlingske. “The report shows that the foreign workers and students demand better teaching, and I will look into that.” (CW)

Lockout continued from front page

agreement is an “anachronism”. KL argued that they have no choice but to institute the lockout in order to apply pressure to teachers and restart the talks at a later date. “We are in a situation where there is no golden middle ground. Either there are working-hour rules or there aren’t, and that’s what makes the negotiations difficult,” Michael Ziegler (Konservative), the chief negotiator for KL, told Politiken. “We are in a gridlocked situation.” The teachers’ chances of getting their way in the negotiations took a turn for the worse last week when Skolelederne, decided to back KL and urge the teachers to agree to terms. “Future schools require a new working-hour agreement

I have never experienced negotiations like this. It is completely grotesque and absurd and teachers must be in schools for longer periods of time,” Balle told DR News. “We need an agreement that fits the government’s forthcoming reform of the education system. That reform demands greater flexibility and more co-operation in the schools.” Balle went on to argue that the teachers should remain at the school during their working hours, between 7am and 3pm, and lamented the prevalent culture in which teachers go home when the school day ends.

Online this week Employees charged in youth home abuse case

Free press society: discriminated student a “media whore”

Haircut fight headed for round two

A dozen employees of a northern Jutland youth home have been arrested on suspicion of the systematic abuse of 18 youths. The youth home Solhaven, in the town of Farsø, houses children and teenagers from the ages of 12 to 18. An official statement from the North Jutland Police said that the 12

Free press advocates Trykkefrihedsselskabet say they won’t pay any compensation to a 20-year-old student after denying him entry to a debate about free speech last month. Jihad Taha is demanding 13,425 kroner and an apology for being denied entry to the debate and, in exchange, has promised not to take the

The national hairdressers’ union, DOFK, is considering taking the price of haircuts to the courts. Earlier this year, the state’s equality board, Ligebehandlingsnævnet, ruled that gender-based haircut prices were a breach of national laws. The case was filed

employees in question are being charged with 66 counts of violent and abusive conduct dating back to 2005. The charges include cases of physical violence such as choking, punching and kicking, as well as mental abuse, which included forcing some of the youths to walk around in their underwear.

case to court. But Trykkefrihedsselskabet board member Torben Mark Pedersen has stated that Taha should not expect to get an øre. “We reject outright his demand,” Pedersen told Politiken newspaper. “It is comical that Jihad is now trying to make money out of the case. He is presenting himself as a greedy media whore.”

by a young, short-haired woman who lodged a complaint because she was forced to pay more for her haircut simply because of her gender, even though her hair was no longer than that of the average man. DOFK is preparing to fight the ruling.

Read these stories and more at cphpost.dk

News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

Growing up half-Danish: A tale of two cultures Bjarke Smith-Meyer Children of mixed marriages find themselves navigating two cultures, sometimes unwillingly

ake a stroll by your local playground, and you probably won’t be able to pick out the half-Danish kid from a group of ordinary full-bloods. Among the Danes, they speak and dress just like all of their other playmates. But, on the homefront, things are slightly different. There, beyond the ordinary confusions of growing up, young half-Danes have a few extra wrinkles that influence the way they relate to their parents. For example, which language do you speak during a family argument, and why do you have to wait to open some presents until Christmas Day? Such questions could be asked by children of mixed marriages in any country, but for many half-Danes who grew up here, one common thread of their childhood is that their dual heritage was often seen less as an asset than a peculiarity. Stephanie Surrugue, for example, the French-Danish editor of the TV2 News programme ‘Kulturen’, said she grew up fully aware of Denmark’s attitudes towards the unfamiliar. “The first thing a Dane would say to a foreigner speaking their language is: ‘What a weird accent you have’,” Surrugue, who was named ‘Danish TV talent of 2012’, said. “Whereas in France, my Danish mother would be praised for the French she spoke. Regardless of any accent she might have.” It’s a sensitivity that rubbed off on the Danish-Moroccan Soulaima Gourani, who works as a special adviser to some of Scandinavia’s biggest companies. She, like Surrugue, said that at different points of her life she felt embarrassment about having a parent with an accent. “I didn’t want to be seen with my father,” Gourani said. “I was not proud of my background.”

Marie Bille researches mixed families at Roskilde University

Secrets and codes Her experience is one that Marie Bille sees frequently in her research into mixed families. Currently studying mixed families at Roskilde University, Bille became interested in the topic after marrying an Italian

For both Soulaima Gourani (left) and Stephanie Surrugue (right), their childhoods often contained reminders that they didn’t quit fit in

man, with whom she now has two children. She explained that foreign parents are keenly aware of their foreign background, and they are anxious not to cause their children embarrassment because of it. She also said that the more foreign a parent is to Scandinavian culture, the harder they strive to fit into Danish society. The experience is one that Jacob Mchangama, the director of legal affairs at think-tank Cepos, can relate to. “The secret to fitting into the Danish society is to adopt the invisible codes of Danish conduct,” Mchangama, whose father is from the east African Comoro Islands, said. “Danish culture is very central to my identity,” he continued. “And while a lot of that comes from my mother, my father also made a huge effort to broaden his surroundings. He started a business here in Denmark, for example, and made sure to socialise with Danes as much as he could. I have very little African influence from his side for the family.” That seems to be easier said than done for others. For while Mchangama says he never felt he was discriminated against during his childhood, other half-Danes, such as Gourani, saw it frequently.

I didn’t want to be seen with my father; I was not proud of my background “Even my Danish mother was bullied,” Gourani said. “I recall we would be rammed in supermarkets by other people because I was the dark child sitting in the trolley chair.” A place in the hierarchy Bille also pointed out that there is still a “hierarchy of accepted foreign nationalities” in Denmark, in which Middle Eastern backgrounds come at the bottom of the pile. That is a view that seems to be mirrored in Sweden, according to recently published research, which found that Middle Eastern immigrants were deemed ‘least attractive’ to white Swedes. “Colour still has an effect here in Denmark,” Bille explained. “My white, half-Italian children will have it easier here than a child with a darker complexion would. Even if mine were brought up in a very Ital-

ian manner, that wouldn’t make a difference.” However, for Mchangama, fitting in was less a matter of appearance than it was the way one acted. “It’s very difficult to tune into this country’s high level of social expectation without guidance,” he said. “I for example grew dreadlocks, wore baggy trousers and listened to Public Enemy. But just because I listened to music that said ‘Fuck the Police’, it didn’t mean I would actually say it out loud.” He praised his mother’s influence for ensuring he didn’t stray from Denmark’s invisible codes of conduct, and he was able to integrate, as was Surrugue. However, Surrugue does feel that many Danes she encountered growing up had a narrow view of the world outside of their own country. “I was once asked by a local kid whether my Catholic background meant that I prayed to Allah while kneeling on a carpet,” Surrugue revealed. Regardless of what the other nationality is, it is, perhaps not surprisingly, the Danish side that tends to be the stronger one for those living here. The pressures the parents of Mchangama, Surrugue and Gourani experienced while bringing up

Jacob Mchangama grew up without much African influence

their children are ones felt by many others in the same situation, according to Bille. She points out that one of the overriding concerns of parents is that their children learn Danish, so that they are not subjected to any form of social exclusion. The next generation While it might not be clear even to half-Danes themselves which nationality they are most affiliated to, the true indicator will be how they raise their own children. “My children will be Danish,” Mchangama said. “It would be strange to impose an African culture on them, when I myself didn’t have one imposed on me. But I will make sure they develop an international perspective.”

Surrugue and Gourani emphasised that they would seek to strike an equal balance between Danish and their other culture. “Any kids I have would need to speak both French and English,” Surrugue said. “They’d hate me for it I’m sure. But it’s my French background that has allowed me to pursue the career I have now.” For Gourani, seeking equality means, ironically, relegating Danish to second place. “My kids will definitely go to an international school,” she said. “I feel like they have to be in an international environment. Danish will be their second language. Not their first.”

Series: Half-Danes This is part one of a series. The next instalment will look at what it’s like to be a parent in an international relationship raising half-Danish children, while the third will explore the phenomenon of ‘thirdculture kids’, children who are brought up in Denmark without a connection to their parents’ home countries.

NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

The situation in Central African Republic is worsening, but the three Danes who were trapped in a UN compound are now safe

HREE Danes were trapped in a UN compound in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday after a violent coup in the country over the weekend. Two of the Danes are UN employees, while the other is an employee of the humanitarian organisation Dansk Flygtningehjælp (DFH). Along with 170 other foreign nationals, the Danes had to wait for French soldiers to escort them out of the country, a family member of one of the three told The Copenhagen Post. At first, the group made an attempt to reach the airport via a fleet of personally-owned vehicles, but were turned back by mobs who feared the UN was abandoning them amidst the violent conflict. Later, they were escorted to a military base adjacent to the airport in the capital city of Bangui. On Monday evening, one of the two Danish UN employees flew out of the country to Cameroon, and by Tuesday morning, The Copenhagen Post’s source and DFH were both able to confirm that the two other Danes had also safely arrived in Cameroon. Before returning to Denmark, they will all have to go through several official procedures. They are expected back sometime over the Easter holiday weekend. The source said that several Europeans remain trapped in the CAR, including two Ger-

SCANPIX / AFP PHOTO/ SIA KAMBOU

SIGRID NEERGAARD

COLOURBOX

Danes manage to escape danger after Central African Republic coup

Heroin produced from poppies (pictured) has fuelled massive social problems in Iran through smuggling and addiction

Denmark indirectly supports Iranian drug executions By supporting a UN anti-drugs programme, Denmark may be helping Iranian authorities arrest and execute suspected drug users and smugglers

ket for illicit drugs. Thousands of tonnes of heroin produced in Afghanistan are also smuggled every year through Iran, mostly destined for Western markets. As a result, Amnesty estimates that around 260,000 people were arrested in 2011 for drug-related offences. Of the 488 people executed by Iran in 2011, around three-quarters were for drug-related offences. The UNODC claims to have made progress in Iran, however, by strengthening legislation, combating drug trafficking and corruption, and improving border management and law enforcement. But Enhedslisten’s development spokesperson, Christian Juhl, argues that Denmark ought to be more concerned about the treatment of Iranian prisoners. “We should not participate in a project in which people are executed for committing a crime,” Juhl told Politiken newspaper. “We can’t close our eyes to how people are treated just because we want to combat drug smuggling. We end up compromising our principles.” The development minister, Christian Friis Bach (Radikale), conceded that he was concerned by Iran’s use of the death penalty. “The human rights situation in Iran is extremely troubling,” Bach told Politiken. “We are very critical of the Iranian authorities’ unacceptable use of executions when handling drugrelated crime.” (PS)

Seleka rebels in the Central African Republic toppled President Francois Bozize and seized control of the capital Bangui on March 24

man women who are currently unable to get to the airport. People are trying to leave the country due to disturbances that worsened on Sunday when an alliance of insurgent groups known as Seleka took over the capital Bangui. The developments led to President François Bozize fleeing the country for the Congo. Unrest in the CAR dates back to 2007. In order to put an end to rioting at that time, the government struck a truce with insurgents that required them to join the national army in return for Bozize meeting a number of demands, including the release of political prisoners and paying the rebels for joining the army. In 2012, Seleka accused

Bozize of breaking the promises he had given the group. To prevent further riots, the government sat down with the rebels at the negotiating table in January 2013 and agreed that the parliament should be dissolved so that the opposition could appoint a prime minister. The government would also have to call an election within the next 12 months, and Bozize promised not to stand for elections when his current term expires in 2016. According to Seleka, Bozize has not lived up to the terms of the agreement, and the group is now seeking to force him from power. The sound of gunfire was heard for hours on Sunday. A

government official told CNN that seven civilians were killed. According to The Copenhagen Post’s source, children are being kidnapped by Seleka and forced to take up arms in the conflict. It has also been reported that the French military shot and killed two innocent Indian nationals who were on their way to the airport on Monday. CAR is a former French colony, and France has now turned to the UN Security Council for immediate help. At the time this publication went to press, French soldiers had taken over the airport and were patrolling Bangui. This coup is the latest and most damaging of five aimed at Bozize since he became president in 2003.

UESTIONS have been raised over Denmark’s support of a UN antidrugs programme that could be indirectly leading to executions in Iran. Denmark voluntarily supports the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which supports countries around the world in tackling drug-related crime. But Denmark’s approximate 35 million kroner donation to the programme may be contributing to the number of drug traffickers and users arrested and subsequently executed in Iran, according to Amnesty Danmark. “The wish to limit the drug trade is of course legitimate, but as the situation stands in Iran, the money could end up supporting arrests and ultimately executions,” Trine Christensen, the deputy general secretary of Amnesty Danmark, told Politiken newspaper. “If we continue to support the programme, it legitimises Iran’s use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.” Despite draconian punishments for the possession and consumption of drugs, Iran suffers from huge levels of drug addiction and a large domestic mar-

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News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

A majority in Greenland’s newlyelected coalition government is ready to require that Greenlandic be spoken in parliament

scanpix / Ulrik Bang

Jyllands-Posten

Justin Cremer

500,000 kroner that Petersen’s seat at Christiansborg brings in each year, party secretary Turid The three party members who Leirvoll told Politiken newspaleft this week took with them a per. Likewise, the 1.9 million mandate, cash, and apparently a kroner budgeted to MEP Emilie lot of voter support Turunen will now go to S’s coffers following her switch. But most troublesome for ollowing the exodus of three high-profile mem- the SFers left behind is that Pebers last week, voters too tersen kept his mandate in parare now fleeing from Socialistisk liament, despite the fact that the overwhelming number of votes Folkeparti (SF). A new Megafon poll car- that put him there were party ried out for TV2 and Politiken votes rather than personal votes showed that only 4.2 percent of for Petersen. Of the 18,000 voters would mark their ballots votes needed to get into parliafor SF if an election were to be ment in Petersen’s district in held today. That’s more than a southern Jutland, over 14,000 of halving of the party’s support in the votes he received were party the September 2011 parliamen- votes. Only 4,340 voted directly for Petersen. tary elections, “When one in which SF rehas a mandate ceived 9.2 perwith so many cent of the vote. party votes, I The results think by prinare just the lat- It’s like somebody ciple that manest bout of bad date belongs to news for the leaving their wife for the party,” Ida g o v e r n m e n t their mistress and Damborg, a coalition party, member of SF’s which last week taking the silverware national leadersaw its political with them ship, told Polispokesperson, tiken. “Those an MEP and a former MP bolt the party in fa- 14,000 people voted for SF as a vour of coalition partners Social- party. There isn’t a single one of them who wanted that mandate demokraterne (S). Those exits took with them to go to Socialdemokraterne.” Marie Sunesen, the head of a mandate in parliament and significant financial support for SF in southern Jutland, agreed that Petersen was running away the party. Former political spokes- with a mandate that should have person Jesper Petersen’s new stayed with the party. “It is of course unfortunate membership of S means that SF loses out on a mandate and over about the money, but the man-

reenland’s new coalition government is ready to pursue independence-minded policies, including banning Danish from being spoken in the selfgoverning territory’s national assembly. Two of the election’s big victors – Greenland’s largest party Siumut, which received 42.8 percent of the votes, and the nationalist Partii Inuit, which garnered 6.4 percent – both campaigned on policies of increased independence from Copenhagen. Although Partii Inuit campaigned to require that Greenlandic, the country’s official language, be spoken in parliament, new premier Aleqa Hammond said last week after the new government was formed that such a move would only be made with the acceptance of Greenlanders. Whether the language policy will pass depends on the votes of the third coalition member, Atassut, which is typically Greenland’s most pro-Danish party. “If Siumut and Partii Inuit could choose, Danish would be banned as a political language from day one,” Lars Hovbakke

High-profile exits hurt SF on all fronts

Premier Aleqa Hammond and her Siumut party want the Danish language out of the parliament

Sørensen, a historian specialising in Greenlandic affairs, said. Although Atassut would probably prevent an outright ban, Sørensen predicted that the new government would be required to address the matter after making it such a big election issue. “They may not pass a ban, but then there are other ways of toughening the language policy. One could imagine that compromise being passed if it meant people would get dispensation to speak Danish from the rostrum if they asked for it,” Hovbakke said. Meanwhile, Hammond re-

iterated her election pledge that Siumut and Partii Inuit would work towards Greenlandic independence, but stressed that it was not something that would happen “from one day to the next”. She underscored that before Greenland could consider breaking away from the Danish kingdom it would need to wean itself off its 3 billion kroner annual block grant from Copenhagen. The new government intends to do so by increasing the amount of money mining companies are required to pay in order to be allowed to operate in Greenland.

scanpix / Keld Navntoft

Greenland’s government ready to ban Danish from parliament

Petersen left SF and took his mandate to Socialdemokraterne

date is the most important because it doesn’t just belong to Jesper,” Sunesen told Politiken. “It’s like somebody leaving their wife for their mistress and taking the silverware with them. I think he is letting down the voters.” Petersen, unsurprisingly, had a different take. “I have chosen to remain in parliament because I want to make a difference to the lives of Danes who have been affected by the economic crisis,” the new S member wrote on Facebook. “I wanted that at the election, and I still want that. I feel like I would let those who voted for me down if I were to leave parliament.” With Petersen having left SF for S, his former party now has only 15 mandates in parliament, making it the fifth-largest party, with two less mandates that coalition party Radikale and just three more than far-left party Enhedslisten. If the poll results are anything to go by, things would only get worse at the next election. The 4.2 percent support sees SF joining Konservative as the smallest of Denmark’s main political parties.

Three deaths inside the space of one month have party leaders demanding an explanation from the health minister

hree patients admitted to the psychiatric wards at two different hospitals in the Greater Copenhagen area died while under the care of hospital personnel and parliament wants to know why. Two patients died in January

while confined to a secured ward at the psychiatric centre of Copenhagen’s Bispebjerg Hospital. The third patient died in February while being treated at a ward at the Mental Health Centre North Zealand in Hillerød. The health minister, Astrid Krag (Socialistisk Folkeparti) has been called to two different meetings with members of parliament to explain what she is doing to prevent more patients

ANZAC DAY CEREMONYCOPENHAGEN Thursday 25 April 2013 10.00 am to 12.00 pm at the Residence of the Australian Ambassador, Øregårds Alle 27, Hellerup (Copenhagen) Australian and New Zealand citizens and other interested members of the public are invited to attend. Due to security requirements, participants must pre-register. Please RSVP to the Australian Embassy by email, copenhagenanzac@gmail.com or call +45 7026 3676 to register your name no later than Monday 15 April 2013. As this will be an outdoor event, please dress accordingly. Lest we forget

from dying unexpectedly. The first meeting will be closed to the public and was called by Dansk Folkeparti health spokesperson Liselott Blixt, who is also head of parliament’s patients’ rights oversight group. “Patients’ privacy rights must be protected,” Blixt told Politiken newspaper. “Therefore, I am asking the health minister for a closed meeting so she can explain in confidence what happened on those wards that caused three people to die. It is important that we get to the bottom of this.” The state medical examiner is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths, and hospitals in the Copenhagen area have instituted a wide range of initiatives designed to prevent more patients in secured wards

from dying. Published reports revealed that all three of the deceased patients received a combination of anti-psychotic and sedative drugs. The national board of health does not recommend such a drug protocol due to the risk of serious side effects. All three patients had taken methadone, a powerful sedative and morphine-like drug. A combination of other medications being taken on top of the methadone is thought to be the cause of the deaths. An autopsy report revealed that one of the patients had a total of five kinds of psychotropic drugs in his blood when he died. Regional officials claimed that both patients who died at Bispebjerg had taken extra medication themselves that was

Bispebjerg Hospital

Answers sought in psych ward patient deaths

Two patients died in January at Bispebjerg Hospital’s pysch ward

beyond what the staff had given them, adding that stricter rules regarding the handling of medication were being put in place. MP Martin Geerten (Venstre) said that there is so much uncertainty about patients’ welfare in psychiatric wards that Krag must intervene. “Three people have unfortunately lost their lives within a month, and one wonders what

will happen in the next ten,” Geerten, a member of parliament’s health committee, told Politiken. Geerten called on the national board of health to carry out a thorough investigation into the deaths and said that Krag should clarify what efforts, including legal avenues, were being pursued to prevent and control medication errors. (RW)

Online this week 30 more arrested in new gang raid co-ordinated police raids on the morning of Thursday March 21 resulted in the arrests of 30 people with ties to criminal gangs. The arrests came as part of a sweep of 62 addresses in eastern Denmark carried out by police and tax authorities. Police confiscated five guns, narcotics and about

600,000 kroner in cash. The action was the latest in a series of raids in recent weeks of homes and hangouts of suspected gang members. Copenhagen Police chief superintendent Jørgen Skov said the police had been looking for suspects in a number of gang-related crimes, including attempted murder.

E-voting proposal shot down The government’s controversial proposal to digitalise the election process has been defeated in parliament. Opposition party Venstre (V) has refused to support the e-voting bill, leaving the government without the majority needed for the bill to

proceed further. “It’s simply not secure enough, and therefore we have no choice but to say no,” V spokesperson Michael Aastrup Jensen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper. Konservative, Dansk Folkeparti and Enhedslisten were against the bill.

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Fighting on the side of history Before raising the alarm over men volunteering to fight in Syria, those labelling them as traitors should have a look back at Danish history

28 March - 5 April 2013

Forced EU austerity seriously undermines social welfare

OLUNTEERING for war is a serious decision, not least when the country issuing the call to arms isn’t your own. Such decisions are all the more grave if those back home deem you to be fighting for the enemy. Nevertheless, an estimated 45 Danes from a variety of backgrounds have made the fateful decision to join the fray in Syria. Commenting on the trend, Jakob Scharf, the chief of secret police service PET, said the development “was like nothing we have ever seen before”. In fact, Scharf is wrong. The situation looks unmistakably like the situation Denmark saw between 1936 and 1939, when 500 Danes – organised primarily by the Communist Party – took part in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans against Franco’s pro-fascist forces. If history is a lesson, Syria’s volunteers can expect rough treatment when they get home. The Spanish volunteers, after first being criminalised for their actions, later found themselves in history’s good graces, given that they, like the Danish Resistance, had combatted fascism. Thanks to that turn of fate, the Spanish volunteers now have their own monument, prominently placed outside what is now the Museum of the Danish Resistance, in a park named after Winston Churchill. A more symbolic location would be harder to come by. Fighting in another country’s war is serious business, particularly if you are hoping to return home able to practise the tools of the trade. Those who have gone off to war should have an eye kept on them when they return home, but according to journalists and others on the ground in Syria, most of the foreign volunteers are motivated less by ideology than a sense of adventure – precisely the same description that was made of the Spanish volunteers. PET’s report and the ensuing media coverage were met with the predictable responses, not least from the right-wing, which fears that such volunteers would return to Denmark as terrorists. The message is clear: in political and security circles, fighting for Syrian liberation is the equivalent of proclaiming yourself a radical Islamist. There’s no doubt these men will be influenced by their experiences in battle. Some may even come back as the Muslim agitators everyone is afraid of, and they should be dealt with accordingly – as were the two young men recently found guilty of receiving terrorist training in Somalia. For most of these men, though, Syria is less a training camp than it is a cause. With the exception of a uniform and formal military training, what they are doing differs little from the actions of the Danish military in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. However, whether they too earn a monument for what they are doing is up to history to decide.

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UROPE currently finds itself in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Second World War. Since the downturn took hold, the number of unemployed in the EU has grown by more than 10 million and today stands at 26 million – about 10.9 percent of the European workforce. During the first phase of the downturn, European countries passed stimulus plans to stem the loss of jobs. Even though these plans were not co-ordinated, and even though the plans perhaps were too small, unemployment had, in fact, begun to stabilise by the summer of 2010. But, starting in the spring of 2011, unemployment, particularly in the Eurozone, began to rise rapidly. And in the past year alone, another 2 million have become unemployed. The reason for this second dip in unemployment is in large

part due to the restrictive fiscal policy the EU relies on in order to reduce public sector deficits. EU austerity measures not only sap Europe’s economies of growth, they also increase unemployment. Figures from French economic institute OFCE show that Eurozone austerity plans will, taken alone, lead to a 1.4 percentage point GDP decline this year. The EU underestimated just how big an impact austerity measures would have on the economies of member states. The 2010 recovery still has yet to gain traction. At the same time, Europe’s economy remains relatively closed, which means that countries have to rely on trade with each other. So when countries all start tightening fiscal policy at the same time the impact is profound. The European Commission and other organisations have since had to downgrade their outlook for the EU economy. In fact, the most recent commission forecast now predicts a recession in the Eurozone in 2013, where it previously expected growth. The consequences of this misdiagnosis, however, are much more serious than missed growth forecasts. It also has a significant impact on social welfare and can lead to large numbers of people being forced to the margins of society and into poverty. As an example, we see that the number of long-term unemployed is rising sharply again, and

today over 11 million people – or about 45 percent of all unemployed – have now been without a job for more than a year. The long-term unemployed are less attractive for employers, which only makes it even more difficult for them to find work. One could fear that the longterm unemployed could develop a sense of dejection and consequently wind up only marginally attached to the labour force – if they don’t wind up permanently out of employment and socially marginalised. In fact, OECD data indicates that the number of marginally-attached workers has risen during the downturn, which can be seen as a sign of growing marginalisation. High levels of long-term unemployment can make it difficult to bring unemployment figures down, and could serve to raise the structural level of unemployment in the EU. This would make it even more difficult to stimulate growth, welfare and healthy public budgets. High levels of youth unemployment are also a source of concern since long-term unemployment is something that can haunt young people for years. Young Danes who went without jobs for extended periods of time in the 1990s, for example, were even after 15 years less likely to hold stable employment than their contemporaries who managed to find work.

The number of young Europeans without a job is currently 9.2 million – or 18.2 percent of 15-29 year-olds in the labour force. Unemployment rates, however, tell only part of the story. For a more complete picture, you need to look at the number of young people without jobs and who are not enrolled in any sort of formal education or training. In 2011, this combined figure stood at 15 million – or 16.7 percent of the total EU population of 15-29 year-olds. Rising levels of long-term unemployment, youth unemployment, the risk of increased marginalisation and with it higher rates of poverty all carry with them the potential for greater social division and increased tensions among Europeans. The seriousness of the situation might just be about to sink with the European Commission. It’s president, José Manuel Barroso, recommended recently “a more pragmatic and flexible policy” that allows for more time to implement cuts and stimulate economic growth in the countries “where growth has been lower than expected”. No matter what, a new approach is required if we are to minimise the downturn’s impact on social welfare. The author is a senior analyst with the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (AE).

READER COMMENTS Stop criminalising cannabis smokers, demonstrators say

Still Adjusting | An open letter to the Copenhagen Police

My observation is that I have seen far more obsessive and selfdestructive behaviour around tobacco users, and violently schizophrenic behaviour around alcohol users, than I have seen psychotic behaviour around cannabis users. In fact, if anything cannabis users seem rather ... relaxed. Loroferoz By website

I doubt they’ve given so much as a quick thought to how this makes ‘wonderful Copenhagen’ look to tourists. Many people who visit the city go to look at Christania (Christ knows why), and not only are they in for a crushing disappointment after discovering it’s a shithole, but it likely gets capped off by a stop from the police for no reason. As much as I love New York, having your bag searched on the subway or seeing police patrols dressed in black with full body armour and assault rifles around town does not give the city a great image. It’s not going to do much more for this place either. Shufflemoomim By website

Here is another viewpoint for those of you who think it is a simple matter to just legalise marijuana. Denmark has many companies that manufacture parts and components for other companies in other countries. Some of these foreign companies make products that are in critical industries such as oil and gas, aviation, medical equipment, electronics, defence electronics etc. Never mind your personal opinion: how do you think a company such as an aircraft manufacturer, for example, is going to view Danish products that have potentially been manufactured by a bunch of pot heads? Do you honestly think you will continue to see those products in safety-critical areas? With product liability laws being what they are in so many different countries, what manufacturer is going to take the risk to expose themselves to products manufactured in a country where pot smoking is legal? Tom By website

Government wants compensation from bosses behind bank failures You can’t get blood from a stone, so a lot of this is political grandstanding, and maybe the state ought to reconsider its bankruptcy laws allowing people to walk away from their bad decisions. I don’t expect this to be popular, and I am not exonerating the banks from responsibility, but this needs to be balanced by the fact that if individual people didn’t overextend themselves, if individual people didn’t decide to borrow against the equity in their homes to go shopping, if individual people didn’t buy

homes they could only afford living paycheck to paycheck, then none of this would have ever happened. Banks don’t force you to borrow money (as opposed to politicians, who force you to pay taxes). Yes, banks made bad business decisions and they are great scapegoats (particularly in a socialist society which vilifies large corporations), but before trying to place all the blame on them, maybe the government ought to try to make its citizens more accountable for their own financial decisions as well. The1youlove2hate By website Banks are companies like any other, and they also fail sometimes. It is much more painful than a moving company or a cleaning company failing, because you have entrusted your money to them, but it was your decision and you could have been more careful about whom to trust, doing a little bit of personal research from time to time and not trusting blindly. After all, it is your own money. The banks don’t sign an agreement saying that they will not fail, so why sue them? Nikos Papageorgiou By website Mourning the auteurs: are the days of the visionaries numbered? Only in this state-run monoculture could a government body reckon they can steer creativity by

legislating for it. State-sponsored events in government run kultur houses, often means that poor quality acts perform indulgent nonsense to empty halls 95 percent of the time. Older Danish artists who steer these projects bemoan the lack of quality coming through and the generally spoiled attitude of the younger artists, who seem to think that the state is there exclusively to fund their personal creative journey. When a government appoints an arts council to help artists, that is fantastic, but when said arts council begins to legislate what type of work is acceptable, then you’ve created a closed loop. Provide the facilities and put young artists in contact with the people who are out in the world actually doing the work – not the huge government bodies, who are now constantly telling them what they should be doing. Yeahyeahyeah By website Opinion | The fight for democracy I am extremely fed up with the phrase ‘Danish values’. What are these, actually? Pressured conformity? Mindless bragging? Discourtesy and rowdiness in public spaces? Round the clock alcohol? Filth on trains and general disregard for the shared environment? And please don’t mention democracy and freedom as if they were Danish inventions. Currypowder By website

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

Don’t let the dust gather on them

A The words of Öz BY ÖZCAN ARJULOVSKI Özcan Arjulovski was born in Sweden but has lived in Denmark since he was five years old. His parents came to Denmark in the late ‘60s from the Turkish part of Macedonia. He has a passion for writing poetry and has written political columns for metroXpress and other publications. See more at www.ozcana.com.

FEW WEEKS ago, we had International Women’s Day, on which the world celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women. Here in Denmark, of course, we have a female prime minister despite it only being 98 years ago that women earned the right to vote in Danish government elections. Gender equality has come a long way. But this column will not be about the celebration of achievements, but rather about the damaging developments to the female image. Often when I’m waiting for the bus, it is hard not to notice the advertising posters featuring half-naked women at the bus stop. When I get to the train station, I once again meet a half-naked woman, this time advertising electronic products. When I take a seat on the train and open the newspaper, once again a half-naked woman pops out at me. When I finally get home and turn on the TV, it is only to see a never ending parade of sensual women trying to sell me ice cream and chocolates. The beauty of women is being (mis)

used to sell a wide range of products, but it doesn’t stop there. Women’s beauty is also a goldmine in the entertainment industry. When was the last time we saw a less attractive singer singing to the top of the charts? The commercial and entertainment industries dictate an ideal image to children and young adults of how a woman is supposed to look. I wonder how it must feel for a young girl when she feels she cannot live up to the ideal slim image, because I’ve met several young girls who feel very unhappy with themselves and lack selfesteem and self-confidence. For boys, the problem is that they see women as a product that is made for them to satisfy their desires, which can be thrown out again when they are done, like a discontinued product. That is the consequence of so much emphasis on female beauty. It has created an artificial scale that rates a woman’s value on her looks. It is an extremely superficial measure. Does a woman’s value really depend only on her beauty? What about the women who are not born as natural beauty

queens? Have they no value? No wonder so many young girls today are starving themselves half to death, or struggling with eating disorders, in order to live up to the ideal image. Yes, women were created as the more beautiful sex, but a woman is so much more than a pretty face. A woman has many qualities and deserves respect, but that respect is taken from her by the images of women so prevalent on posters, commercials, music videos and so on. It has even got so bad that girls at a very young age already start to lose self-respect because they feel like they cannot live up to the ideal image of women presented in the media. Young girls use tons of make-up and lip gloss in an effort to emulate their slim, beautiful role models. But what they are blind to is the fact that others don’t see them as beautiful young women, but rather silly kids with too much make-up. It’s hard to respect people who do not respect themselves, but it is hard for girls and women to respect themselves

When I finally get home and turn on the TV, it is only to see a never ending parade of sensual women trying to sell me ice cream and chocolates when they don’t know their own value. It is therefore important that we teach girls, starting at a very young age, to know their value. A girl’s smile is, after all, her most beautiful jewellery. One doesn’t need to be the mirror image of a slim fashion model to be beautiful. In Danish, there is a phrase often said to women: “Kend din plads”, which translates as “Know your place”. But as a society we should be encouraging women to “Know your value!” All women are diamonds, so don’t let the dust gather on them.

How to bait a Jehova’s Witness

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

HAVE been spending a lot of time in airports recently. I don’t like it, but I used to love it. From 1990 to 2000, I travelled to Europe from Australasia twice a year and toured within both continents extensively. I know most European airports intimately. I enjoyed taking the earliest flight or finding the weirdest connection. I found this very exciting and it led to many great experiences. I particularly remember Olga, a 36-year-old immigration officer, at a seemingly deserted, snowed-in Moscow Airport in January 1990. From midnight to 6am she told me of her life and taught my 24-year-old self how to drink vodka and play strip poker. As I boarded an 8am flight to Vladisvostok with stars in my eyes, I wondered if I should perhaps stay and marry the quite magnificent Olga. The fact that she was already married to a businessman, who used to be a KGB agent, made the decision easy, but to this day I cannot drink a shot of Stolichnaya Red Label without a nostalgic tear in my eye. But that was back in the day. Now, I am at Amsterdam Airport cursing

my two-hour transit time. It is a time lost forever: a time no amount of beer drinking or Angry Birds playing could satisfy – or so I thought. Just as I had given up hope of a stimulating airport experience, a beacon of light fell upon me. As I sat attempting to kill more pigs with more exploding birds, I received a tap on the shoulder. “Can I talk to you about Jesus?” a voice asked. I turned to see a red-faced, overweight American clutching a bible framed against a huge Hawaiian-shirtcovered belly. What had I done to deserve such a magnificent gift? I knew then that my time at Amsterdam Airport would be a joyful one, spent participating in one of my favourite sports, ‘Jehova’s Witness Baiting’. “Oh yes, please do,” I said. “It’s about the good news of our Lord God Jehova and his Kingdom on Earth,” he began in a gorgeous Texan drawl. “Wonderful,” I prompted. “And how it will be governed by his reigning priest, the Lord Jesus”. “Oh, do continue.”

And he did, happy in the knowledge that he’d found a possible convert. His enthusiasm was unbridled. Generating enthusiasm in the Jehova is a vital factor in the baiting process. If you are to deliver the semantic coup de grâce that gets them to question themselves and their bigoted beliefs, you must get them up to full steam before you strike. To do this, I suggest the follow guidelines: 1. Engage the fanatic with innocent enthusiasm. This will allow him or her to drop their guard. 2. Avoid truth or logic. Nothing creates defensiveness in a religious fanatic faster than these two elements. 3. Timing. The moment you deliver the punchline is of the upmost importance. If one strikes too early, his or her confusion will be hardly visible, and therefore no fun at all; strike too late and you will be met only with a wall of passive aggression. One must pick one’s spots. My rule of thumb is to go for somewhere just past what you think is the middle of the monologue. Follow these simple steps and you should be able to deliver the final

punchline in such a way as to rock their core beliefs. Bear in mind, however, that Jehova’s Witnesses can be particularly difficult. I would recommend that before you attempt the baiting of a Jehova, you should rehearse a couple of times on some Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons and Scientologists. Back to my American: “…and the righteous shall ascend to heaven”. “Great,” I said. “So your God created the earth, the moon and universe?” “Yep” “Making your God an alien?” “Uh?” Pointing out that the God they describe is an alien will, in my experience, throw the psychological cat amongst the bigoted pigeons. It is my favourite punchline. Somewhat shaken he continued – my timing was good. From that point on, every time he said God, I interjected cheerily with the word ‘alien’. Watching his confused breakdown was priceless. This particular baiting session ended perfectly. “You are the son of Satan,” he said as he walked dejectedly away. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

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The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

New aquarium makes a splash with more than just fish Adam Mørk

Helen Dyrbye Den Blå Planet opened its doors to the public last week, taking visitors on an underwater journey

Located near Copenhagen Airport, Den Blå Planet mixes futuristic design with functionality and hopes to become one of Denmark’s top five tourist attractions

Some 3,000 species of fish are adjusting to their new home in Amager

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purpose to reflect not only the climate, whether a blue sky or cloudy afternoon, but the shape of a whirlpool. It can be extended as required at a later date. Biologist Anders Kofoed described the overall concept to The Copenhagen Post. “With open-air as well as indoor displays, we want visitors to feel as if they are diving underwater and coming up for air. Our focus is on more than just fish,” Kofoed said. “We’re hoping the open-air Faroe Islands tank will encourage puffins to display natural diving behaviour in full view. Sea lions will be fed in another part of the aquarium, and in our Amazon jungle section, visitors will feel the heat and hear jungle sounds while spotting lizards as butterflies and exotic birds fly past their ears.” “We want our young visitors to make friends with our animals and see all sides of their different personalities up close. Especially in the Ocean Tank, where you can walk through a 16m tunnel surrounded by shoals of beautiful fish, graceful rays and young hammerhead sharks swimming lazily round in four million litres of water.” Another aim is to teach visi-

tors how they can help save the planet on a small, everyday scale, with a primary focus on conservation. Though it looks robust, the 18m long live coral reef on show is actually a fragile ecosystem. Another tank reveals the effects of pollution in a mock-up of Lake Victoria in Africa. “Ultimately, we plan to engage in programmes to help reintroduce endangered species,” Kofoed said. But don’t expect to see that ‘reintroduction’ in action. “Naturally, the basement breeding area is off limits to the public,” Kofoed said with a wink. “We don’t want to disturb them. But if our weedy sea dragons manage to breed, for example, we will be releasing them back into the wild. We are also hoping to find a mate for our female rock hyrax, which is like a small furry elephant.” Visitors opting for special behind-the-scenes guided tours will also be able to meet a large friendly Pacific octopus, and at some point sponsors will be able to ‘adopt an animal’. In the meantime, everyone will be able to touch a crab, hold a lumpfish and learn about nature from the hands-on interactive screens and exhibits.

Per Fløng

ith its 53 aquariums and seven million litres of salt and fresh water, Den Blå Planet, home to 540 different species of fish, marine animals, birds and even crocodiles, opened last week on Friday. As the largest aquarium in northern Europe, it is expected to attract 700,000 visitors a year, which would make it one of Denmark’s five most popular attractions. The architecturally-striking aquarium is located beside Kastrup Harbour and within easy travelling distance of Copenhagen Airport and Amager Beach Park. As Christian Yssing, a spokesman for Den Blå Planet, explained, the existing aquarium in Charlottenlund had simply become too small. “When the land became available, we jumped at the chance to move here – with 3,000 fish and other animals along for the ride and a further 17,000 ‘relatives’ due to join them by the time we open,” Yssing said on an advance tour of the new aquarium. The brand new building was designed specifically for the

Den Blå Planet: The cool, clear facts Total budget: Approximately 700 million kroner Architects: 3XN Floorage: 10,000 sqm Outside area: 2,000 sqm Species on display: Some 450,000 from plankton and coral to crocodiles, snakes and 3,000 piranhas The Ocean Tank: Could hold 40 buses, has a 16m transparent tunnel and panorama window measuring 16m wide, 8m tall and 48cm thick, weighing 60 tonnes. There, visitors can finger paint with squid ink or get manicures by cleaner shrimps. An ocean of ideas – some up and running and many more in the pipeline – are intended to keep people coming back for more to this unusual architectural landmark by the sea.

Danish scientists: Universe older than thought Christian Wenande New data helps scientists map the universe and can provide a valuable insight into the Big Bang

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cientists from the Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU) space research programme are part of a European Space Agency mission that has made a startling discovery that shows that the universe is not quite what we believed. The research group revealed last week that it had developed a unique space telescope mounted on the satellite Planck that showed that the universe is much older and differently made up than previously believed. Astrophysicist and head consultant Michael LindenVørnle told Politiken newspa-

per that the discovery can have a fundamental influence on our understanding of the universe’s development and functions. “A comprehension of nature’s secrets is what provides us with the opportunity to act for better or worse,” Linden-Vørnle told Politiken. “With our discovery we’ve taken a step closer towards such an explanation.” The groundbreaking results have been obtained thanks to incredibly precise measurements from the European Planck Satellite which, between 2009 and 2012, provided the most accurate observations to date of the aftermath of the Big Bang, which marks the birth of the universe. Studying the faint glow of microwave rays that can be observed in the skies, scientists have been able to ascertain that the world’s beginnings should

actually be dated to about 60 million years sooner than currently believed. The researchers contend that the universe is actually 13.82 billion years old and not the approximately 13.20 billion years that the global science community has embraced. The information gleaned from the Planck Satellite has also given researchers a keener look into the elements that make up the universe. Some 4.9 percent consists of normal material such as what make up stars, planets and humans. An additional 26.8 percent consists of invisible dark matter that influences its surroundings with its gravitational pull, while 68.3 percent consists of what scientists call dark energy, which accelerates the expansion of the universe.

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

Always stuck in second gear? Because these friends are there for you! PHOTOS & WORDS SIGRID NEERGAARD

The Friends Cafe Night is an initiative to bring together women of all nationalities and cultural backgrounds. Jessica Rae Eisenbraun,28, from Chicago, moved to Denmark ten years ago and is now in charge of the event, which is held every second Thursday of the month. Everyone is welcome, no matter what language they speak or how old they are. People are, however, encouraged to speak Danish, as these nights also aim to integrate women as well as helping them build a network of friends in Denmark

All women are welcomed; just remember to bring a positive attitude, a smile, and your sweet tooth for these three hours of chatting and coffee drinking

The event is hosted at Cafe Kant where Nadja Urrutia, here seen with Jessica, works and is responsible for choosing the paintings for the walls. She’s proud the place has a “focus on culture and diversity”

Every time they meet, there is a new topic for discussion, to help the women get a conversation started. This time it was ‘friendship’ ... and possibly grammar

... lots of cake, snacks and ...

... coffee. Jessica ensures there is plenty of everything – to prevent awkward silences

Everyone pays 20 kroner at the beginning of the evening, which goes towards ...

When enough people have arrived, Jessica welcomes the chatterboxes with the help of 33-year-old Solveig Thimm, a teacher and roommate, who translates into Danish ...

... and then the chatting, eating and coffee sipping can begin

Though there were quite a few people ...

... all the chairs are usually filled according to Jessica, who said it is normal that between 50 and 60 people show up. But despite the small number of women who turned up, it still sure sounded like a large chicken farm

Amongst those present were 28-year-old Karolina from Poland and 23-year-old Manon from France who enjoy coming here, it was their third and second time respectively

For 27-year-old Emmi from Finland (left), it was her first time at the Friends Cafe Night, and she will probably come back. She is seen here eating her cake with 22-year-old Janet from Canada (centre) and the regular translator Solveig from Denmark.

In the darkest corner of the room, 32-year-old Jen from New York, 25-year-old Erica from Texas and 30-year-old Niki from Canada were found enjoying their tea and chatting about the event. Niki has been more times than she can keep track of and keeps coming because she likes meeting new people and practising her Danish

All the women would like to give credit to Jessica for being well-organised and arranging such a lovely event at which they all felt welcomed, entertained and happy

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

Last week on Monday marked the official inauguration of Parkmuseerne, a new museum district in the centre of Copenhagen consisting of six establishments − Davids Samling (the David Collection), Filmhuset, Den Hirschsprungske Samling (the Hirschsprung Collection), Rosenborg Slot, Statens Museum for Kunst and Statens Naturhistoriske Museum − which visitors can access from three parks: Kongens Have, Botanisk Have and Østre Anlæg park. Among the keynote speakers were Karsten Ohrt, the chairman of Parkmuseerne and director of Statens Museum for Kunst (centre left), and the city mayor, Frank Jensen (centre right). Pictured on the right (left-right) are Kjeld von Folsach, the vice-chairman of Parkmuseerne and director of the Davids Samling, Mechtild Kronenberg from Staatsliche Museen zu Berlin, Ohrt, Danish Film Institute director Henrik Bo Nielsen, Jensen, Statens Naturhistoriske Museum director Morten Meldgaard, Rosenborg Slot director Niels Knud Liebgott, and Den Hirschsprungske Samling director Marianne Saabye.

Chilean-born director Shaky Gonzalez (right) was present to soak up the praise at the premiere of his new movie, ‘Det Grå Guld’. Also pictured are cast members (left-right) Kurt Ravn, Birthe Neumann and Lars Knutzon

COMING UP SOON Lunch with Lars Løkke Rasmussen British Chamber of Commerce Event, Kromann Reumert, Sundkrogsgade 5, Cph Ø; Fri April 19, 11:45; sign-up necessary, www. bbcd.dk/en/Events The former prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the leader of Venstre political party, has worked in various ministerial positions and is a respected politician and negotiator. Known for his humour and wit, Rasmussen is also a skilled public speaker and will offer insight on his experiences in liberal government reform at this British Chamber of Commerce lunch. The event is open to corporate and small business owners only. Ladies’ Rowing Introduction Evening Lyngby Dameroklub, Christians Winthersvej 24, Lyngby; Mon April 15, 19:00; email adk@ adm.ku.dk to register Row away those extra winter kilos while building friendships with other women at Lyngby Womens’ Rowing Club. The introduction evening (held in English) will introduce you to the sport and the club’s social traditions, and give you the chance to try out the rowing machines yourself. Finally, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and a slice of homemade cake and have your questions answered by the club members.

Information meeting for spouses International House, Gyldenløvesgade 11, Cph V; Thu April 11, 12:00-14:00; email cphcareerprogram@bif.kk.dk by April 8 to register, www.facebook.com/ copenhagencareerprogram Learn about how to start language, integration and job seeking courses, unions and unemployment funds, and how to go about starting your own business – all while enjoying coffee, tea and cake. Tax Seminar Expat in Denmark event, Microsoft, Frydenlunds Allé 6, Vedbæk; Wed April 3, starting at 16:00; www.expatindenmark.com/events Do you find yourself baffled by the Danish tax system? Get your questions answered by the tax authorities Skat. There wil be a Q&A session with tax advisers and small group or one-to-one sessions if needed. Blue Planet Visit The Blue Planet Aquarium, Jacob Fortlingsvej 1, Kastrup; Sat April 6, 13:00; tickets: 144kr, kids: 85kr; www.meetup.com/american-233/events/100535312/; www.denblaaplanet.dk Join Copenhagen international expats to explore the newly opened Blue Planet, now northern Europe’s newest and biggest aquarium.

The Czech ambassador’s residence was the venue last week on Tuesday for a presentation in English by Birger Rosendahl, the son of the governor of Northwest Greenland from 1924 to 1939, about the paintings and drawings by the Greenlandic hunter and painter Jakob Danielsen. Pictured here are the Czech ambassador Zdeněk Lyčka and Rosendahl

Job searching and competencies: First Job Workshop International House, Gylenløvesgade 11, Cph V; Thu April 4, 17:00-19:30; free adm; register at copenhagencareerprogram.eventbrite.com; www.forstejob.dk This seminar will help international job-seekers gain insight into the Danish labour market and how to land that highlycoveted first position. Curry Night at India Palace India Palace, HC Andersens Boulevard, Cph V; Sat April 13, starting at 19:00; buffet price: 135kr; sign up at www.meetup. com/brit-250/events/106700112 by April 2; www.indiapalace.dk Join the British Expats Meetup Group for an evening of curry and conversation. Intimate Migrations: Marriage, Sex Work & Kinship in Transnational Migration Danish Institute for International Studies, Strandgade 71, Cph K; Fri April 5, 09:00-12:30; free adm; register by Thu April 4 ,12:00; at www.diis.dk/sw127489.asp This seminar addresses how intimacies influence transnational migration and issues like sex work migration, queer migration and sex tourism. Coffee and a free sandwich lunch will be provided for participants.

JESSICA HANLEY

If the Indian ambassador says it’s good, you know it must be, but if you don’t believe Ashok Kumar Attri (centre, pictured next to his wife), then check out the recent reviews! Restaurant Mumbai, located on Vigerslev Allé in Valby, is apparently setting new standards in Indian cooking, a cuisine that in this city has had its fair share of detractors over the years

AT WORK AND AT PLAY

Isabelle Valentine’s husband works at a video game company and gets to play at work. She also wanted to play for a living so she started the Montessori International Preschool. She moved to Frederiksberg in May 2008 where she lives with her young family.

Easter is here but where is spring?

OMEHOW the first few months of 2013 have slipped by and Easter is already here. Normally Easter reminds us of the onset of spring: daffodils in the parks, longer days, newborn lambs and bunnies, and the end of the cold dark winter. This year winter seems to be dragging on more than ever, and it is hard to imagine that spring really is coming when the temperature drops below freezing every night. Although we live in a fairly non-religious society, it is impressive how the Danes make the most of Easter. Three national holidays are matched only by Christmas. In the UK, where we used to live, there were just two national holidays at Easter. And in France, there is just one. As you can imagine,

Easter in Japan, where we lived ten years ago, is not celebrated at all. Instead they have ‘Shunbun no Hi’ (Vernal Equinox Day) on or around 20 March as a day for the admiration of nature and the love of living things. Of course, this is the

As you can imagine, Easter in Japan, where we lived 10 years ago, is not celebrated at all essence of Easter: to celebrate the arrival of spring and the promise of months of warm and long days. At our preschool we explain the changing seasons to the children, and we will do

traditional things such as paint eggs and hold an Easter egg hunt. We are also going to take things a step further with our purchase of an egg incubator and some fertilised eggs. We will show the chicken eggs to the children, and we will be able to watch them hatch and then raise the little chicks. Exciting times! And once the chicks are too large for us to cope with, we will send them to a local farm where they will know how to care for them properly. Hopefully this will reinforce the themes of birth, life and rejuvenation that come with Easter and the arrival of spring. Now all we need is for the weather to get warmer! So this Easter, enjoy the five days off work that Denmark generously gives us, and hopefully we can wish this long winter a final fond farvel! God Påske!

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

13 JOHN CHARLES DOLLMAN

Stereotypes! There must have been more to life ... than pillaging! COLOURBOX

AMY STRADA American students reveal the misconceptions they held about the Vikings before they arrived here – a reputation that might or might not be exasperated by a new History Channel series

S OF LATE, the Vikings have become something of a particular interest in pop culture, but is what we see and read really that close to the truth? What do visitors to this country really know about a civilisation whose global penetration was so immense that its legacy is still evident in many corners of the planet today? One thing is undeniable: they liked to travel, but in recent times, the invasion has been on the other foot, and we at The Copenhagen Post, following the premiere in early March of the History Channel’s new drama series ‘Vikings’, thought it might be fun to catch up with a few of the many thousands of foreign students currently living here to see what their preconceptions of the mighty warriors were before they ‘set sail’ for Denmark. Would it be one of hornyhelmeted rapists, or would it be more in keeping with the vision of ‘Vikings’, even if it has been written by Michael Hirst, the creator of Showtime’s historically inaccurate drama about Henry VIII’s England, ‘The Tudors’, and is aimed at young men who like video games and comics. That was the question when we caught up with a bunch of American students who have all been over here since January participating in the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), a programme that hosts international students in central Copenhagen.

“I heard your wife is getting a divorce.” “Yes, she’s running off with a horticulturalist.”

“I always thought of Vikings as brutal and brainless,” said Liz Stockton, a student at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. Stockton, like a few of her compatriots, clearly had a view of the Vikings that has become a stereotype for most. Words like “barbaric”, “crude”, “bloodthirsty” and “emotionless” are used over and over again to describe them, along with the image of a tall, muscular man who drink out of skulls and wears the obligatory horned helmet. “I mostly thought of the Minnesota football team. In general, I thought of them pillaging, drinking a lot and being rather crude,” added Claire Runquist, a student at Macalester College in Minnesota. Janis Granger, a professor who teaches classes on Viking studies at the DIS, has been over here slightly longer: almost 30 years in fact.

giving ‘Vikings’ three out of six, noting that the series manages to portray the Scandinavians as much more cultured and human than the Viking stereotype. “It is full of fight scenes and bloody violence,” it said. “But it also observed how Viking society was built up with balanced powers and early democratic measures.” ‘Vikings’ certainly portrays the ancient Scandinavians as pretty civilised. There are many examples of this from men taking pride in their personal hygiene (bathing once a week was a lot by European standards) to women enjoying similar rights to men: they could inherit property, and ask for a divorce and reclaim their dowries. “It wasn’t all about the looting,” contends Granger. “The Vikings were also merchants, farmers, and pioneers looking for land to cultivate. They were democratic and proud of their heritage.” And of course, there is the most erroneous Viking characteristic of them all: the horned helmet. Cultured and exacer-

bated by the many stories told in the 19th century, the only ever authentic Viking helmet discovered was notably hornless. So although it is true that many Nordic and German priests wore horned helmets during ceremonies, the idea that the Vikings used these helmets as frequently as showcased is sheer fabrication. One matter that is undisputed is the interest in Granger’s Viking classes. “There does seem to be a renewed interest: enrolment in my Vikings class has doubled over the last two years,” she contends. “I think TV shows like ‘Game of Thrones’, the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies, and ‘Thor’ from 2011 have got people interested in the Vikings and Nordic mythology. After all, the writer of ‘Game of Thrones’ was inspired by ‘Lord of the Rings’ creator JRR Tolkien, a British scholar interested in old Norse and Icelandic sagas, Nordic mythology and Viking life. And now with the ‘Vikings’ TV series, the interest is sure to grow.

“I think some of the erroneous, preconceived notions comes from comic strips like ‘Hägar the Horrible’ and the Marvel comic ‘Thor’,” she said, commenting on the fact that, although many seem to say they have an un-

derstanding of who the Vikings were, few actually know what they were really about. “‘Vikings’ could be a good way to learn about history − at least if it’s reliable and correct.” Politiken seemed satisfied,

I imagined big, burly, blonde, bearded, longhaired men holding big hammers and standing at the helms of Viking warships. Rachel Blomberg Cornell University

They were actually very hygienic. Battle and honour were very important, as well as loyalty to family bloodlines. Claire Runquist Macalester College

I feel that they are I viewed them as still crude and earthlarge, ugly men who ly, but they have a wore many furs and long fascinating history. had poor manners. Lindsey Breier Jen Caplan Trinity University Gettysburg College

I think it’s interesting how the focus on the Vikings is always on their pillaging and plundering, but no-one ever mentions their strategic trade routes to the Middle East. Julia Dent Meredith College

The new stereotypes I was left with were beserkers who raided British monasteries − in nonhorned helmets! − and occasionally pulled out people’s lungs to put on their backs. Diana Jing Wellesley College

Some of the stereotypes hold, but their culture was much richer than I previously imagined − for example, their emphasis on poetry and personal hygiene. JD Moore Lafayette College

There was a lot more to the Vikings than just the rape and pillaging. They were actually pretty clever and their violence was a product of the social and political stuff going on at the time. Liz Stockton Tufts University

Sports

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

Christian Wenande The Samba beats, the Copacabana nudity ban and that statue of Christ are within reach again for the national football team and their fans, the ‘Roligans’, who are all hoping to qualify for the 2014 World Cup

he emphatic 3-0 defeat of the Czech Republic in Olomouc last week on Friday night, the country’s worst home defeat since Czechoslovakia lost 1-5 to West Germany in 1985, meant that at the time of going to press a win over Bulgaria on Tuesday evening would put Denmark in prime position to secure at least a play-off spot in their efforts to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Denmark’s qualification chances had looked in dire straits in October after they drew with Bulgaria and lost to Italy in two games that they played a total of 110 minutes against ten men. After three games, Morten Olsen’s men had only managed to secure two points and were sitting second from bottom, just above Malta and well behind second-placed Bulgaria (nine points after beating Malta on

I do expect a tight game, as they have been so far. Bulgaria drew 0-0 in Czech Republic and will come with a similar mentality. Friday) and Italy, the leader of Group B with ten points. But after Friday’s matches, Denmark leapfrogged the Czechs into third and could end up just one point behind Bulgaria in second with a match in hand if they win Tuesday’s six-pointer at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. Furthermore, Denmark will have better headto-head stats versus the Czechs and the Bulgarians, which could prove invaluable if they end up on equal points.

Furthermore, Denmark have already played their three main rivals away from home and have an easier run-in compared to their competitors. They face Bulgaria at home, Armenia and Malta twice, the two weakest teams in the group, and host Italy in Copenhagen at a time when Italy may have already qualified and not be as motivated to perform. The Bulgarians on the other hand face Denmark, Italy, Armenia and Malta away and the Czechs at home. The Czechs face Italy and Armenia twice, and Bulgaria and Malta away. ”The chances have improved significantly. I had hope for three points [in total against Bulgaria and the Czech Republic], but one point was more realistic,” former national team player Morten Bisgaard told TV2 Sport. “Now we got three points from the Czechs, are better head-to-head, and if we beat Bulgaria on Tuesday, then it really looks promising.” Italy certainly look poised to finish top of the group and secure direct qualification, but even if Denmark finish second in the group, they are still not guaranteed a play-off spot. From the nine European qualification groups, only the eight best second-placed teams progress to the play-off round, which is contested over two legs, home and away. When selecting the eight, only points gained against the teams that fill the other top five positions are counted. In the Danish group’s case, this will probably mean that all the points scored against Malta will be nullified. This will therefore add extra pressure on Denmark to win both their games against Armenia and perhaps get a tough result against Italy in October as well. Still, eight out of nine are good odds, and there are several other groups where at least three teams are vying for second place and therefore likely to take points off each other: Group C (Sweden, Austria and the Republic of Ireland), Group D (Hungary, Romania and Turkey), Group E (Iceland, Albania and Norway), Group G (Greece, Slovakia and Lithuania) and Group H (England/Montenegro, Ukraine and Poland).

Scanpix/Claus Bech

Czech point and Bendtner barrier negotiated: the road to Rio is open!

Simon Kjær (right) towers over the Czech defence and a head-bandaged Andreas Cornelius to nod home Denmark’s second

Indeed, European qualification is an intricate process these days, but before the sports nerds bust out their calculators to figure it all out, Bulgaria must be overcome on Tuesday night. And it won’t be a walk in the park(en). Aside from spanking Malta 6-0 on Friday, Bulgaria have Group B’s top scorer, Aleksandar Tonev, on board and will take confidence out of playing an hour against Denmark with ten men in October and only conceding once. On top of that, a few Danish players picked up knocks in the intense Czech match and face late fitness tests. “Particularly Christian Eriksen and Michael Krohn-Dehli are affected, so we have to see tomorrow if they will be ready to play,” Olsen told Ekstra Bladet tabloid over the weekend. “I do expect a tight game, as they have been so far. Bulgaria drew 0-0 in the Czech Republic and will come with a similar mentality.” Another issue plaguing the national team is the lack of supporters attending home match-

es. The national football association, DBU, has only sold about 17,000 tickets to the Bulgaria game, which has led to the players appealing to the fans to turn up and lend their support. “It’s more fun to play for 30,000 than 10,000 and empty stands. It means everything to have the 12th man at your back with 30,000 in Parken,” the team’s goalkeeper Stephan Andersen told Ekstra Bladet. “We saw that against Portugal in the Euro qualifiers where we secured a good result.” The Danish fans have been avoiding the national team matches recently as many feel that DBU’s prices are far too high. Tickets for the Bulgaria game are being sold for between 195 and 445 kroner on www. billetnet.dk. One politician even called for DBU to give away tickets for free in order to attract a larger crowd. Sweden, on the other hand, doesn’t have that problem. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and company drew nearly 50,000 to their match against the Republic of Ireland on Friday.

Factfile | Czech Republic 0 Denmark 3 Three second-half goals by young striker Andreas Cornelius, defender Simon Kjær and midfielder Niki Zimling earned Denmark the all-important win in the Czech Republic last week on Friday. After a scrappy first half with few clear-cut chances, the Danes emerged from the locker rooms invigorated and scored three quality goals. Cornelius scored his first goal for Denmark just before the hour with a well-taken blast into the roof of the net past a stunned Petr Cech, before Kjær settled Danish nerves with a towering header from a corner. Zimling then completed the rout with a long drive with eight minutes left on the clock. “It was a fantastic match with two teams who wanted to win at all costs,” Morten Olsen told Kanal 5. “There were not so many chances, and the football was very direct, but when we scored we gained more composure and space to play our game.”

Factfile | Denmark vs Bulgaria Denmark have played Bulgaria 14 times. Denmark have won three, Bulgaria four and there have been seven draws. Of the last five matches, Denmark have won three and drawn two. According to Ladbroke’s, Denmark are 4/7 to beat Bulgaria. And they are now 11/8 with bookmakers to finish in the top two of Group B, the same odds at the Czechs, while Bulgaria are 11/4.

Sports news IN brief Woz gets served

Curling into the Olympics

Pierre says “Non, merci”

Laudrup odds on for top

Hansen on song in Malaysia

Devils trial for youngster

Caroline Wozniacki’s place in the top ten in the world is in jeopardy following her surprising elimination from the Miami Masters tournament in the third round this Saturday. The world number nine lost 2-6, 4-6 to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, 20, who is ranked 64 places beneath her. The defeat comes less than a week after Wozniacki lost the final of the Indian Wells.

A disappointing World Championship finished on a positive note, as the women’s curling national team qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Despite only winning four of their eleven games and finishing eighth, the team managed to bag enough points to ensure an Olympic spot. The last game of the tournament ended with a 8-5 loss to Switzerland.

Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Pierre-Emile Højberg has confirmed his preference to play international football for Denmark, instead of France. Højberg, 17, who joined Bayern from Brøndby, has already played 27 games for the Danish youth team. Doubts had been raised about his intentions in January, when his French mother claimed he intended to choose the French national team.

An impressive first season for the first Danish manager in the English Premier League might end on an even higher note for Michael Laudrup. According to bookmakers, Laudrup is the main contender to win the EPL Manager of the Year award. With odds of just 8/11, he is a strong favourite ahead of Man United’s Alex Ferguson (11/4) and Tottenham’s Andreas Villa Boas (12/1).

Anders Hansen finished third in the Maybank Malaysian Open on Sunday. The tournament is part of the PGA European Tour’s Race to Dubai. Even though Hansen finished the final round with a score of 66, he was haunted by a dire second round in which he only managed a 73. Hansen finished 11 under par, just two behind winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Young OB defensive talent Jacob Rasmussen was recently handed a week-long trial by the English Premier League club Manchester United. The 15-year-old, who is currently part of OB’s youth set-up, has played seven games for Denmark’s under-16s team. Should Rasmussen move to Manchester, he will join up with a fellow Dane, Anders Lindegaard, the club’s second choice keeper.

BUSINESS

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

COLOURBOX

Executive salaries skyrocketing

COLOURBOX

Salaries of top executives rose 18 percent between 2011 and 2012, while ordinary workers had to make do with less than two percent

Between 1972 and 2011, oil companies earned 184 billion kroner from North Sea oil, while the Danish government raked in 287 billion kroner

Bayerngas threatens to end North Sea oil investments

PETER STANNERS Smaller investors the most affected by the government’s harmonisation of tax rules for North Sea oil companies

GERMAN oil company is considering pulling out its investment in developing oil fields in the North Sea after the Danish government increased taxes on oil companies. Arne Westeng, the administrative director for Bayerngas in Denmark, told financial daily Børsen that the changes forced the company to reconsider its investments. “Denmark no longer appears attractive,” Westeng said. “We have stopped all preparations for bidding in the next licencing round because it no longer makes sense.” Westeng added that there was undoubtedly new oil to be found in Denmark’s sector of the North Sea, but that the changing conditions meant that he could no longer recommend investing more money to the board of Bayerngas. Bayerngas is responding to changes to the way North Sea oil companies are taxed, which were decided earlier this month. Oil companies used to operate under a variety of different tax arrangements, but these will

now be harmonised so that all companies operate under the same conditions. The changes arrive after the government completed a yearlong investigation into a deal the former government made with the DUC, a consortium of four oil companies, in 2003. The goal was to renegotiate an arrangement that lasts until 2042 in order to give the government a larger share of the profits. The government ultimately abandoned its ambition of raising taxes on the DUC, however, after it realised it was impossible without activating costly compensation clauses in the contract. Instead, the government took the tax rules that the DUC operates under and applied them to the rest of the oil companies operating in the Danish sector of the North Sea – a move that is expected to raise an additional 27.5 billion kroner that will be earmarked specifically for renovating Denmark’s rail network. This revenue is dependent on oil companies continuing their operations in the North Sea, however, so it would be counterproductive if the rules led to companies such as Bayerngas withdrawing their investments. However, the climate, energy and buildings minister, Martin Lidegaard (Radikale), argued that the new rules would actu-

Denmark no longer appears attractive ally benefit oil producers. “By harmonising the North Sea tax rules, the conditions for hydrocarbon development are standardised,” Lidegaard told Børsen. “The recently completed [government commission into DUC’s tax arrangement] concluded that standardised taxation would create better investment incentives for businesses.” The new tax rules only affect three companies – Bayerngas, Dong and Hess – which today account for about ten percent of the oil production in the North Sea. Bayerngas has so far invested two billion kroner developing new oil fields together with Dong Energy. The German oil company is now suggesting that the government’s oil company, Nordsøfunden, which owns 20 percent of the DUC, purchase their activities in Danish waters. According to Børsen, oil companies have earned 184 billion kroner from North Sea oil between 1972 and 2011, while the Danish government has raked in 287 billion kroner over the same period.

XECUTIVE salaries at some of Denmark’s most valuable companies are rising more than ten times faster than those of ordinary workers ,according to a new study from consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). PwC examined the salaries of executives from the 20 most traded companies on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, the C20 (currently only 19 companies as AP Moller Maersk is listed twice), and concluded that the average executive salary rose 18 percent in 2012 to an average of 11.1 million kroner a year. “The rise is a result of the fact that the size of the variable share of salaries, such as bonuses and shares, have risen,” Lars Holtoug from PwC told EPN.dk. “The executives’ salaries are dependent upon the company’s performance, and C20 shares rose an average 27 percent in 2012.” About 50 percent of a C20 executive salary is variable, according to financial daily Børsen, meaning that as stock prices rise so too do the salaries. But the rise of stock prices has occurred despite the fact that Denmark has yet to fully

Those in the corner offices of the nation’s largest companies are getting richly compensated while their employees hardly get a raise

recover from the economic crisis, and that ordinary workers and managers have had to make do with salary increases of only between one and two percent over the same period. Danish executives earn a much smaller share of their salaries from variable sources compared to the US, for example, where 71 percent of a top executive’s salary is performance-based. The Danish association of shareholders, Dansk Aktionærforening (DA), was also critical of the high wages that board members are earning. “We think it sends a bad signal at a time of crisis in which employees are facing cuts and low or no salary increases,” DA’s managing director, Jens Møller Nielsen, told EPN.dk, adding

that it wasn’t fair that the salaries increased just because the stock was rising. “It will take many years to determine whether the management actually created any value,” he said. Holtoug argued, however, that the rise in salary was the result of increased demand for highly-skilled managers. “C20 companies operate in a global world where there is competition for the best top managers,” Holtoug told EPN.dk. “In order to attract highly-qualified foreigners to Denmark, we need to have competitive salaries.” The salaries of C20 executives varies widely, from 5.7 million at FLSmidth and 13.7 million at Novo Nordisk to 25.7 million at Carlsberg. (PS)

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Date: 26 March 2013

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

THEEMPLOYMENT COPENHAGEN POST THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE

SPOUSE: Nitisha Sinha FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Masters in Geography and B.Ed. EXPERIENCE: 4 years 3 months in teaching geography in schools for the middle to senior level. I was also a foreign expat teacher and General Education Officer at Ministry Of Education,of Singapore in Singapore. LOOKING FOR: Full time / Part time jobs in International School/Colleges/Universities to teach Geography. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi and Bengali ( reading, writing and speaking). IT EXPERIENCE: Familiar with MS Office (Word, Powerpoint,) and Photoshop. CONTACT: nitz84@gmail.com, Tel: +45 7149 6579 SPOUSE: Silvia Figueira FROM: Portugal SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Landscape Architect Degree at Lisbon Technical University. EXPERIENCE: 14+ years of professional experience in planning and developing Land Use, Urban Planning, and Landscaping projects, that include development of master plans, urban design/ renewal, retail areas, leisure areas, schools, residential complexes and private housing. Experience in garden construction consultancy and maintenance schedules. LOOKING FOR: Part/Full/Freelance work as a Landscape Architect at Architecture/or Landscape offices. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Portuguese mother tongue. Fluent in English and Spanish. Basic knowledge of French. Starting Danish course. IT EXPERIENCE: Proficient in the use of AutoCAD and MS Office. Trained in Adobe Illustrator/ Photoshop and ArcGIS. CONTACT: silviamfigueira@gmail.com, Tel: +45 2237 4427 SPOUSE: Ylenia Fiorini FROM: Italy SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Post Graduate Master’s Degree in Peace Studies, Development Cooperation, International Mediation and Conflict resolution. EXPERIENCE: I have ten years experience as social worker in Italy,and experience in various fields, in the social and third sector and I feel that my educational background combined with my campaign assistant practice in the Ngo Burma Campaign, in Barcelona, has been an excellent preparation. In the same way also my job experiences in the social field made me open to different situations and to see them as a source of knowledge. LOOKING FOR: Entry Level jobs in the third sector field, in international organization or NGO’s. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Italian Mother tongue, fluent in Spanish, English, French, Swedish (basic). IT EXPERIENCE: Ms Office (Mac,Windows). CONTACT: yleniafiorini@yahoo.it 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 4212 9175 SPOUSE: S.M. Ariful Islam FROM: Bangladesh SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: PhD student (2nd year) in Language Policy and Practice in Aalborg University, MA in Bilingualism, MA in English Linguistics, BA in English. EXPERIENCE: 18 months as a University lecturer in English in Bangladesh. Taught advanced grammar, four skills (listening, speaking, reading & writing), ELT courses, Second Language theories, Psycho linguistics, Sociolinguistics. LOOKING FOR: A position of English teacher/lecturer in English Medium Schools, Colleges and Universities. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Bengali (mother tongue), English (second language), Danish (fluent) Danske Uddannelse PD3, Hindi and Urdu (Spoken) and Swedish (basic). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office. CONTACT: ariful@id.aau.dk, arif401@yahoo.com, Tel: +45 4277 8296 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 5021 9942. SPOUSE: Mohamed Ismail FROM: Egypt SEEKING WORK IN: Marketing & Sales QUALIFICATION: Master of Science in Business and Economics with Specialization in Marketing. From Linnaeus University. Vaxjo, Sweden. EXPERIENCE: 3+ years in Marketing and sales, worked for one of the biggest Steel Companies in the middle east, worked in FMCG as a key account Sales Supervisor, worked as customer service international account for one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the world. Experience in business development and innovation. Worked in sales in retail shops. Very motivated and high potential, believe in team work and good in sales and presentation skills. LOOKING FOR: Part time or full time in Copenhagen LANGUAGE SKILLS: Fluent in English and Arabic. Danish and Swedish (intermediate and currently learning). IT EXPERIENCE: Excellent in MS office, Excel, Word and Powerpoint, excellent in Browsing and internet searching. Excellent in SPSS, basic knowledge of Photoshop. CONTACT: mohamediismail86@yahoo.com, Tel: -45 5361 0031 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: +45 7156 1151

PARTNERS:

28 March - 5 April 2013 SPOUSE: Raffaele Menafra FROM: Italy SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: A degree as Prevention techniques in Work and Workplaces. EXPERIENCE: I worked 4 years in a rehabilitation clinic. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Italian (native), English, Danish (currently learning). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office. CONTACT: menafra1@yahoo.it SPOUSE: Clotilde Imbert FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master of town planning and development and master of urban geography (Paris IV-Sorbonne) EXPERIENCE: 5 years in field of town planning and development: Coordinator in urban project in a semi-public company: supervised a major urban project in Paris area (coordination of studies, acquisition of lands, worked with Planning Development of the Town Council, architects, developers to define the master plan and implement the project); Officer in research and consultancy firm (urban diagnosis, environmental impact assessments, inhabitants consultation). LOOKING FOR: A job in urban project field: planning department of Town Council or consultancy firm in town planning, environment and sustainable development, architecture firm, real estate development company. LANGUAGE SKILLS: French (mother tongue), English (professional usage), Spanish (basic), Danish (In progress). IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office, Abode Illustrator, AutoCad (basic), PC and Mac. CONTACT: clotilde.imbert@gmail.com SPOUSE: Chiara Rodighiero FROM: Siena, Italy SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen or nearby areas, Greater Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Ph.D. in Microbiology (Univeristy of Bristol, UK), Laurea (Degree) in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (University of Padova, Italy), Project Manager Professional Certification (George Washington University, School of Business). EXPERIENCE: 5 years as Senior Project Manager for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics. Responsibility for managing multiple global projects at various stages of Research and Development. Experience coordinating activities within cross-functional teams and ensuring that internal research activities are fully aligned with project goals. Experience also includes managing a team of scientists, controlling research budgets and resource allocation. Also have experience working for Biotech (in United Kingdom) and academia (Harvard Medical School). LOOKING FOR: Full time position in the Pharma/Biotech Industry in Research, Project Management or related fields suiting my qualifications and experience. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Italian mother tongue, very good command of English and a working knowledge of French. IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft Office package. Excellent command of internet and ability to find information on the web. Excellent command of word-processor and spreadsheet applications. CONTACT: chiararodighiero@hotmail.com, Tel +39 348 790 7554 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: +45 527 1184. SPOUSE: Momina Bashir Awan FROM: Pakistan SEEKING WORK IN: All of Denmark QUALIFICATION: MBA (Degrees Assessed by Danish Agency for International Education). EXPERIENCE: 4 years of wide experience as Human Resources Analyst in a USA based Pakistani. Organization. Involved in Recruitment of IT personnel for outsourcing, Compensation and benefits planning, Wage analysis, Conduct Training and Development Seminars and Team building. One year of Experience in Telesales of Citibank NA., 6 months of experience in Customer Services in Telecom sector. LOOKING FOR: Jobs in HR and Customer Services LANGUAGE SKILLS: English [Fluent], Urdu [Mother tongue], Hindi [Fluent], Danish [Beginner’s Level]. CONTACT: mominabashir@msn.com, Tel: +45 7135 2387 SPOUSE: Sonia Higgins FROM: Australia SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen as Restaurant Kitchen Hand QUALIFICATION: Diplome de Cuisine Le Cordon Bleu Certificate Thai Culinary Craft Work, Wandee Culinary School, Bangkok Thailand Experience with Spanish and Latin American cuisine LOOKING FOR: Entry cuisine position. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Spanish, French. CONTACT: tlsmhiggins1@aol.com SPOUSE: Tanzeel ur Rehman FROM: Pakistan SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Ms in Business administration from Sweden EXPERIENCE: 4+ years of experience as Customer Management and Profile Keeping in Telecom sector in Denmark. Implemented and follow Business Ethics in all the Marketing, promotional and branding activities throughout all the Denmark. Organized events for different communities for 50-500 people. Worked in Banking sector as Business development Executive. LOOKING FOR: Full time or part time job. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent), Urdu(native), Punjabi (mother language), Danish (intermediate- currently learning). IT-EXPERIENCE: Bachelors in Computer Science. CONTACT: EMAIL: tanzeel.lyca@gmail.com, Tel: +45 4223 8800 SPOUSE: Lynn Kim FROM: South Korea SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Science in Oceanography, Inha University, Incheon, Korea 2008. Studied Chinese in Yentai, Yentai University, Shandong, China Fall 2006. Complete a course in Korean Language Teacher’s training, 2012 EXPERIENCE: Korea Coast Guard, Donghae; Pyongtaek, Police constable. Yeonsu Private Institute, Incheon, Teacher in Elementary, Middle School, and High School students in English. The Hankyoreh Newspaper Company, Seoul, Editorial bureau assistant. Weather and funeral column writing, Provide administrative support to the city desk. Inha University Newspaper, Incheon, Photo Journalist LOOKING FOR: Korean tutor as a part time job. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Fluent in English, intermediate Mandarin, Mongolian language, I’m learning Danish on Youtube. IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office (Excel, Powerpoint, Word). CONTACT: amorphophallus@jinbo.net

SPOUSE: Keshab Nidhi Pantha FROM: Nepal SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Masters in Mathematics EXPERIENCE: 4 years Mathematics teaching in secondary level and 2 years Mathematics teaching in Bachelor level. LOOKING FOR: Full time/part time Mathematics teaching in international school or College/ University. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English,Nepali,Hindi and little Danish. IT EXPERIENCE: 6 months diploma in computer with MS words and excel. CONTACT: pantha_kn@yahoo.com, Tel: +45 7157 9893 SPOUSE: Erik Metzger FROM: San Francisco, CA USA SEEKING WORK IN: Drug & Alcohol Counselling QUALIFICATION: Masters degree in addiction counselling from Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies; Currently preparing for the IC&RC counselling exam. EXPERIENCE: Drug & Alcohol Counsellor; Masters in Addiction Counselling from Hazelden Graduate School in Minnesota, USA, August 2012. Ten years of active work in various 12-step programs. I can meet with you and/or your family to develop a custom recovery plan; all ages welcome. Registered Yoga Teacher through: www.yogaalliance.org since July, 2010. I can supply yoga mats and supports; my apartment or yours! Teacher of business English with training from Berlitz, Virksomhedsskolen and Denmark’s Library School (Cand.scient.bibl., 2007). *All diploma’s and certifications available upon request. LOOKING FOR: Part/Full/Freelance/Volunteer work at treatment center and/or outpatient clinic. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English: Native; Danish: Fluent verbal skills and intermediate reading and writing. IT EXPERIENCE: PC and Mac – trained in many software packages and databases. CONTACT: erikmetz@gmail.com SPOUSE: Clémence Arnal FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen; Region Sjælland QUALIFICATION: Wastewater/drinking water (processes and treatments, building design, water sampling and pollution rate measurement); environment protection (river basin management, waste management). EXPERIENCE: Waste sorting representative (Office “Communauté du Pays d’Aix”, France); Leaks investigation on drinking water networks, Help to communes to deal with their drinking water system, Control operation of individual sanitation systems (Office “G2C Environment”, France); Drinking water stations security: putting the Antiterrorist security plan in practice, employees security , Distribution network security: determining the cost of a network re-chlorination unit (“Drinking Water” administration of Aix en Provence, France). LOOKING FOR: Water treatment assistant / engineer. LANGUAGE SKILLS: French (mother tongue); English (Fluent); Danish (Prøve Dansk 3). IT EXPERIENCE: MS-Office; AutoCAD (basic); Mapinfo (basic). CONTACT: clem.arnal@gmail.com, Tel: +45 2334 6322 SPOUSE: Lorenzo Albano F. FROM: Venezuela SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen and Capital Region QUALIFICATIONS: PhD, MSc in Physics, BSc in Geophysics. EXPERIENCE: Researcher/programmer of numerical/computational methods in geophysics, signal processing, tomographic inversion, wave propagation. Lecturer in physics, mathematics and informatics. Researcher in theoretical quantum optics and quantum information. LOOKING FOR: Employment, freelance work, internship or plain unpaid collaboration in applied research/engineering/scientific computing and numerical methods/science education/ computational geophysics. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Fluent in Spanish (native), English and Italian. Danish (Modul 4, DanskUddannelse 3). IT EXPERIENCE: MSDOS, Windows 7/Vista/XP, Linux (Ubuntu, Solaris), included Shell scripting. C, C++, FORTRAN, Visual BASIC. Web: HTML, CSS, Joomla!. LaTeX2E. Mathematica, MATLAB, MS Office/ OpenOffice, PhotoShop/Gimp. CONTACT: lorenzoalbanof@gmail.com, Tel: +45 5015 9819 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: Mohammad Ahli- Gharamaleki FROM: Iran SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master degree in chemical engineering. EXPERIENCE: 5+ years as a chemical engineer in R&D oil/gas projects as a team leader or member in Iran. LOOKING FOR: A position in an International company to expand my experience and expertise. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Azeri (native), English (fluent), Farsi (fluent), Arabic (good), Turkish (good), Danish(beginner). IT EXPERIENCE: Professional (MATLAB, Hysys, Aspen plus, Auto Cad, others (Office, Minitab). CONTACT: mohammad_ahli@yahoo.com, Tel: +45 7163 1285 SPOUSE: Christina Ioannou FROM: Greece SEEKING WORK IN: Central Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MA in HRM London, UK. Bsc. American College USA. EXPERIENCE: Worked as a manager for 11 years in the retailing sector – fashion industry for a big international corporation. I had budget and personnel responsibility. I was in charge of the purchasing department. LOOKING FOR: Any kind of industry. Not simply in fashion. Where I will apply my leadership, sales, communicative and purchasing skills. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Swedish,Italian, French, Greek IT-EXPERIENCE: MS Office. CONTACT: christina_ioannou@yahoo.com, Tel: +46 7684 35211

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

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.

Employment

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

SKT. JOSEF’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

IN ROSKILDE Seeks Secondary teachers

The Bagel Co is looking for fulltime Bagelmakers A Bagelmaker at The Bagel Co is extraverted, smiling and enjoys to talk to the customers. You are required to be enthusiastic and positive towards those customers who know The Bagel Co and the bagel concept already as well as towards those who do not. As a member of the staff at The Bagel Co, it is important to be responsible in order to become part of a bigger team in which everyone depends on each other’s work and enthusiasm. Several members of staff often work in the shops at the same time, which requires cooperation and teamwok. Key criteria for a Bagelmaker: Extraverted Serviceminded Responsible Cooperative Overview

Send your application to: thebagelco@thebagelco.dk

o t d r a w r o f k o We lo from you! hearing

If you want to know more www.thebagelco.dk

Skt. Josef’s School welcomes Secondary teachers to teach subjects including Mathematics, English, History, Chinese and Spanish. Our new International Department at the school is expanding and so we are looking for teachers qualified to teach the Cambridge International Curriculum. Applicants must be certified teachers and fluent speakers of English. We encourage teachers with experience from International Schools and teachers with some curriculum coordination experience to apply. Experience with Special Needs is an advantage. In the process of hiring, we would like you to teach a lesson or show us a plan of how you would organise a lesson. Applications, including a CV and a letter of motivation with a definition of the applicant’s philosophy about the teaching and classroom management, are to be sent to post@sktjosef.dk no later than Monday 22nd April. For a school visit or an informal talk please contact Head of International Department Line Lorentzen by telephone 0045 5339 4245 or email line@sktjosef.dk

For more information about the teaching jobs please visit www.sktjosef.dk (please look under International School section) Skt. Josefs School, Roskilde Frederiksborgvej 10 DK-4000 Roskilde +45 46 35 25 26 post@sktjosef.dk www.sktjosef.dk

Biotech Job Vacancies Lundbeck

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QA professional Trial Data Manager Labelling Coordinator Global Pricing Manager QA Chemist Global Pricing Manager Sr. Business Analyst Recruitment Partner Associate Category Manager Project Engineer IT Project Manager Senior IT Project Manager SAP BW Specialist QA professional Labelling & Graphics Coordinator Clinical Supplies Coordinator Recovery and purification scientist Clinical Supplies Coordinator Compentency Development Manager Clinical Supplies Coordinator CDM Process Developer Team Leader Principal Research Scientist Associate Manager for Biopharm AP Support HAA, Team Proces Support QA Chemist CVP Assistant QA Chemist Project Manager Statistician International Trial Manager Chemist Senior Outsourcing Professional

Leo-Pharma Business Analyst GPS – temporary position Enterprise Solution Architect in Global IT Discovery Board & Development Board Coordinator (1 year maternity cover) Head of Quality Process Stream Quality Specialist – 2 positions Senior Project Manager – launch of new product solutions Senior Project Manager - portfolio management of improvement projects Global Marketing Compliance Manager, COE Stakeholder Engagement - readvertisement Quality Optimisation & Support Specialist Business Analyst GPS – temporary position HR Business Partner for the corporate support functions

Novozymes IT Service Manager Planning Coordinator Quality professional

Ferring International Clinical Trial Manager Formulation Research Scientist, temporary position

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

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

Cover story

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

28 March - 5 April 2013

“The Lannisters are the Manchester United of ‘Game of Thrones’” Who is ... HBO

Thomas Blachman? DR/Agnete Schlichtkrull

Sigrid Neergaard He is a Danish jazz musician who is best known for being a judge on the TV show ‘X Factor’. He turns 50 on Tuesday April 2. Is ‘X Factor’ Danish? No, it’s not. It’s a rip-off of the ‘talent’ show ‘Pop Idol’. ‘X Factor’ was started in the UK by Simon Cowell, who Blachman rips off sucking his lips and issuing a constant flow of negative nothingness. Of course he’s a king (slayer), he’s the only one not covered in shit

The Kingslayer himself, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, catches up with The Copenhagen Post to give us the lowdown on season three ahead of its premiere this Easter weekend

ooming large and white just around the corner from London’s Embankment tube station, the Corinthia Hotel is an imposing sort of place. Which is apt really because inside is an imposing sort of actor. Well over six feet tall and with shoulders that would do a Viking proud, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau belies the old cliché that actors always look smaller off screen. And he’s having a similarly large impact on both big and small screens. Currently starring in the creepy thriller ‘MAMA’ alongside Hollywood favourite Jessica Chastain, he’s got the Tom Cruise vehicle ‘Oblivion’ coming down the track, followed by schmaltzy romcom, ‘A Thousand Times Goodnight’, in which he plays the harassed husband of Juliette Binoche’s conflict correspondent, Rebecca. But for now, his mind is on ‘Game of Thrones’, which returns to the small screen in the US this coming Sunday, and to selected European cable channels, including Canal Plus, on Monday. Not an archetypal villain Having spent most of season two tied to a post, CosterWaldau’s eminently dislikeable character, Jaime Lannister, is now on the run. Lannister, a well-bred villain with a cut-glass English accent, is a classic baddie

on the surface, although CosterWaldau can’t resist coming to his defence. “You are given one fact, one side of the story, and usually in movies you go with that and that’s what you get,” he argues. “So for Jaime, it would be: ‘Well, he’s the bad guy, he’s a horrible person ...’ Which is true when you first meet him in season one, but slowly as the story progresses, you find out that it’s a little more complicated than that and I love that about it.” Comfortable as the bad guy Coster-Waldau of course, like his compatriots Mads Mikklesen and Nicolaj Lie Kaas, is no stranger to playing the bad guy for Hollywood. There was the murderous Clas Greve in 2012’s ‘Headhunters’ and a Sheriff of Nottingham-style village official in Ridley Scott’s 2005 Orlando Bloom vehicle ‘Kingdom of Heaven’. He’s even, if the rumours are to be believed, in the running to play the nefarious Baron Strucker in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. “It’s wonderful,” he adds, dodging all talk of Captain America. “Because [there are] two sides to Jaime where you have a man who is very articulate, a guy capable of having empathy, who understands human nature, but also a man of action, and if he has to go through you to get to where he wants to go, he will, without any second thoughts.” It’s not too bad in Belfast! While Coster-Waldau himself won’t go to quite the same lengths as Lannister to get what he wants, he’s certainly proved willing to go the extra mile for his job, not least signing up to spend five

months of every year shooting in the rainy Northern Irish capital Belfast for his ‘Game of Thrones’ role. Not that he’s complaining. “It’s not bad,” he smiles. “I once did a network TV show in the States called ‘New Amsterdam’ and it was constant – that was very hard, and it took up a lot of time.” What’s more, he adds, the UK city is close enough to home to make spending time with his family, wife Nukaaka and daughters Phillipa and Safina, possible. “One of the good things about this is that I’m only two hours or so away from home,” he says. “I live in Copenhagen so they can come and visit.” Happier taking direction He might not be far away in terms of distance, but his current career is a very long way from his breakthrough role, which arrived in 1994 in the shape of Danish film ‘Nattevagten’ (‘Nightwatch’), in which he starred alongside Sofie Gråbøl. He has also directed, although he’s bashful when you mention it: self-depreciatingly referring to it as “a little television thing”. So would he want to have another go? “Oh no!” he laughs. “The directors who come in and are successful are the ones who come in and know how to move the cameras around. I’ll concentrate on the acting – that’s enough and I love it.”

home when I was 17 and moved to Copenhagen, and I went on a theatre course and a teacher there suggested I audition for drama school, which I did, and then I was accepted, which was amazing. And that was it.” Lannisters vs Starks ‘It’ of course now means juggling HBO with Hollywood, stints in Belfast interspersed with holidays at home, red carpet appearances in Los Angeles (at the Grammys and the ‘Game of Thrones’ season three premiere in recent weeks), and more time than he’d probably like on the press trail. For now CosterWaldau is off for a well-earned

respite before the shooting for ‘Game of Thrones’ season four begins. Does he miss it? “I do get very attached to my ‘family’,” he says, rather sweetly. “But the Lannisters are the Manchester United of ‘Game of Thrones’. Unless you are on their team, everybody else hates them. That’s the way it is. Even when HBO comes out with posters, I’m like: ‘What? Another Stark poster! Bastards!’” And with that, he’s off. But with so much to come, I doubt it’ll be long before we see him again. ‘Game of Thrones’ season three starts at 20:00 on Canal Plus on Monday April 1.

Scanpix/Alberto E. Rodriguez

Ruth Styles

That is a bit awkward ... did she at least win? No, although Blachman celebrated like she had, excitedly raising his arm in the air before realising that Karoline was not the winner. Wow, that is super awkward To be fair, maybe he was celebrating second place. And besides, no-one watches the show anymore, so maybe nobody noticed. Did he manage to give a proper speech afterwards? Of course: a philosophical one about what’s worth fighting for. He mentioned something about his grandparents fighting against the Nazis, his parents fighting for a welfare state and how it is his generation’s turn to fight for nothing less than love. Very touching, but it didn’t seem to impress the other judges. Did his parents fight for a welfare state? Maybe. At least they fought for developing the world. His father, Thomas Blachman, incidentally invented the telephone answering machine, but couldn’t afford a patent. Hence the campaigning for the welfare state.

Humble beginnings He’s certainly had some luck to go with his talent, as he’ll happily admit. “I grew up in a tiny village of 45 people and the idea of becoming an actor seemed like an impossible dream,” he remembers. “I left

So he too is pure evil? Well not exactly. It seems that he is letting Cowell down and is instead getting a bit sloppy in his old age. At the ‘X Factor’ finale last Friday, he was seen hugging and, well almost, harassing his young contestant, Karoline.

There are “two sides” to Jaime Lannister: evil bad and incestuous bad

So is this the end of Blachman’s career? No, this bald guy doesn’t give up that easy. He will return with his own TV show on DR2 after Easter, in which he has swapped judging singers for judging naked women. Apparently the show will expose the “dickless society” we live in.

DENMARK THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

28 March - 5 April 2013

19 DAVID B. HVEJSEL

SCREENDUMP FROM TOUR DE FRANCE

PETR NOVÁK

Tour De France commentator: the soundtrack of our summers

His name will live on forever on people’s arses

The face of TV2 until they decided to sack him

DR/PETER PALM

SCREENDUMP FROM TOUR DE FRANCE

The man, the legend: they loved him, hated him, loved him

The Haiti earthquake offered some perspective

How this country’s chirpiest commentator became its dirtiest old man CECILIE BECH CHRISTENSEN tributed worldwide. His most Predating the Cartoon Crisis by a year, the media storm surrounding Jørgen Leth’s implication that he had a sex slave was just as tempestuous

T READ: “Kept 17-yearold as sex slave”. This was the headline of the tabloid Ekstra Bladet on 29 September 2005. Behind the headline was a large photo of an elderly man with curly grey hair and glasses with a caption saying: “I take the cook’s daughter whenever I want. It’s my right.” A man of many talents THE MAN in the photo was the multi-artist Jørgen Leth. Born in Aarhus on 14 June 1937, Leth started his career as a journalist and cultural critic for leading national newspapers in 1959 after studying literature and anthropology in Aarhus and Copenhagen. In the 1960s he was part of the avant-garde scene in Copenhagen, and he published a first collection of poems, ‘Gult lys’ (yellow light), in 1962. The following year he made his début as a film director with the short film ‘Stopforbud’ (‘Stop for Bud’). Since then he has written and directed more than 40 feature films and documentaries, many of which have been dis-

soundtrack of many Danes’ summer holiday. His cycling poetry slam became legendary, helped by descriptions like the one of German cyclist Jan Ullrich during an individual time trial: “The power station from Rostock, a big stout stomping German, a torpedo shooting through the airspace, a bomb of power, almost ploughing up the asphalt – the legs are moving as big pistons on the German machine.” For many viewers, the commentary was almost as big an attraction as the race itself, and some of the commentary duo’s remarks have become famous – there are several websites dedicated to the funny and quirky quotes by Leth and Mader.

important works are considered to be the 13-minute-long surrealistic short film ‘Det perfekte menneske’ (‘The Perfect Human’) from 1967 and two cycling documentaries: ‘Stjernerne og Vandbærerne’ (‘The Stars and the Water Carriers’) from 1973, and ‘En forårsdag i helvede’ (‘A Sunday in Hell’) from 1977. He has also been affiliated with the Danish Film Institute in high positions as well as having worked as a professor at the National Film School and lectured at Berkeley and Harvard, among other universities. A poetic cycling commentator IN SPITE of his success as a filmmaker and author, Leth was mainly known in artistic circles – the general public had little awareness of his existence. During the 1990s, however, that changed; Leth became a household name as a poetic cycling commentator on TV2, working together with his journalist colleague Jørn Mader. The Tour de France was particularly popular in Denmark in those years – a fervor that reached a climax with Bjarne Riis’s win in 1996. Leth’s nasal voice – singing the praises of the French countryside and telling tales of rising stars and fallen heroes with commentaries such as “he treats the bike like a mean old cow who deserves it!” – became the

A dirty old man AT THE time of the controversy surrounding the cook’s daughter in 2005, Leth had been doing Tour de France commentary for no less than 16 years. He had also had success with ‘De fem benspænd’ (‘The Five Obstructions’), an experimental documentary he made in 2003 in collaboration with his friend, the acclaimed director Lars von Trier. In other words, most Danes knew very well who he was and, if they did not, they were certainly about to. Ekstra Bladet’s caption “I take the cook’s daughter whenever I want. It’s my right” was taken directly from Leth’s first

autobiography ‘Det uperfekte menneske’ (‘The Imperfect Human’). The book was published on the same day as Ekstra Bladet published the now famous front page and included graphic descriptions of Leth’s sexual relations with the 17-year-old daughter of his cook in Jacmel southern Haiti, where he worked at the time as a diplomat. As well as accusing Leth of keeping sex slaves on their front page, Ekstra Bladet also published an interview with him by the journalist Kenan Seeberg, which supported the image of Leth as a dirty old man. However, when Seeberg read his own article in the paper, he found it had been changed so much by the editor that he could not answer for it. He quit his job in protest at Ekstra Bladet’s handling of the story. In spite of this, the story spread like wildfire and Ekstra Bladet sold 11,000 more copies than usual that day, sparking a nationwide sexual morality debate, which turned into a national smear-campaign against Leth. He was scolded and condemned in leading newspapers, on TV and by members of the general public in the following days and weeks. In fact the public denunciation of Leth – especially by angry feminists and often by people who had not even read his book – spread to the extent that he had to re-

A cult icon AFTER SOME time, the sentiment began to turn in Leth’s favour. It turned out that many of his fiercest critics had not even read his book, and that nobody had interviewed his supposed sex slave to hear her side of the story or considered that Leth’s book was not just a personal diary, but a staged work of art with critical comments about his own persona. Some newspapers realised they had gone too far and later apologised for the lack of documentation behind some of their articles. Politiken’s editor-inchief, Tøger Seidenfaden, apologised on behalf of his newspaper for describing Leth as a paedophile and stated that this was a “groundless accusation”. More and more journalists, as well as famous Danish artists and authors, came forward to defend Leth, ridiculing the sanctimonious feminists and the narrow-minded attitude that had prevailed throughout the debate. In 2009, TV2 offered Leth

his old job as cycling commentator back, which he accepted, and since the controversy he has published two additional autobiographies in which, among other things, he describes his experience of the media storm in 2005. And then in 2010, he released the documentary ‘Det erotiske menneske’ (‘The Erotic Man’) which, with the aid of a lot of scantily dressed young women from Third World countries filmed in moments of simulated post-coital bliss, touches the very subject he got into trouble over. Once again, it’s a highly ambiguous venture, but this time the cries of ‘Dirty old man’ in the media were muffled by the memory of how badly they had got it wrong five years earlier. These days he is more famous and popular than ever. The younger generation in particular have taken to the now 75-yearold Leth, almost treating him like a rock star. Young women, some as young as 17, even ask him to autograph various parts of their bodies. When Leth was asked why he thinks he is so popular with young people, he answered simply: “I think they like my honesty.” In any case, Leth has never been as sought-after as he is now. As the culture journalist Kim Skotte noted: “The smear campaign against Jørgen Leth was the best thing that could have happened to his career!”

With his pal Lars von Trier − imagine an evening with those two!

SCREENDUMP FROM MOVIE

‘Det Perfekte Menneske’ − his first breakout hit

sign from his post as the Danish consul in Haiti and was fired from his job as a cycling commentator on TV2. He also received death threats, was ridiculed through crude caricature drawings and even described as a paedophile by a doctor in Politiken newspaper.

‘Den Erotiske Mand’ − this time almost everyone approved

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