CPH POST 30 May - 13 June 2019

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Prominent names in the field of rehabilitation question whether society has failed the Østerbro serial killer suspect, regardless of his guilt 8

Our Education Special runs the entire gamut from pre-schools to summer schools to learning Danish CATION GES OF EDU HAS SIX STA URSE? DENMARK HOOL CO MMER SC TAKE A SU WHY NOT IN HT RIG FIT NISH AND LEARN DA

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DANISH NEWS IN ENGLISH CPHPOST.DK VOL 22 ISSUE 9 30 May - 13 June 2019

NEWS Metro opening delayed again – September looking most likely 2 CULTURE

Taking art to the extremes New exhibition puts far-right ideology in the spotlight

ENTER THE DRAGON

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Venstre ‘wins’ European elections ROBERT EYFJORD

SPORT Eriksen tipped to leave Spurs after Champions League final

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HISTORY

Rarely first past the post A glance at elections of yesteryear reveals some odd results

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RECORD 66 percent of Danes voted in the European elections on Sunday – well above the previous high of 59.5 percent set in 2009.

And while government party Venstre is struggling mightily in the polls for the June 5 general election in Denmark, it secured the most votes with 23.5 percent, landing it four of the country’s 14 mandates.

The majority of Venstre’s support came from Jutland and North Zealand, with municipalities in the Capital Region, Funen and Lolland mostly favouring Socialdemokratiet.

Winners and losers SOCIALDEMOKRATIET (21.5) took three, Socialistisk

Folkeparti (13.2) and Radikale (10.1) two, and Dansk Folkeparti (10.7), Konservative (6.2) and Enhedslisten (5.5) – in its first ever European elections – one each.

DF lost three of its four mandates, while EU-sceptic party Folkebevægelsen mod EU, Alternativet and Liberal Alliance all finished empty-handed, although Alternativet did help Radikale get a second mandate.

The 100,000 club FIVE CANDIDATES garnered more than 100,000 personal votes: Morten Løkkegaard (V), Søren Gade (V), Jeppe Kofod (S), Margrete Auken (SF) and Peter Kofod (DF).

A third of the seats won across the continent will reportedly go to Eurosceptic parties.

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Digitally good for expats

Drunk scooting crackdown

DENMARK is the fourth best country in the world for digital communication for expats, according to InternNations. It rated second best for the ease of cashless payments, but it scored poorly for the ease of getting a local mobile phone number. Estonia topped the rankings, which only included 68 countries.

THE POLICE have confirmed that riding an electric scooter will not be tolerated in the same way intoxicated cycling is. An offence will cost you 2,000 kroner, a second 4,000 kroner, and a third a spell in prison. In related news, sales of home-produced electric bikes are now outstripping conventional ones. Last year around 3,000 were sold.

Weak for weeks A SURVEY carried out by holiday promotions website clubmed.co.uk, which ranked Denmark as the 15th best family holiday destination in the world, affirms the notion that most holiday-makers view Denmark as a weekend destination. In contrast, the average length of holiday to Sweden and Finland is three to four days, and Norway five days.

Hoisted by Dad’s petard THE IRONY wasn’t lost on the country when it emerged that PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s son has fallen victim to Venstre’s 24year rule, which since 2002 has prevented Danes and non-EU nationals living together if one of the parties is not yet 24. In compliance with the law, his 22-year-old American girlfriend must leave Denmark by the end of May.

INSIDE OUR NEXT ISSUE, OUT 13 JUNE!

Diplomacy

A CPH POST SPECIAL DIPLOMACY!

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

30 May - 13 June 2019

Metro opening delayed again

ONLINE THIS WEEK A SWEDISH-BASED Syrian asylum-seeker was last week sentenced to 12 years in prison for co-planning an IS-backed terror attack in Copenhagen that would have targeted civilians with bombs and knives in November 2016.

His main accomplice, who was caught at the Danish-German border with the weapons, got a similar sentence in 2017.

Rubbish strike averted A POTENTIAL rubbish collectors’ strike in 27 municipalities has been averted following successful talks involving the 3F trade union.

A strike in Frederikshavn in north Jutland in protest at new collection methods that add an hour to the working day started the action.

THE CAPITAL’S Technology and Environment Committee has approved stiffer punishments for motorists who park in disabled spots without the necessary permit. The current 1,020 kroner fine has been doubled, and vehicle immobilisation or movement is now more likely.

Beautifying an eyesore PLANS costing in excess of 1 billion kroner are afoot to rethink the stretch of motorway linking Aboulevard to Borups Alle. A tunnel would enable a green area whilst improving flood defences.

Record marathon numbers

Frederiksberg – is the biggest construction project undertaken in Denmark in 400 years.

CHRISTIAN WENANDE

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OPENHAGENERS are beginning to question whether the Romans would have been quicker at building the news City Ring Metro line following confirmation that it will now most likely open in September.

The 25.9 billion kroner, 17-station line – which will link the city centre with Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro and

June unrealistic THE CITY Ring was due to open in December 2018, and then in June 2019, but the Metro Company has now stated that a key milestone in construction has not been reached and that work at the stations is behind schedule.

“Despite it only being small things that are missing in the bigger picture, it’s unfortunately proven to be unrealistic to catch

up, so we’ve been forced to delay the opening of the City Ring until the end of September,” said Henrik Plougmann Olsen, the head of the Metro Company.

City Halls rejects plans for colossus Nordhavn structure would have been seven times the height of the Round Tower STEPHEN GADD

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ITY HALL has turned down plans for a 280 metre-high tower in Nordhavn, pointing out that it would have stood “like a colossus”, casting everyone in its shadow, and caused wind turbulence.

In December 2018, the HC Andersen Adventure Tower Consortium reached an agreement with By & Havn, the body in charge of overseeing the development in Nordhavn, to purchase land for a major project designed by the architecture firm BIG.

SOME 13,200 runners took part in the Copenhagen Marathon on May 19 – surpassing the record 12,644 who raced in 2010.

Plan: ready by 2027 THE AGREEMENT was conditional on the municipality’s

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COPENHAGEN City Court has been busy of late. Firstly, Dr Daterape – a 32-year-old, Chinese-born medic who worked at Gentofte Hospital – withdrew a confession to one of the two rapes he is accused of. And then in another ongoing trial, testing whether the government’s ban of the street gang Loyal to Familia is legal, a witness refused to give up names out of fear there may be retribution.

Killed at home

Stop raising our hopes!

H.C. ANDERSEN ADVENTURE TOWER

Disabled permit crackdown

Operators blame “small things” for postponement to September

METRO COMPANY

Terrorist convicted

Busy in city court

NORDSJÆLLANDS Politi has charged a 54-year-old man with killing a 58-year-old female doctor at her home in Hørsholm on April 30, along with robbery.

A sound recording of the assault includes a male voice repeatedly saying “Sit down”. The man was already known to the police.

Greta in town GRETA Thunberg delivered a speech at Christiansborg Palace Square on May 25 at a climate event. Meanwhile, another series of national climate strikes have been confirmed for June 24.

Eagle pays visit THE US Coast Guard ship ‘Eagle’ visited Copenhagen on May 16, offering free tours courtesy of the US Embassy. Originally named the ‘Horst Wessel’, it began life as a Nazi training ship. The US took it as war reparations in 1945.

It kind of resembled the building in ‘The Towering Inferno’

technical and environmental committee starting the planning process in 2019 and a local plan being adopted in 2021, allowing the project to be ready when the Nordhavn tunnel opens in 2027.

As well as a mega tower seven times higher than the Round Tower, the project would have included shops, flats, offices, hotel rooms, an observatory and a Hans Christian Andersen themepark.

Cocaine seizures CUSTOM officials confiscated 24 kilos of cocaine on May 15: six at Copenhagen Airport in the luggage of three men, and 18 on a man entering Denmark by ferry in Rødbyhavn.

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ELECTION NEWS

30 May - 13 June 2019

ONLINE THIS WEEK Arresting Arendt in charge

Unfair on pensioner smokers

A chasm and a reach behind Not only does Venstre need a miracle, it needs to work with parties it’s opposed to BEN HAMILTON

Isabella is a game-changer

Too old to quit, too poor to pay?

KRISTENDEMOKRATERNE hasn’t won over 2 percent of the votes in an election since 2005 – the minimum needed to win at least one seat – but a change in leadership has recently galvanised the party. Since 26-year-old deputy leader Isabella Arendt replaced an ill Stig Grenov and performed strongly during a recent TV debate, interest in the party has soared.

SOCIALDEMOKRATIET wants to raise the cost of cigarettes for young people. Its leader Mette Frederiksen is concerned that a price hike would hit pensioners. Cancer advocacy group Kræftens Bekæmpelse praised the sentiment, but questioned how it would be administered, arguing instead for a general rise from 40-50 kroner a pack to 60-65 – and preferably 90.

Homeless handout idea

Public back rivals together

AMONG the policies presented by Alternativet is a plan for tackling homelessness.

The left-wing party wants to give 50,000 kroner to every homeless person in Denmark – funds they can do with as they wish in co-operation with the municipality. With 6,635 homeless people in Denmark, the plan would cost 331.75 million kroner.

SOME 47 percent of Danes are not adverse to Socialdemokratiet and Venstre teaming up to form the next government, according to a Megafon survey for TV2, with only 37 percent completely or mostly against it. PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen suggested the option on May 17, but S leader Mette Frederiksen rejected it.

Frederiksen favours Facebook

Costly Hitler moustache

SOCIALDEMOKRATIET is spending the most on Facebook campaigns this election – in the week May 14-20 it spent 325,000 kroner out of a total spend of 1.2 million, followed by Konservative (210,000) and Venstre (200,000). S leader Mette Frederiksen spent 160,000 kroner – way ahead of Lars Løkke Rasmussen on 6,000.

WITH THOUSANDS of election posters on the streets, night-time revellers are often tempted into defacing them. Many, though, are unaware that according to Paragraph 291, Section 2 of the Penal Code, the maximum sentence for vandalism is six years. However, if it cannot be proven the damage was politically motivated, offenders are normally fined 800-1,500 kroner.

Help from within ONLY 66 percent of immigrants and their descendants voted in the 2015 General Election, compared to around 85 percent of ethnic Danes, and Youssef Idiab, a Socialdemokratiet municipal councillor with a Palestinian background, has told DR that more people like himself need to remind their relatives and friends to vote so they get a say on how their taxes are spent.

More voting by mail IN THE 2015 General Election, over 300,000 Danes voted by mail – 9 percent of all votes registered – and the trend is expected to continue. The option is most popular in the Capital Region and small island municipalities such as Ærø and Samsø. Gentofte (16.7) had the highest share in 2015 followed

by Frederiksberg (15) and Rudersdal (14.3).

Lars talks tough on EU DANISH PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen has been busy making EU-related pledges in a bid to win back votes. First off, he wants a referendum on Denmark’s opt-out on the common security and defence policy – one of four held by Denmark in areas of EU co-operation. And he wants permission from the union to make the temporary controls at the German border permanent.

Lost faith in politicians CONFIDENCE in Parliament fell from 68 to 55 percent between 2008 and 2017, according to an Aalborg University analysis of Danmarks Statistik data. Confidence has particularly sagged among the lowest-educated and lowest-paid, with many blaming broken election promises and out-of-touch politicians.

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WEEK AWAY from the 2019 General Election, the red bloc is polling at 54.7 percent thanks to the popularity of its five parties: Socialdemokratiet (27.5), Enhedslisen (9.1), Radikale (7.3) SF (7.4) and Alternativet (3.4).

Such a result would enable S leader Mette Frederiksen to form a government, and Oddset believes a single-party option is the most likely (4/6). Next most likely is a government with SF (6/1) and Venstre (11/1).

A repeat of the last red bloc government − S, SF and Radikale − is 15/1, as is the possibility of S going it alone with Radikale.

Blue bloc in the 30s THE BLUE bloc regulars, meanwhile, are polling at 38.1 percent: V (18), Dansk Folkeparti (11.6), Konservative (4.9) and Liberal Alliance (3.6).

Were they to pull off mission impossible, they would need the support

of the other four blue parties – Stram Kurs (2.7), Nye Borgerlige (2.5), Kristendemokraterne (1.5) and Klaus Riskær Pedersen (0.5) – which account for the other 7.2 percent.

Stram Kurs is strongly tipped to win at least one seat (2/5), with the odds shortening on Kristendemokraterne (6/4) joining them, but V has already ruled out including the former in any majority, while the latter has not been part of a V-led coalition since 1988 (or any coalition since 1994).

Lefty Copenhagen ENHEDSLISTEN, meanwhile, is tantalisingly close to becoming the most popular party in Copenhagen. It is polling at 19.2, according to Megafon, just behind S on 19.8.

As the numbers suggest, the left bloc is dominating in the capital with control of two-thirds of the vote.

Radikale and SF are also putting up strong numbers compared to 2015, while Alternativet and blue bloc parties Dansk Folkeparti and Liberal Alliance are struggling.

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ELECTION 30 May - 13 June 2019

Game of clones: the battle for middle ground From Jon Snow to the Lannisters, the struggle for the Danish throne of power has commenced CHRISTIAN WENANDE

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ETTE FREDERIKSEN and her writhing throng of red bloc armies have

reached the gates of the King’s Landing of Copenhagen.

Since being driven from the halls of power and into exile by the blue bloc hordes four years ago, the reds have clawed their way back to the precipice of victory.

But PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his steely-eyed underlings will

fight tooth and claw to retain their position of ultimate influence.

But a red dragon may prove to be a foe too formidable.

With the general election looming ahead, alliances have been forged in fire and ample blood has been spilt along the road to the final day of reckoning.

METTE FREDERIKSEN IS ... DAENERYS TARGARYEN • Socialdemokratiet (A) LIKE DAENERYS Targaryen, Frederiksen is a red-bloc queen searching for her throne.

A dragon in the polls at the moment, Frederiksen has been on the hunt for the government

crown ever since her Khal Drogo (Helle Thorning-Schmidt) bowed out as PM a few years ago.

Currently a strong 1/5 favourite to become Denmark’s next PM.

PIA OLSEN DYHR IS ... JON SNOW • Socialistisk Folkeparti (F) AS JON Snow was revived from the murky depths of oblivion, so have Dyhr and SF. Like a phoenix, the party has risen from the ashes of 2015

and re-energised a turgid group of white walkers into a living force.

Indeed, the polls suggest that SF will double the number of mandates it attracted four years ago.

MORTEN ØSTERGAARD IS ... JORAH MORMONT • Radikale (B) MORTEN Østergaard has long been a faithful servant to the red bloc cause.

And despite a few mishaps along the way, including a feeble election in 2015, Radikale

has bounced back, with the polls predicting upwards of 8 percent of the votes ‒ almost twice the 4.6 percent garnered four years ago. Østergaard and R, however, don’t shy away from criticising red queen Frederiksen.

PERNILLE SKIPPER IS ... AYRA STARK • Enhedslisten (Ø) FOR SEVERAL years, Skipper played second fiddle to her departed EL ‘sister’, Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen.

But despite some early bumps, the party boss has

steadied the ship and is poised to usher in an even better result than in 2015.

Polls have them at nearly 9 percent, buoyed by a potent 20 percent in Copenhagen.

UFFE ELBÆK IS ... SAMWELL TARLEY • Alternativet (Å) OH UFFE. Like the affable Tarley, Elbæk has lots of ideas, but ultimately he can’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

Mayhem behind party lines has seen Alternativet stock de-

cline steadily since 2015.

He may have been the first to kill a white walker for the climate, but he’s having an awful time finding Valyrian votes of steel these days.

Missed out on a EU Parliament mandate on Sunday.

Who will reign supreme in the kingdom of Denmark come June 5?

ELECTION

30 May - 13 June 2019

LARS LØKKE RASMUSSEN IS ... CERSEI LANNISTER • Venstre (V) LARS LØKKE Rasmussen and Venstre have been performing about as well as Cersei Lannister would in a don’t-shag-your-

own-brother competition.

As the queen, the PM has been fighting tooth and nail to hold on to power, even though the opposition has legions of voters and Venstre has stooped

to 17 percent in the polls.

Rasmussen, who is 11/4 to retain his throne, will need to yank a dragon out of his hat to pull off the upset. And that might be the suprising success in the EU elections.

ANDERS SAMUELSEN IS ... JAIME LANNISTER • Liberal Alliance (I) THE FACT of the matter is that you just don’t fight as well when your hand is chopped off, and that is what has happened with

Samulesen and LA since joining the government in late 2016 The party has haemorrhaged voters, leaving it with a paltry 4.6 percent share.

Missed out on EU mandate.

SØREN PAPE POULSEN IS ... TYRION LANNISTER • Konservative (C) POULSEN and K are among the few bright spots in the blue bloc, seemingly having abandoned previous plights

of elections past.

A new man, like Tyrion, the party looks set to punch above its weight and its 4.7 percent share is up considerably on four years ago.

KRISTIAN THULESEN DAHL IS ... PETYR BAELISH • Dansk Folkeparti (O) YOU NEVER know who Dahl and DF will team up with.

Like the shifty Baelish, deals are made with government and

opposition alike.

But no-one likes a turncoat and the party has taken a massive kicking in the polls, falling from 21.1 percent in 2015 to barely 10 percent today.

PERNILLE VERMUND IS ... RAMSAY BOLTON • Nye Borgerlige (D) VERMUND and NB burst onto the scene a while back, driven by a blue bloc policy deemed as emasculated as

Theon Greyjoy But now the strong wind has dissipated and they sit on the brink of political castration with just 2.3 percent in the polls.

ISABELLA ARENDT IS ... BRIENNE OF TARTH • Kristnedemokraterne (K) THE TRADITIONAL party is back on the map following Arendt’s recent knighthood.

The eloquent young lady was

thrust onto the big stage and performed well, setting the scene for a potential return to some form of prominance.

But will she bend the knee when on-leave Stig Grenov returns?

RASMUS PALUDAN IS ... JOFFREY BARATHEON • Stram Kurs (P) YOU MIGHT think that few people would raise their banners to someone who shoots crossbows into Korans and

enjoys banishing foreigners to faraway places in the Seven Kingdoms, but Paludan has become a paladin for some and sits at an astonishing 2.6 percent in the polls.

KLAUS RISKJÆR IS ... HODOR • Klaus Riskær Pedersen (E) LIKE HODOR in a calculus exam, Pedersen doesn’t stand a chance in seven hells.

Sitting at 0.4 percent in the

polls, the party doesn’t look like it will even gain enough votes to get one mandate.

His penchant for young girls and shady financial activity certainly doesn’t help matters.

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ELECTION

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

30 May - 13 June 2019

Is there any hope for Venstre in the final week before the vote?

LAUREN BEAUCHAMP EDWARD OWEN & CORNELIA MIKAELSSON

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EDNESDAY June 5 sees the long-awaited general election taking

CLIMATE

• Battle severity: Battle of Winterfell • Agent provocateur: Uffe Elbæk would like to be • Key incendiary device: Venstre’s slowness • Potential civil war: Socialdemokratiet vs Alternativet • Potential casualties: Green-inclined blue bloc voters

W

ITH THE global environment at crisis point, climate is one of the major issues in the election.

During a recent televised debate, eleven leaders raised their hands when asked who had the most ambitious policies, only Nye Borgerlige and Dansk Folkeparti

place in Denmark.

Lagging behind in the polls, PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s number would appear to be up.

However, Venstre’s performance in Sunday’s European elections suggests his party is fighting back.

But with the other blue bloc parties (see page 5) losing sup-

port, is it too little to late, given the strength of the red bloc (see page 4).

Last issue, CPH POST assessed three key battleground issues: health reform, the welfare state and taxes.

Now to complete the picture, we are taking on immigration, climate and education.

kept their hands down. And it is not surprising the majority of the leaders want to be at the forefront of the debate – a recent Norstat poll reveals that climate change is one of the most important themes for voters.

aside for a climate research fund – the equivalent of 3.7 billion kroner every year.

Dansk Folkeparti has been criticised for being the only party without a comprehensive plan.

It supports initiatives employing common sense − policies need to be based upon “knowledge and not current trends”. The party wants more focus on energy technology in order to make the transition as cheap as possible. It also encourages people to buy locally-produced products and wants a reorganisation of the registration tax so that environmentally-friendly cars are favoured.

Nye Borgerlige believes that people will start to buy electric cars once it’s cheaper, and that

the market will solve the climate crisis with little interference from the government.

employers. SF wants to promote academic content that transfers into the world of work.

Alternativet appears to have a strong focus on the needs of different students, advocating a principle that learning at any level should begin and end with the individual. This is supported by a nine-point policy on schools, which includes a greater focus on sustainability – more creativity with less focus on grades and tests.

Radikale would not only like to abolish the education ceiling, but also remove limits on international study places. This is part of an ambition to see an education system that is both outward-looking and inviting in order to promote an international study environment. Radikale also acknowledges Denmark’s spatial development issues with an ambition to create more study places outside the major cities.

Like many of the red bloc, Enhedslisten want to ensure the

SU financial student support is a proper amount that students can live on. Education should be flexible, allowing for study regardless of learning speed and age. Research should be free from business interests.

Blue Bloc VENSTRE wants to stop the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 – and by 2035 to only have zero-emission cars. It also wants a new climate law to develop technology and agriculture.

Technology is also a key focus of Liberal Alliance, which argues that new solutions are necessary if Denmark is to meet its goal of being CO2-neutral by 2050. It wants to set 0.2 percent of GDP

EDUCATION

further state-funded education at the same or lower level. There are professional and vocational exemptions, and a six-year limit • Agent provocateur: to the rule. However, it now looks Søren Pape Poulsen • Key incendiary device: as though the charges have been set in all corners of the room.

Education ceiling • Battle severity: Simpsons episode ‘Bart the General’

• Potential civil war: KonservRed Bloc ative vs rest of blue bloc TOGETHER, the red bloc all • Potential casualties: agree on free and equal access to Students caught up in this mess education, all well as removing DUCATION, education, the ceiling. Socialdemokratiet education. Or should that wants to encourage variety, thus be consensus, consensus, allowing people to pursue the consensus? path they wish. This means the Maintaining a fairly low profile focus does not have to be the in the election coverage thus far, classic long academic education, there is an emerging consensus on and that vocational training a key issue: the education ceiling. should be well-funded.

This sentiment is echoed by Since its introduction in 2016, the Uddannelsesloft education SF, which is also keen on adceiling has become an increas- ditional funding for vocational ingly unpopular aspect of public training. Whilst the educational savings. It essentially threatens journey should not be prescribed to punish those who later regret the same way for everybody, their choice of study (e.g bache- there should be stronger collabolor’s degree) by not allowing for rations between universities and

E

NEWS ØRESUND,

2019 General Election key battleground issues, part 2

Battle stations!

Red Bloc SOCIALDEMOKRATIET wants binding frameworks that require future governments to report on the status of climate and make necessary adjustments every fifth year. The goal is to make Denmark free from fossil fuels by 2045 – instead of 2050, which is the current goal. It wants to invest 20 billion kroner into a new, green future fund to help solve challenges posed by the climate crisis on a global level.

Key support party SF mostly shares the same outlook as S, but wants to adopt a different

Blue Bloc THE VLAK government may have introduced the education ceiling, but only Konservative says the ceiling must remain. Shots were fired last week when its leader Søren Pape Poulsen questioned the credibility of his colleagues’ sudden change in attitude. He suggested it was untrustworthy to flip-flop on the issue so close to an election. Regarding general approaches to teaching, the party believes in retaining grade systems and shorter school days.

LA wants to not only abolish the education ceiling, but to also uncap how much students may earn alongside SU. This falls in line with LA’s general philoso-

approach regarding mandatory targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions annually.

Enhedslisten wants biennial checks of Denmark´s greenhouse gas levels, contending the government needs solutions if targets are not being met.

Alternativet leader Uffe Elbæk wants the issue to “overshadow” everything in the election. It thinks that S’s targets are not ambitious enough. It wants to see a 100 percent reduction of greenhouse gases by 2040 – a decade before S’s target. Alternativet does not believe the problems can be solved with technology alone, as these problems are closely related to industrial production and increasing consumption. (CM) phy of keeping money in people’s pockets for a strong economy – they’ll probably spend it.

Tommy Ahlers of Venstre has also joined the retreat, but cautions that removing the ceiling would need an extra 300 million kroner from the budget. The party would also like to maintain the coupling percentage for free schools – i.e 76 percent subsidy per student.

Dansk Folkeparti believes in placing equal importance on manual and intellectual labour, along with a free choice between state and private schools. Furthermore, the publication of grades can incentivise schools to be better.

In similar fashion, Nye Borgerlige has only one stipulation in its otherwise hands-off approach: publicly-funded schools should be based on Danish values and democracy.

Overall, it would seem peer pressure isn’t restricted to school.

(EO)

ELECTION

30 May - 13 June 2019

• Battle severity: Agincourt • Agent provocateur: Morten Østergaard • Key incendiary device: Socialdemokratiet’s tough stance • Potential civil war: Radikale vs Socialdemokratiet • Potential casualties: DF trumped by the usurpers

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ENMARK’S next PM probably won’t soft-pedal on immigration policies and there might be less tolerance on immigration and more racism from both sides of the political spectrum.

More stick than carrot LAST YEAR, the centre-right government’s burqa ban made worldwide headlines, with its fines of up to 10,000 kroner for repeated offences. The ban was passed by both the centre-right and left parties.

It was also decided that if necessary, immigrant families must enrol their children in extra schooling to be exposed to ‘Danish values’.

“There are two main arguments why non-western immigrants are being discouraged. Other than culture, economically it’s expensive for the state to take these immigrations,” Nils Holtug, professor of political philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, told CPH POST. “In contrast, western immigrants bring in a net benefit of 30 billion kroner.”

Several waves THERE have been various waves of immigration since the beginning of the 1960s when a large number of Turks made their way to the Nordic countries as ‘guest workers’.

In 1983 Parliament passed a ‘Memorandum on migration policy’ that was implemented by the Danish Refugee Council and similar organisations. But over time, the act failed in its work of integration and many of these refugees remained unemployed.

There have been developments on immigration policies – specifically regarding Muslims. In 2016, new laws were promulgated by Venstre and its coalition partners aimed at preventing extremists from entering the country. Those who obtained residence permits had to swear under oath they would not pose a threat to public safety.

Asylum island UNDER pressure from Dansk Folkeparti the island of Lindholm, originally used to quarantine sick animals, has been designated as a place to house asylum-seekers who have been convicted of crimes but cannot be deported for various reasons.

“It’s certainly a controversial project.

The symbolic value is clear – seeing how it’s quite expensive to put immigrants there,” Holtug says.

Immigration and integration minister, Inger Støberg, has spoken out against these rejected asylum-seekers very negatively. “They are unwanted in Denmark – and they will feel it,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Red Bloc SOCIALDEMOKRATIET is split on issues such as the economy and whether to drift towards the left, while its immigration policy lurches towards the right after having lost voters to the anti-immigration Dansk Folkeparti in the 2015 election.

Radikale isn’t happy with these adjustments and has said it will not support Socialdemokratiet’s Mette Frederikesen as prime minister in a possible coalition unless it drops its collaboration with DF on immigration.

At the other end of the spectrum, SF wants a more humanist approach to refugees based on the UN quota system rather than spontaneous asylum.

Enhedslisten is also in favour of a more liberal approach and says it would repeal the controversial 24-year-rule brought in to preventing arranged and forced marriages.

Alternativet wants a society built on solidarity and respect for the individual and for their cultural roots.

Blue Bloc THE BLUE bloc parties are divided – most particularly Venstre and Dansk Folkeparti.

“The views of both parties differ, as DF is advocating that would-be immigrants should stay where they are because they shouldn’t be here in the first place,” explained Holtug.

Venstre on the other hand takes a broader view, supported by industry bodies who argue that Denmark is facing a shortage of labour.

“There is a larger acceptance that immigrants should be integrated because they could be here for a long time,” added Holtug.

Konservative has vowed to confront

7

FACEBOOK/DANSK FLYGTNINGEHJÆLP

IMMIGRATION

The 2015 migrant crisis continues to play on voters’ minds

what it calls the parallel society head on: foreigners must learn Danish, immigrants should support themselves, anyone wanting citizenship should embrace Danish values, and asylum-seekers should seek asylum outside Denmark’s borders.

Liberal Alliance feels the best path to integration is through the labour market.

Denmark should be open, it contends, and welcome to those who want to contribute and closed to those who don’t.

Dansk Folkeparti would appear to be

losing support among voters with extreme right sensibilities to two new parties, Stram Kurs and Nye Borgerlige, which will do just about anything to tighten immigration policies.

Stram Kurs (hard line), with Koran-burning lawyer Rasmus Paludan at the helm has made the most of the headlines generated by fierce riots in the city in April. The irony might be that only Dansk Folkeparti has said it will collaborate with Stram Kurs. (LB)

Experience Pentecost!

"For the promise is for you..."

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Service starts at 12:00 LEVENDE KIRKE FEMAGERVEJ 39, HVIDOVRE WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/LEVENDEKIRKE WWW.LEVENDEKIRKE.COM

8

NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK A 29-YEAR-OLD woman has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service for sharing a video via Facebook that showed the terror killing of Louisa Jespersen in Morocco in December. The court in Næstved ruled that if she did not do the service, she would go to prison for three months.

Gangrape verdict upheld THE VESTRE Landsret high court in Viborg has upheld a decision to acquit four men in their 20s of gang-raping a 19-year-old woman in Herning in December 2017. It was not disputed that the men had sex with her, but the woman claimed they forced her to give them oral sex. New testimony that the woman had been drugged against her will failed to sway the court.

Defending Greenland WITH RUSSIA stepping up its military expansion in the Arctic, the defence minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, has conceded that Denmark may need to establish some form of air defence in Greenland. At present, Danish Defence does not the necessary aircraft, operations or communications capability.

Cross-Øresund stabbing A MAN SUSPECTED of stabbing a Jewish woman in her 60s in Helsingborg was arrested in Denmark on May 14. The suspect is a Muslim man known to the authorities. The woman is the wife of the leader of the Swedish coastal town’s Jewish community. The man has been taken back to Sweden.

Albanian transit port ESBJERG has seen a surge in Albanians taking advantage of EU laws that permit them to reside in a member country for 90 days. They choose the port because they want to stow away on a boat bound for the UK. Over the first three months of the year, 54 Albanians were caught trying to do so.

‘Serial killer’ failed by the system

Shot dead in New Orleans FACEBOOK/CAFE EXIT

Perils of sharing videos

30 May - 13 June 2019

Rehabilitation record the envy of the world, but not all incarcerations are success stories DANIELLE DRAKE-FLAM

T

HE DIRECTOR of public affairs at Café Exit, the support group organisation for former prisoners, has queried why the man suspected of killing three elderly people in Østerbro in February and March wasn’t under lock and key.

Since his arrest it has come to light that the 26-year-old had prior convictions for both rape and murder, and Hans Andersen from Cafe Exit, who is himself a former prisoner, questions whether the system “examined him closely enough”.

“Instead of helping him, they released him and then didn’t check on him, and all of a sudden he’s in a position where he might have murdered another three people,” Andersen told CPH POST. “Maybe these three killings could have been prevented if the system had been working as it should be.”

Not a serial killer’s profile ARRESTED on March 9, the man is suspected of killing an 81-year-old woman on March 7, an 83-year-old woman on February 7 and an 80-year-old man on March 2.

However, despite the serial nature of the crimes, Andersen does not believe the person responsible is a serial killer.

“What qualifies a serial killer is someone who kills for fun,” he said. “I think he has not done it for fun. He has maybe done it just to get some money for drugs and so on, so I don’t think it qualifies him as such.”

Long sentence likely THE AVERAGE sentence for murder in Denmark is 16 years, but Professor Anne Okkels-Birk, an independent criminology consultant, is doubtful the person responsible is of sane mind.

“I would say for this man

The exit came too soon for the suspect, it is feared

here, if he is guilty of three murders, there’s a very high likelihood of insanity,” she said.

“Insanity would also mean that he would only get out when he was okay again, and then he would have to stay on probation.

There is a likelihood of lifetime imprisonment and there is a likelihood of security detention. I don’t see anything lenient.”

And even if the suspect is convicted of murder, contends Okkels-Birk, he’ll probably be judged to be psychotic and committed to a psychiatric ward.

“I think this might be relevant here because if the man was psychotic at the time of the crime, then he will be sent to a psychiatric hospital instead of going to prison,” she explained.

Failed by society ULTIMATELY, says Andersen, most killers are victims. In his line of work, he meets a lot of people who have fallen through the cracks in society.

“Quite a few of the guys in prison: they have had a very poor childhood, very poor upbringing, never had an education, never met love in their life,” he said. “You could really make a difference if you catch them at an early age.”

Okkels-Birk concurs, adding: “Most people who commit murder in Denmark are people who are ordinarily functioning people who get into a very, very bad life situation in which they kill somebody or they are in an environment of drug addiction and abuse.”

Still an exemplary example NEVERTHELESS, Denmark continues to have a much lower per capita murder rate than

A 36-YEAR-OLD woman has been charged with shooting dead a former Danish soldier in the US city of New Orleans. His wife and two children were informed of his death on May 20 – three days after he was reported missing. The 44-year-old man, who media have linked to the Blood of Heroes biker gang, was apparently in the US to take a road trip on his motorbike.

Orgy trial to begin

countries like the US, for example, where there are an estimated 2,000 serial killers at large right now. Beyond the Østerbro killer and Thomas Quick, who was convicted in the 1990s of murdering eight people in Sweden and Norway, Scandinavia has none.

As well as some “hard to understand” gun laws, contends Andersen, the US is averse to adopting open prison systems – the key to Denmark’s better rehabilitation rate, as the system allows for people to better readapt to society after release from prison, often leaving them better off than when they came in.

“Most people in open prison have regular access to go and visit their friends and family at home,” he said. “And that means that people are tied in better with their community and it’s less of a shock when they leave prison.”

THE COURT case of a politician accused of organising orgies and conducting pimping activities has begun in Randers. When Per Zeidler, 56, was arrested in 2017, he was the head of the Committee for Family Affairs at Syddjurs Municipality and preparing for the local elections. He is accused of earning 326,000 kroner from 109 orgies held in between April 2016 and November 2017.

First-hand experience!

OKKELS-BIRK, who grew up on the grounds of an open prison and recalls one of her childhood friends being the inmate who painted her house, is also a major advocate.

“Open and closed prison systems are tied together,” she explained. “People behave better in a closed prison because they want to go to an open prison.

People behave better in open prison because they don’t want to go to closed prison.”

Okkels-Birk believes that if the incentives of an open prison system were transferred to a larger system in another country, the open-prison concept might be successful.

The concept certainly worked for her childhood friend. “He had killed his boss for money,” she recalled. “But I ended up really liking him.”

F35 test flight

Defence gender pledge AS PART of his plans to increase the number of female Danish Defence employees from its current 7 percent share, the defence minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, would like to see more women accepted into the special forces. So far, none have ever made it through the rigorous training programs of the Jaeger Corps, Frogman Corps and the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol.

DENMARK is due to replace its fleet of ageing F16 fighters with 27 new F35s starting in 2023, and on May 22 the replacement type landed in Denmark for the first time. Both F16s and F35s were flown over south Jutland so that local residents could hear the noise-level difference.

Against EU expansion ACCORDING to a survey compiled by Danmarks Statistik for Aalborg University, 46 percent of respondents indicated they are against further EU expansion.

Only 20 percent said they would be in favour of some form of expansion. The likes of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey are all believed to be keen on joining.

30 May - 13 June 2019

ONLINE THIS WEEK A NEW STUDY by the Bilbranchen car organisation reveals that four out of ten Danes would like their next car to be an electric or hybrid one. However, many still have reservations about the cost, limited range and shortage of chargers, reports DI Business.

Left wants IT ministry ACCORDING to Enhedslisten, Alternativet and Socialdemokratiet, Denmark needs an IT ministry when the next government is formed. The ministry should be responsible for matters of data security and ethics for future public IT projects, reports Politiken.

Bornholm’s recycling bid THE RUBBISH-BURNING incinerator on Bornholm is due to be replaced shortly, but as an alternative the municipality-run waste management company BOFA has put forward a daring new plan: to do away completely with all waste on the island by 2030 through recycling.

Breast cancer scandal CHARGES have been brought against senior executives following the exposure of procedural deficiencies at Ringsted Hospital concerning breast cancer screenings between 2013 and 2017. An investigation of 9,400 records has revealed over 300 cases of women being cleared who were later found to have breast cancer.

Day of the jackal: nature in crisis Birds dying, bees dying, even though exotic algae’s thriving – let’s do it, let’s take action now

D

ENMARK needs more nature areas, a UN report urged in early May, but for some animals, it has more than enough. Not only are more wild dogs making the country their home, but it is believed that a large cat might be on the prowl.

Dogs of war SINCE the golden jackal was first spotted in 2014, there have been at least 50 subsequent sightings in Jutland. Bigger than a fox but smaller than a wolf, the golden jackal is one of the world’s most widespread animals.

But they have some way to go to catch up the raccoon dog, which was first registered back in 1980, but didn’t start becoming commonplace until this century.

Environment Ministry figures for 2018 based on registered kills by hunters, who can shoot the dogs all year round, reveal there are around 5,000 to 6,000 of them in Jutland – and a few on Funen.

A plan was set in motion to exterminate the animal in 2015, as the dogs wreak havoc in ground-breeding bird colonies, eating anything from insects and reptiles to small mammals, eggs and maize – and they are strong swimmers.

Big cat on the prowl BUT WITH the wolves retreating back to Germany, are they the biggest threat to Danish

Crikey ... is this from the start of ‘Watership Down’?

wildlife. Apparently not, according to two sightings in Jutland in March and May. In March, several people claimed they saw a large cat-like animal, and in May, a jogger said he saw the creature near Vejle. However, the police have so far failed to find any compelling evidence.

The Environment Ministry is sceptical, but has not discounted the possibility that the animal has been imported illegally and escaped.

Broke the flora protocol MEANWHILE, the Miljøstyrelsen environmental authority has recommended two lakes near Roskilde be closed off, and possibly drained, following the discovery of Carolina fanwort – an American sub-tropical plant.

The plant is regarded as a pest because it displaces the local flora, and bans on dogs, horses and fishing has been introduced in Fiskesø and Hundesø lakes in Hedeland Nature Park.

It is believed the plants might have made their way into the water because somebody emptied their tropical fish tank.

9

ONLINE THIS WEEK PIXABAY

Green car ambitions

SCIENCE

Raisers of the lost storks STORKS, on the other hand, are having a harder time. Back in the 1930s, there were 1,200 breeding pairs, but now Denmark is grateful to have three – so grateful, the birds have been given names.

The birds have been spotted in Gundsølille near Roskilde, Bækmarksbro in western Jutland and Smedager in southern Jutland, and storkene.dk is praying for a rainy but sunny Danish summer – the best possible breeding conditions for the bird.

No comeback for bees WHILE it’s no exaggeration to say that wild bees are facing a crisis, as sales of imidacloprid – an insecticide that kills them – have increased by 85 percent in Denmark over the last two years.

The insecticide was outlawed by the EU in 2013, and the ban was toughened in 2018, but in Denmark users can get dispensation and it is often used by the agriculture sector for the production of beetroot. (CPH POST)

Clinker coming back FISHERMEN and other activists from Denmark’s Jammerbugt Municipality are hoping to preserve the noble Danish tradition of clinker-built oaken boats, reports Euronews. These are flexible enough to land directly on sandy beaches, and this traditional way of coastal fishing is more friendly to the environment.

Colon cancer crisis MORE PEOPLE under the age of age of 50 are getting colon cancer in wealthy countries – with Denmark leading the statistics. Since 2012 the number of Danes getting the cancer has risen by 3.1 percent annually – the highest rate ahead of New Zealand (2.9), Australia (2.9) and the UK (1.8). Colorectal cancer cases are also rising.

New quantum computer RESEARCHERS from the University of Copenhagen and Microsoft have teamed up to develop a new kind of quantum computer, reports Ingeniøren. Their so-called topological quantum computer will employ two-dimensional quasiparticles called anyons.

Eldercare shortage THE NUMBER of vacant eldercare positions continues to grow – bad news as the elderly population is ever increasing.

Municipality association Kommunernes Landsforening estimates 15,000 more workers will be required over the next five years.

10 CULTURE

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

30 May - 13 June 2019

Far-right ideology in the spotlight

ONLINE THIS WEEK

Insufferably twee DENMARK finished 12th in Eurovision – not bad considering it finished 10th in its semi and only qualified for the final by one point. Opinion in the British Isles mostly agreed that ‘Love is Forever’ by Leonora was soppy nonsense, with the Guardian calling it an “insufferably twee sway-along ditty”. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the capital region will host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest qualifier – for the first time since 2011.

Rolexgate hunt over

Quite a promotion THE SECOND runner-up has now been named Miss Denmark 2018. The original winner gave up the title because she could not represent the country in Miss World in December, and her runner-up has been stripped of the crown for talking about the competition in a DR documentary that is critical of main organiser Lisa Lents.

WE’RE SAYING WHAT YOU’RE THINKING

Swedish artist Johan Tirén puts his own country’s right-wing policies under heavy scrutiny

• Johan Tirén’s solo exhibition can be seen at the Centre for Art on Migration Politics (CAMP)

DAVE SMITH

W

E’RE SAYING what you’re thinking’, a solo exhibition by acclaimed Swedish artist Johan Tirén, takes a critical look at the rise of anti-immigration, racist and farright parties in European politics.

For more than two decades, Tirén has examined the ideology and impact of the parties through his art, with a specific focus on the conditions of xenophobia and racism.

• Free guided tours of CAMP’s art gallery guide programme are available every Saturday from 15:00-16:00, except for on the last Saturday of the month • The tours, which are conducted by CAMP graduates, are offered in collaboration with Trampoline House, a refugee justice community centre in the Nordvest neighbourhood of Copenhagen

Healthy share DANISH films took a 30 percent share at the box office in 2018 – some 3.7 million of the 12.5 million tickets sold. A total of 26 Danish feature films were released over the course of the year.

• Find out more at campcph.org

THE POLICE have abandoned the hunt for conceptual artist Marco Evaristti’s art piece ‘Rolexgate’, which was stolen from an art museum in Kolding in January. However, another artwork, Kay Bojesen’s wooden monkey scultpture, which was stolen from the same museum a month earlier, has been recovered.

Careful introspection THE EXHIBITION looks at the nationalist, right-wing populist Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats), which has become the third largest party in Sweden.

In a video installation from 2005 and two new works created for the CAMP exhibition, the artist maps the party’s roots in the racist movement Bevar Sverige Svenskt (Keep Sweden Swedish) and punctures the

party’s vision of a monocultural society and its realisation.

The exhibition invites audiences to reflect on how far-right groups have managed to enter parliaments across Europe, and how we can confront their politics.

OLE BORNEDAL has confirmed that his next film, ‘Shadows in my Eyes’, will depict the bombing of the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen in 1945. Shooting is scheduled to start in the late autumn.

Truth by Falsehood

Nixon in China

Oh Baby – It’s Cole

The Goat

Dark Noon

DRAMA

DIEGO MONSIVÁIS

MUSICAL

THOMAS PETRI

OPERA

CAMILLA WINTHER

LEFTFIELD

DRAMA

Gestapo bomb film

DRAMA

«««¶¶¶

«««««¶

«««««¶

«««««¶

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CONSISTING of two shows on alternate nights, this was literally a production of two halves. The first took this reviewer to places he didn’t know were possible, but the second, at just 42 minutes long, wasn’t worth the journey.

Leftfield Theatre’s Lee Elms – the director of instalment one, ‘The Director’ – bit off more than he could chew. The man is clearly a masochist! Writing, directing and acting in a play is enough to put most mortals in the morgue, but trying to curate a trio of plays – that would have been a bridge too far for the poor lot that built the Burma Railway. (BH)

WITH CHINESE-AMERICAN relations very much in the spotlight, John Adams’ opera was an inspired choice by John Fulljames, the Royal Danish Opera’s artistic director, who brought warm and entertaining tones, exerting complete control over his stage. Credit is also due to stage director Dick Bird for his minimalist approach.

Images from historical archives provided an effective backdrop, giving the audience a sense of authenticity. Conductors Alexander Vedernikov and Ian Ryan, meanwhile, presented a melodic masterpiece. The jazz saxophones were a great touch. (LB)

THERE’S an effortless chronology underpinning London Toast’s new musical ‘Oh Baby – It’s Cole’, which is playing at Krudttønden almost every day until June 1.

Telling the life of composer Cole Porter, creator Vivienne McKee has crafted a seamless tribute to one of the music world’s true geniuses. The overall result is worthy of a much bigger theatre! It’s a highly intimate experience sitting there – by the end of the performance, there’s a sense you’ve really shared something with the performers. The show will no doubt convert many more of us into Porter enthusiasts. (BH)

BRILLIANTLY performed, Edward Albee’s darkly comical ‘The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?’ is not for the faint of heart. With a lurking elephant — or, really, a goat — in the room, the audience is thrown headfirst into the most emotionally intimate moments of a great marriage gurgling down the garbage disposal. But while it largely relies on shock value to drive the drama, its true strength comes from the compelling performances – particularly Vanessa Poole as the long suffering wife.

She gives a strongly nuanced portrayal of a once happy woman quickly sliding into insanity. (EY)

WHEN ONE of the first things you’re told before entering a theatre is “sit wherever you like and move around throughout the play”, you know you’re in for a surprise, if not an appearance on stage! And upon entering, the surprises come thick and fast, from the unusual sight of red soil on the floor to the audience’s benches encircling the ‘sahara-esque’ landscape. Under Tue Biering’s direction, a Johannesburg crew of seven white powder-faced actors narrate the story. It’s a historical storyline told from an unexpected perspective that gives us a different sense of Western civilization. (LB)

READ THE REST OF THESE REVIEWS AT CPHPOST.DK

SPORT

30 May - 13 June 2019

ONLINE THIS WEEK Bears make it three in a row

No longer the Bills of Denmark

11 FACEBOOK/CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN

FACEBOOK/BAKKEN BEARS

FACEBOOK/FCM

Eriksen tipped for Real move Spanish journalist claims Danish midfielder will play his final game for Tottenham in the Champions League final CHRISTIAN WENANDE

Time for a buffalo dance

Bearhugs galore

FC MIDTJYLLAND have finally lost their tag as the Buffalo Bills of the Danish Cup, having lost their four previous finals. On the Great Prayer Day bank holiday they beat Brøndby on penalties after an entertaining game ended 1-1. After the game the riot police had to subdue a group of Brøndby fans who began shooting fireworks into the FCM fans’ section. Several arrests were made.

THE BAKKEN Bears have been crowned Danish basketball champions for the third season on the trot following a sweep of Horsens IC in the final series. The two sides have faced off in the last five Danish Basketball Championship series, with Horsens winning in 2015 and 2016.

Fastest ever time KENYAN runner Jackson Kibet Limo ran the fastest time ever recorded on Danish soil when he won the Copenhagen Marathon on May 19 in a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 54 seconds.

In the women’s race, Etalemahu Zeleke Habtewold of Ethiopia also set a Danish all-comers record with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes and 29 seconds.

No last-eight finish THE DANISH ice hockey team failed to reach the knockout stages of the IIHF World Championship. The Danes got off to a decent start in Slovakia with a tight win over France and a record 9-0 defeat of Britain, but close losses to Germany and Finland, along with a 1-7 hammering at the hands of the US, sealed their fate.

New contract for legend FC COPENHAGEN coach Ståle Solbakken has extended his contract until the summer of 2023. The Norwegian, who has overseen nearly 570 games in two periods at the club (2006-2011 and since 2013), recently won his eighth Superliga title.

Carlsen beats all-comers PLAYING 24 players simultaneously, Norwegian chess master Magnus Carlsen beat all of them in under 90 minutes at the Energi Danmark Champions Battle at Copenhagen’s Cirkusbygningen on May 22. He then easily beat Jonas Buhl Bjerre, a 14-year-old rated the second-best player in Denmark.

Podium in California CYCLIST Kasper Asgreen continues to impress in his breakthrough season, earning a stage win on his way to coming third in the Tour of California, thus becoming the first Dane to ever finish on the podium. He also won the sprints standings ahead of none other than Peter Sagan.

New Nordic tour

A

CCORDING to the respected Spanish journalist Jaime Astrain, Danish international Christian Eriksen has already signed for Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Astrain told the El Chiringuito channel that the Danish midfielder would be presented following the Champions League final on June 1 – a match that seems set to be Eriksen’s last for Tottenham.

“According to the information I have, which is from a very reliable source, Real Madrid has tied down a player this coming season. It’s Eriksen from Tottenham. When the Champions League final ends, it will be unveiled,” said Astrain.

No Bale out ERIKSEN, who is valued at 650 million kroner, has long been a hot name in the

A Spurs faithful crowd favourite

rumour mill and, with his contract at Spurs coming to an end next year, he has been linked to Real Madrid a number of times.

Astrain also professed to know that Tottenham were not interested in getting Gareth Bale back as part of the deal.

Since joining Tottenham from Ajax back in 2013, Eriksen has scored 66 goals and dished up 86 assists in 276 appearances – including 10 goals and 17 assists so far this season.

ALONG with Norway and Sweden, Denmark will co-host a new women’s cycling race that is scheduled to commence in 2021. ‘Battle of North’ has been billed as the women’s version of the Tour de France and will include three stages each in Denmark and Sweden, followed by four final stages in Norway.

True promise ALEXANDER True has been named MVP for the San Jose Barracuda following a strong season in the American Hockey League.

The 21-year-old notched up 55 points in 68 games, just two points shy of Lars Eller’s AHL record of 57 points in 70 games.

The Lucas effect LUCAS Bjerregaard may have only tied for 16th in the recently held US PGA Championship, the second golfing major of the year, but he claimed some final day headlines with the only ace of the tournament. His hole-in-one came at the 206-yard 17th, and then his playing partner Lucas Glover promptly holed out from the bunker.

Tackling match-fixing DENMARK has urged fellow member states to step up their efforts to detect and punish match-fixing in sport. The Danes are unhappy that unanimity has yet to be reached in order for the EU to adopt the Macolin Convention, a 2014 treaty.

Contact: Rev. Jens Christian Larsen jcla@km.dk

tel. 2810 2776

12 BUSINESS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK SAS OPERATIONS director Lars Sandahl Sørensen will take over as the new CEO of Dansk Industri on August 1, replacing Karsten Dybvad, who resigned in December to become the chair of Danske Bank. Dybvad will be joined by a new chief executive, Chris Vogelzang, a 56-year-old Dutchman, on June 1. Meanwhile, the FSA has confirmed Henrik Ramlau-Hansen, the bank’s CFO, faces criminal charges.

Novo under fire OUTCRY is growing in the US where some diabetics are unable to afford their insulin, and a number of deaths have been reported, with some claiming companies like Novo Nordisk have blood on their hands in their pursuit of profits. Over the last 20 years, the price of some of Novo’s insulin drugs have risen by 300-400 percent.

Top wind nation CREDIT rating agency Fitch has identified Denmark as a top investment destination for wind power over the next decade. Highlighting 14.8 GW of future projects, it predicts 3 percent year-on-year growth over the next ten years. In related news, US politicians are again taking an interest in Danish wind solutions.

Watch it go!

WATCH designer Nordgreen is again raising funds via Kickstarter – this time for its ‘Pioneer’ and ‘Remodeled Native’ models. At the time of going to press it had raised over 1.63 million kroner – well in excess of its 100,000 kroner goal.

Ørsted can keep name ØRSTED has won a case against seven descendants of Danish scientist HC Ørsted, who contested the energy company’s decision to change its name from Dong Energy in 2017. The Sø- og Handelsretten commercial court has not yet explained its ruling.

PIXABAY

New team at bank

Always sunny … in the rich man’s world Car owners and top earners tend to benefit, but not the common man on the street

S

OME 11 PERCENT more Danes believe it is unacceptable to avoid paying taxes than they did in 1981, according to a recent study, but many are being given a helping hand by the authorities.

Great for car owners NEW FIGURES from the Skattestyrelsen tax authority reveal that 230,000 car owners owe 750 million kroner in unpaid car taxes, and around 100,000 cars are driving around that should have had their number-plates removed.

The main culprit appears to be computer systems that just can’t communicate with one another.

Scrapping Iran plans A NUMBER of Danish companies, including Vestas and FLSmidth, have shelved plans to set up shop in Iran following the US’s decision to scrap the 2015 Nuclear Agreement and levy sanctions against the country. Medicinal producers are reported to be the only firms able to continue exporting to Iran at the moment.

SAS in codeshare

A messy desk is a perfect metaphor for the state of Danish taxes

the country’s total income has risen to 11 percent – from around 7 percent in early 1990.

The figures, which were calculated by the think-tank Kraka in conjunction with consultancy firm Deloitte, puts Denmark on a par with the UK and ahead of Norway and Sweden where the figure is around 8 percent.

The trend, which has accelerated since the financial crisis, has been driven by top executive wages and increased income from accumulated wealth.

However, the finance minister, Kristian Jensen, is not worried.

“Of course there is a limit to how unequal a society can become, but I don’t think Denmark is there yet. We shouldn’t fight wealth but poverty,” he said.

Rising inequality IN DENMARK more than most other European countries, car owners tend to be well off – so many might be buoyed to learn that the richest Danes’ share of

Political will SOCIALDEMOKRATIET would like to reverse the trend by restricting the amount people can deduct on salaries over 10 million kroner and by introducing higher taxes on income from accumulated wealth.

“It’s not about envy, but about justice, reasonableness and social cohesion. An equal society is also a more stable one,” Peter Hummelgaard, its political spokesperson, told Jyllands-Posten.

Shah’s defence IN RELATED news, Sanjay Shah, the Dubai-based British businessman at the centre of the biggest tax fraud case in Danish history, has denied all charges.

SKAT last year formally brought charges in a London court in an attempt to claw back some of the 12.7 billion kroner that had been paid out to Shah and an international network of investment banks and private individuals based abroad.

However, Shah claims he only exploited loopholes in the law that other European countries had managed to close, and he blames the Danish authorities for not being sufficiently awake to their vulnerability to dividend arbitrage, which is based on exploiting such loopholes.

Blue is the colour

Perils of firing CEO

No more Marmite?

MAERSK now has its own colour.

The Patent and Trademark Office has approved its shade of blue, which means no other company will be able to use it. Trademarks expert Hannah Holm Olsen told DR it was both unusual and difficult to get a colour protected.

However, it is not the first, as the pump manufacturer Grundfos copyrighted a shade of red in 2011.

HOSPITAL equipment producer Ambu saw its shares slide by 20.4 percent on May 17 after it replaced its chief executive Lars Marcher with Juan-José Gonzales. Marcher is credited with taking Ambu from virtually nothing a decade ago to becoming a member of the C25 in 2018. His severance package is estimated to be worth 305 million kroner.

RANDERS-BASED wholesaler Food From Home, the main supplier of international foodstuffs to the country’s supermarkets for the last 18 years, has been declared bankrupt. Its British owner Dave Darlington, who single-handedly overturned the ban on Marmite in 2014, blamed a service provider for leaving him 1.9 million kroner out of pocket.

Robots to the rescue THE TAX authority is in the process of building a robot system that will be able to automatically send registration numbers to the police.

Around 130,000 cases are at present with the Gældsstyrelsen debt-collecting authority, and they are waiting for the new PSRM system to be implemented to enable automatic debt collection.

If all goes well, the system should be fully functional in 2021.

30 May - 13 June 2019

SAS HAS revealed that it has entered into a codeshare agreement with Latvian airline airBaltic.

Codesharing involves a commercial arrangement between two airlines, whereby one sells seats on a flight operated by the other. The deal will affect many flights in the Nordic and Baltic regions.

Thanks to Liverpool HVIDE Sande Bryghus has been profiting from the sale of its Liverpool-inspired beers Captain Fantastic (Steven Gerrard) and King Kenny (Kenny Dalglish) via the club’s official Danish fan club site. Two more will be hitting the shelves at the end of May – hailing legends Jan Mølby and Daniel Agger – in time for the Champions League final on June 1.

Bank’s “serious problem” NORDEA risk manager Julie Galbo will leave the bank at the end of May – a move that DR financial correspondent Casper Schrøder confirms is “a sign of serious problems with the bank’s risk control”.

Zero risk accounts SOME 900 billion kroner is currently being held in ordinary deposit accounts at Danish banks, according to Finans Danmark.

The figures highlight how few Danes choose to invest their surplus cash, preferring just to leave it gathering next to no interest.

Jewellers go bust JEWELLERY company Dyrberg / Kern, which at one point had a presence in 30 countries following its launch in 1990, has been declared bankrupt.

30 May - 13 June 2019

T

HE LINE “All for one and one for all” was made famous in Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel ‘The Three Musketeers’. Coincidently, its Latin origin “Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno” is also the unofficial motto of Switzerland, which just happens to be the country with the most successful life science clusters in Europe.

THE VALLEY OF LIFE As the chairman of the Medicon Valley Alliance – the gold-labelled Danish-Swedish life science cluster organisation – Søren will address current trends and challenges in the sector.

Musketeer morale AS FANS of the novel will know, the phrase serves to boosts morale and team spirit, encouraging everyone to do their very best – not only for their own sake but to strengthen the entire group.

This is what the Swiss confederacy has succeeded in doing politically, but it is also the approach they have successfully executed in addressing national life science development.

T NEIL SMITH DANISH CAPITAL IN 2019 Neil is a Scottish-educated lawyer with 15 years’ experience in corporate structuring and general commercial matters. Based in Copenhagen, he primarily advises on international deals.

Out of the office his interests include sport and politics. His column explores topical international financial and economic issues from a Danish perspective.

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And I think is it an appropriate guiding principle for the way we approach life science regionally and nationally in the Danish-Swedish Medicon Valley region – and also in the Nordics.

Narrow scope THE NATIONAL life science strategies currently being developed and executed in Denmark and Sweden should aim for similar tangible outcomes.

Whereas the Swedish strategy is still a work in progress, and as such cannot be finally assessed, the Danish equivalent was announced last year and is now in its implementation phase.

Unfortunately it is predominantly based on input from the larger life science companies, and it does not address the needs of the many innovative micro, small and medium-sized companies. Its narrow national point

of departure fails to embrace the regional perspective.

After all, the largest and most innovative cluster in the Nordics, Medicon Valley, is the result of more than 20 years of dedicated joint Danish and Swedish collaboration between regional authorities, universities and companies of all sizes.

We shall overcome INSTEAD of a more holistic, strategic and co-ordinated “All for one and one for all” approach based on common interest, it appears to be “Every man for himself ”. But as the Musketeers were able to overcome their differences and quarrels to fight for a greater purpose – so should we.

When faced by formidable opposition, threats or competition, as was the case for the three Musketeers and the early

13

Lego, Smego and eggo

Swiss Confederacy alike – and is the case for any current region trying to position itself in the highly competitive global life science industry – working together is probably a more likely recipe for success than trying to fly solo.

Hopefully, this wisdom will eventually prevail, and the Nordics will be able to realise its full potential as the preferred destination and most attractive location for life science in northern Europe.

Mayor with the answers THE CLEAR exception to this principle is Pete Buttigieg, who goes by the moniker ‘Mayor Pete’. He is unusual in many ways. Just 37, he previously

served in Afghanistan and is currently the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, an industrial town of around 100,000 people.

Whilst some argue his youth is a disadvantage, the experience of being a mayor of a Rust Belt town has meant he has thought more deeply about the effects of automation and globalisation than, for example, Harris (a former prosecutor) or O’Rourke (who represented a Texas border town).

During his tenure as mayor, Buttigieg made a concerted effort to refurbish derelict properties to make the city more attractive.

He also made the city centre a greener and less polluted area, with the aim of encouraging private investment. South Bend’s seemingly inexorable decline stopped as it became a tech hub and unemployment halved.

Democratic curveball BUTTIGIEG also has a pretty clear macro picture, arguing for the need for the US to invest in artificial intelligence and green technology, and to avoid China becoming the global leader in the industries of the future. Rather than harking back to the past, he accepts the current job market is more disparate and that the process has to be managed – for example by making benefits portable, examining Universal Basic Income, and establishing identity and support groups outside of work.

This last point is missed by many commentators who forget that people’s jobs have historically been a huge part of their identity and purpose. What effect does a more transient, fluid labour market have on this? The mayor’s answer is an untraditional Democratic one:

put more emphasis on an individual’s place in the community and, where appropriate, faith.

Buttigieg will probably not win the Democratic nomination, but the fact that he is there putting forward his economic arguments is good for the party. As much as the Democrats should fight President Trump on values, they also need to convince blue collar workers that the modern economy can work for them.

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HE DEMOCRATIC primary season is now in full flow, with over 20 hopefuls vying to go head-to-head against President Trump. The discussions have been frenetic, entertaining and, at times, illuminating.

Clear detail on economic proposals has been missing though.

Leading contenders like former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Kamala Harris and former Congressman Beto O’Rourke prefer to talk about values, slipping quickly into vague generalities when discussing economic matters.

Economics Explained

Give Yourself a Chance

Life is sweet with Mayor Pete

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BUSINESS OPINION

14 OPINION

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30 May - 13 June 2019

Happy to be in Europe

D

Green shoots everywhere CLIMATE, however, is the issue of the day – not only through teenage prophets but generally occupying people’s minds. There are concerns about CO2 emissions and a growing willingness to pay the price of reducing the use of fossil fuel all over Europe.

All politicians have turned green – maybe of different shades, but green all the same. Reducing plastic in households, green cars, green houses, green travel etc will all be issues in national elections.

In Denmark, the anti-EU movement Folkebevægelsen Mod EU lost its seat for the first time since 1979. Traditionally anti-EU, the extreme left seems to have modified its views regarding whether Denmark should leave.

Most remarkable is Dansk Folkeparti, which seems to have gone down more than 50 percent from a 26 percent haul five years ago. We are accordingly seeing the Danes be more EU-positive than ever before, and that is good news.

No more intransigent Brits THE GROWING understanding of the impossibility of

Mishra’s Mishmash

controlling immigration, the use of plastic, cross-border green energy and delivering on the Paris commitment on CO2 emissions on a national basis means the European Parliament has hard work ahead, but without the foot-dragging Brits it may pull it off.

The difficulties with Poland and Hungary are minor in comparison. The extreme right and left-wing parties have peaked, the euro has proved stable, and whatever presidents Trump and Xi may stir up, we believe the situation in Europe is manageable.

Never before have so many people crossed borders and learned about each other, and never before has trade flowed so freely.

Hopefully, we will see growth rates back in the black so the long-term integration can proceed.

Curtain up on June 5 WE ARE now looking forward to the general election on June 5. If the EU election turns out to have been a dress rehearsal, the outcome will be more blue than red, with Venstre outrunning Socialdemokraterne 4:3. But 25 percent of voters have still not made up their minds.

Dansk Folkeparti is in trouble and may see its vote reduced by half. The party has played hard to get between the red and blue blocs and lost credibility. They have also blackmailed the blue bloc into concessions, such as unnecessary infrastructure in the regions, and is still under investigation from the EU over a misuse of funds.

It’s hard to tell the parties apart on 75 percent of the issues, so if a change of government does happen it will not result in a dramatic change of politics but a change in faces – and that’s also a sort of renewal. (ES)

As a regular contributor to the Times of India, the country’s largest newspaper, Mishra is often soughtafter by Danish media and academia to provide expertise on Asian-related matters, human rights issues and democratisation. He has spent half his life in India and the other half in Denmark and Sweden.

GREENPEACE

ANES HAVE sent an overwhelming signal that however sceptical they may be about the EU in general, this is not the time to leave.

Participation in the European Parliament elections in Denmark was at an all-time high of 66 percent – and that was even on a rainy day.

Immigration doesn’t seem to be a huge worry since the EU agreements with transit countries have stemmed the flow of economic migrants. But clearly something more remains to be done.

MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA

It has to be said that Samuelsen will do well in the post-Apocalyptic version of Tinder

D

ENMARK is likely to get a new prime minister if we are to believe the present polls predicting the outcome of the election.

Lars wars THE CURRENT prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has been in power since 2015. He heads the so-called blue bloc coalition in Denmark that comprises the liberal-right parties, and he is heading for a crushing defeat in the upcoming elections on June 5. According to the latest polls conducted by Epinion for DR, the blue bloc will only be able to procure 40.9 percent of the vote.

Half of the campaigning period is now over, and the voters are defiant. They want change, and they want a new leader who will improve their schools and hospitals.

The young voters, especially, want a radically different environmental policy that drastically reduces emissions, thus punishing those who pollute far more strictly.

Attack of the clones THE RED bloc, meanwhile, is on course to receive 52.3

percent, with the rest going to parties unlikely to feature in either coalition. Headed by Socialdemokratiet leader Mette Frederiksen, the party has not suffered like its sister parties in Europe, holding onto strong support from its traditional voters.

Such is the desperation now in the blue bloc that Rasmussen is trying to copy Socialdemokratiet’s welfare model, but the voters are smart enough to discern that it is probably a bluff and an attempt by the PM to continue in power unimpeded.

Paradoxically, it is Rasmussen who made the Danish expression ‘bluff number’ popular, and now he stands accused of several bluff numbers, which also include wanting to form a coalition with Socialdemokratiet in order to check the far-right parties.

The Paludan menace THIS ELECTION might see the country’s most controversial party, Stram Kurs, win representation in Parliament.

Its leader Rasmus Paludan, who kicks, throws around and burns Korans in public places, is

an ethno-nationalist who wants to create a Denmark for ethnic Danes exclusively. He is promising to deport Danish citizens with Muslim backgrounds back to their countries of origin.

Luckily, neither the red bloc of centre-left parties nor the blue bloc of liberal-right parties want to include him in their respective governments. Nevertheless, Paludan will attract attention from international media, as very few right-wing parties anywhere in the world have professed measures as extreme as taking citizenship back from Muslims and resorting to the mass deportation of immigrants based on their ethnicity and religion.

However, despite their reservations about working with Paludan, it is fair to say that almost all the political parties have moved further to the right to entice voters. Even though Paludan will be excluded in Parliament, do not expect Denmark to be among the countries high on many immigrants’ wish-list in the near future. The conditions for entering the country and attaining citizenship will remain among the toughest in the whole world.

OPINION

30 May - 13 June 2019

JESSICA ALEXANDER

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Jessica is a bestselling US author, Danish parenting expert, columnist, speaker, and cultural researcher. Her work has been featured in TIME, Huffington Post, The Atlantic and The NY Times, among others. She graduated with a BS in psychology and speaks four languages. Follow Jessica on IG @jessicajoelle_ or jessicajoellealexander.com.

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There are more rallies in the US, but more sounding boards in Denmark

W

ITH THE Danish elections approaching, it struck me how differently America and Denmark view politics and how much this may be tied to our upbringing.

Authoritarian rules IN AMERICA, there are four basic parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and uninvolved. While we don’t have exact statistics on how common each one is, we do know that the authoritarian style is prevalent.

Authoritarian parents are strict, quick to punish and low on empathy towards their children.

It’s the ‘my way or the highway’ approach. It’s often infused with fear-based tactics to evoke submission. Children are not encouraged to ask why. They are encouraged to do as they are told because Daddy knows best. Authoritarian parenting, like all parenting styles, is often passed down from generation to generation.

For a lot of Americans, Trump’s rhetoric resonates as familiar and perhaps even comforting. He is powerful and often threatening, but many find this appropriate and effective. Even if

they don’t agree with everything he says, truth or lies, as long as he takes care of business, they don’t question his authority, words or actions.

Closer in collaboration IN DENMARK, on the other hand, the prevalent parenting style is based on mutual respect not fear. There is a major focus on teaching empathy to children, and there is a low power differential between people in general. Rules are explained, and children are encouraged to ask questions. Danish parents try to avoid power struggles, ultimatums and ‘I win’ mentalities.

It doesn’t matter how rich and powerful you are, it matters more how you treat others and what you stand for as a person. Moreover, 60 percent of schoolwork in Denmark is done in teams, and collaborating is far more important than competing to be a winner.

As way leads on to way, Denmark’s politics reflect this. They have many parties in politics, not just two represented by one candidate as we do in the US. When a party comes into power it must collaborate with other parties and

listen to the people or it loses its influence. Again, this is a very clear reflection of the values they grew up with as children.

Taking a quantum leap IT’S EXTRAORDINARY to think that by simply focusing on our parenting practices – by teaching more empathy and collaboration, for example – we could drastically change the future of society. There is an expression that ‘when we replace “I” with “we”, even illness becomes wellness’, and this could very well be true for politics as well.

It might take another generation or two to challenge the unfettered belief that rugged individualism, being rich and winning isn’t the American Dream, but it starts with parenting and education leading us on a different path.

If we raise our children with more empathy, for example, they will be the ones to change the system.

Who wins the Danish election or the American presidency next time around is anyone’s guess, but if the US ever wants to top the World Happiness Reports, Denmark might be able to offer some examples we could all learn from.

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ABOUT TOWN

30 May - 13 June 2019

PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD

South Korean ambassador Choi Jai-Chul is bidding farewell to these shores. A great many members of the diplomatic corps paid their respects at his residence in Charlottenlund on May 20, including Slovenian ambassador Edvin Skrt, Indonesian ambassador Muhammad Ibnu Said, Romanian ambassador Mihai-Alexandru Gradinar, [Choi and his wife] and Vietnamese ambassador Pham Thanh Dung

Swiss ambassador Benedikt Wechsler (centre right) is leaving Denmark to take up a position as the consul general in San Francisco from July. He took the opportunity to say goodbye on the closing day of 3daysofdesign 2019, an event organised by star architect Bjarke Ingels (centre), which was well attended by members of the diplomatic corps, both admiring the design and paying their respects to Wechsler

Argentina celebrated its national day at the residence of ambassador Conrado Solari (left) in Hellerup on May 23 with a fine reception that included a display of tango dancing. Among those present were (leftright from centre left) Moroccan ambassador Khadija Rouissi, Indonesian ambassador Muhammad Ibnu Said and Bulgarian ambassador Svetlan Stoev

Georgia celebrated its national day with a concert on May 23 at Marmorkirken – ‘Shavnabada’, a program of polyphonic music performed by the State Ensemble of Abkhazia – and then a reception on May 24. Among the guests of ambassador Gigi Gigiadze (centre right) at his embassy in Vesterbro were Hungarian ambassador Kristof Altusz (second right)

The cast of ‘Oh Baby, it’s Cole’ – Sebastian Harris, Katrine Falkenberg, Vivienne McKee, Nicoline Siff Møller and Leo Andrew – enjoyed a sold-out premiere at Krudttønden on May 15. The run continues until June 1 (see review on page 10)

In accordance with the 2019 opening of a Philippines Embassy in Copenhagen, it has been confirmed that the ambassador agree is Leo M Herrera-Lim. Maligayang pagdating!

HISTORY

30 May - 13 June 2019

17

Unusual and unexpected coalitions, and distinguished and dastardly PMs Denmark’s multi-party political system is a relatively recent development. For the complete picture, we need to delve into the country’s history LAUREN BEAUCHAMP

W

ITH THE 2019 General Election coming up on June 5, it would be churlish not to recall some of the most memorable contests, leaderships and coalitions in Danish history.

After all, for many of us internationals, Danish politics couldn’t be more different from the two-horse races in our own countries. Next Wednesday, no less than 13 parties will be vying for the people’s votes. There is never an absolute winner.

Instead, the biggest parties in the red or blue bloc, which are expected to be Socialdemokratiet and Venstre, will try to persuade the queen they are capable of forming a coalition. On some occasions, those hopes have been completely dashed!

It harks back to a time when the monarch not only had the final say, but pretty much decided everything. So in the immortal words of Maria von Trapp, “Let’s start at the very beginning.”

935-1849: Ironies of absolutism THE MONARCHY was formed in 935, but it was not initially absolute like most other European crowns, although few kings are remembered for abusing their authority in the vein of somebody like Ivan the Terrible or Henry VIII, for example. As an elective monarchy, the next king was always chosen, even if it almost always was the eldest son of the king!

This continued until the reign of Frederik III, and perhaps it was his insistence in the 1660s on the monarchy becoming absolute, thus securing the crown for his son, which unnerved the status quo, as it wasn’t long until the positions of storkansler (grand chancellor – 1699-1730) and

From assassinations attempts to Anker’s acquiescence to Anders Fogh’s assertiveness

statsminister (minister of state – 1730-1848) emerged – forerunners of the position of PM. One of the first ministers of state wasn’t even born in Denmark. While Britain had the Pitts, and the US the Adams, Denmark’s first political dynasty was the Bernstorffs, and it all began in 1751 with the appointment of Count Johann von Bernstorff to the privy council. As statsminister, Bernstorff is credited with maintaining neutrality throughout the Seven Years’ War, and two of his descendants – his nephew and grand-nephew – went on to take the post.

The most famous statsminister of them all was also German-born. When Johann Struensee was appointed physician to King Christian VII, few imagined he would make his way into the royal family – quite literally. A radical thinker and star of the enlightenment, Struensee banned the slave trade and censorship of the press. Nevertheless, he is best remembered for his affair with Queen Caroline Mathilde and their ‘love child’, Princess Louise Augusta.

He was executed shortly after the affair was exposed.

1849-1953: Chamber pot system WHEN THE country adopted a constitution in 1849 under Frederik VII, the way was clear

for the country’s first prime minister, and that honour fell to Adam Wilhelm Moltke. His appointment coincided with the foundation of the Danish Parliament (Folketing), which began life as the lower chamber of the Rigsdag, although it held equal power with the landed gentry’s chamber, the Landsting. The bicameral system would stay in place for 104 years, before the Landsting was abolished in 1953, leaving the Folketing to operate as a unicameral legislature.

During that period, there were many PMs who made their mark – most notoriously of all Ditlev Monrad, who presided (indecisively according to Christian XI) over the debacle of 1864, Denmark’s darkest hour. Just months after losing the Second Schleswig War and the vast territories of Schleswig and Holstein with it, Monrad legged it to New Zealand!

The events of 1864 left the country in ruins, and frugally-minded Jacob Estrup was just the man to get them out of trouble. As PM for 19 years, he presided over a period of austerity from 1875 to 1895, and in 1884 (with the backing of the Landsting) stubbornly refused to resign, even though his Højre party had only won 19 out of 102 seats in the election. Even an assassin’s bullet in 1885 couldn’t get rid of him a year later, making him the only Danish leader to ever be shot

at. Julius Rasmussen opened fire at point blank range, contriving to miss with the first and hit one of his coat buttons with the second.

1973-2015: Rise of the kingmakers THE 1973 ELECTION is considered the birth of modern politics in Denmark. In 1971 only five parties won seats, but this rose to an unprecedented 10 in 1973 thanks to an 88.7 percent voter turnout (the highest since 1920), with two newly-established parties winning 42 seats in a contest that quickly took on the name ‘The Landslide Election’. Venstre formed the smallest minority government in Danish history with a mere 22 seats and Poul Hartling as PM. Despite claiming 46 seats, Socialdemokratiet and its leader Anker Jørgensen could only watch from the sidelines, although less than two years later he reclaimed the position of PM. History then repeated itself in 1990 when Socialdemokratiet once again won the most seats but was unable to form a government with its leader Svend Auken as PM due to the refusal of Radikale to support him. It might sound bizarre to some, as Radikale won only seven seats to Socialdemokratiet’s 69, but their refusal to back Auken enabled Konservative leader Poul Schlüter, with just 30 seats, to remain in power with the help

of Venstre (29 seats).

The next two elections in 1994 and 1998 saw cross-spectrum coalitions led by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, with Radikale in its customary role as kingmaker, take control.

The red bloc vs blue bloc divide, which we today take for granted, made its return in 2001 when Anders Fogh Rasmussen became the first Venstre leader in 26 years to become PM. The victory finally broke a several decades long pattern that had seen Radikale decisively determine who would rule. Dansk Folkeparti’s emergence in 1998 played a significant role, and immigration in 2001 proved to be the key issue as Venstre (56), DF (22) and Konservative (16) formed a strong right-wing coalition. With Radikale not tipping the scales, the right-wingers no longer needed to collaborate across the political centre, and the VKO alliance lasted for ten years.

Back in 1998, few would have ever envisaged DF being strong enough to form its own government 17 years later, but 37 seats in 2015 put them in that exact position. Socialdemokratiet (47) won the most seats, but saw support for its government partners SF and Radikale crumble as they lost nine seats each. The blue bloc’s majority put Venstre (35) in the driving seat, and after lengthy negotiations it formed yet another minority government.

18 COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

30 May - 13 June 2019

I

T’S COCKTAIL Night every Friday at Improv Comedy Copenhagen. For just 150 kroner, double up with a show and a signature cocktail and slurp away the midnight hours until 2 am.

It brings to mind that won-

drous poem in the 1988 classic ‘Cocktail’: from “The Sex on the Beach ... the Schnapps made from peach!” to “I make drinks so sweet and snazzy, the Iced Tea ... the Kamakaze!”

Yes it does sound badly improvised and, yes again, it did make

it into a Hollywood A movie.

But we should be careful what we say, as CPH POST columnist and Cocktail Night regular Adrian Mackinder (centre right in the arms of the recently departed ... er ... left not dead ... artistic director Jay

Sukow) is partial to cheesy ‘80s films.

Not one to showboat, Mackinder, who was part of the team who recently represented ICC at the Copenhagen International Improv Festival (centre left), is keen to stress there are

As one of Copenhagen’s most popular parties, Distortion offers a variety of music, food and festivities lasting five days. It’s hard to pick a single event, but if we had to, it would be Vesterbro’s Black Distortion, which promises an incomparable atmosphere as food trucks, a beautiful bar and infinite love congregate (May 30; Istedgade 45, Cph V; free adm; cphdistortion.dk)

In ‘Central (Story) Line’, a late addition to CPH STAGE from the Fingers Crossed company, the year is 1940 and World War II is raging. The last kindertransport to escape the German forces has arrived in England. Three anxious children wait on the platform wondering whether someone will pick them up. England saved their lives, but at what cost? (May 29-June 1; Forscenen, Shetlandsgade 3, Cph S; 45-80 kr; cphstage.dk)

Picture-postcard Dragør is hosting the Öresund Street Food Market several times this summer.

Indulge in delicious foods whilst enjoying music from lounge DJs and soaking up the hygge.

Dragør can be reached in just under an hour from Copenhagen by bike – maybe less with the incentive of refreshments that await (June 1-2 & 2123, July 12-14; Aug 2-4; Dragør Havneplads)

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Get your groove on with a swing dance session at Studenterhuset. Following a 90-minute intro you’ll be warmed up and ready to strut your stuff. Worst-case scenario: your Silly Moves might lead to a Collegiate Shag (June 4; Købmagergade 52, Cph K; free adm)

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currently four shows a night (Thu-Sun; improvcomedy.eu) at the theatre at Frederiksholms Kanal 2 in the city centre.

Still, you can’t beat a cocktail and show for that price – even if it is a sweet and snazzy Kamakaze.

DAVE SMITH

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OUT AND ABOUT

Prince Frederik will run 10 km with the public in this informal celebration of community, which you can complete at your own pace. Places are still available for the one mile distance (June 10; CPH and Frederiksberg; register at royalrun.dk/tilmelding)

Have a mooch around for some new threads at this family-friendly flea market. It includes a children’s corner and various workshops (June 22, 10:00-16:00; Trampolinlegepladsen på Den Franske Plads, Cph Ø) EDWARD OWEN

ON SCREENS

30 May - 13 June 2019

19

Embers still glowing: no escaping the Game of Thrones crew BEN HAMILTON

I

T’S NOT that I hate eunuchs, I just don’t feel anything. Take Grey Worm, for example, the perpetually scowling head of the Unsullied on Game of Thrones, which accounts for 99 percent of all the eunuchs I know.

I didn’t even realise he had a name until I stumbled across a plot synopsis for Season 8 – hitherto I had presumed Grey Worm was a monk … it does after all sound like a withered penis, not an absent one.

And likewise the maid – or whatever she did for Blondie besides her hair. Their occasional fumblings were plotwise as full, to borrow a metaphor from Blackadder, as Grey Worm’s underpants. Her capture was as inconsequential as arresting Zebedee as part of the White House’s War on Drugs.

Game of thrown bones THAT’S not the last we’ll see of Missandei, as actress Nathalie Emmanuel has grabbed the lead in the TV adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral, one of the many new shows scheduled to broadcast this year that will feature stars from GOT. While the cast of The Sopranos have been dominating American-Italian mafia shows for 20 years now, GOT’s cast is in pole position to take over everywhere – never mind the seven kingdoms, this will be global.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Kingslayer) has made a fast start with two terror attack films set in Copenhagen – with Carice van Houten (Melisandre) co-starring in Brian DePalma’s Domino, which is due to come out in the US on May 31 – while Jerome Flynn (Bronn) pops up in John Wick 3, which hit cinemas in May. And His Dark Materials, tipped to fill the adult fantasy void left by GOT, has recruited James Cosmo (Night Watch lord commander Jeor Mormont).

Duh! Do John wrong!

RELEVANT to this issue, two members of the Stark family are taking prominent roles in major cinematic releases: Rob and Sansa.

Richard Madden, who might have left the show at the right time to truly leave it behind, stars as John Reid, the manager and lover of Elton John, in Rocketman (69 on Metacritic; released on May 30). Directed

by Dexter Fletcher, who finished Bohemian Rhapsody after its original director was sacked, Taron Egerton fills the five-inch platform shoes of the singer – and it’s clearly another music biopic the whole family can enjoy.

But how influential have Queen and John been as producers? The answer is enough to render any examination of the men behind the glamour or the pitfalls of fame as ultimately vacuous. As the Guardian laments:

“Rocketman is an honest, heartfelt tribute to Elton John’s music and his public image. But the man itself eluded it.”

Sophie Turner, meanwhile – now 23; how did that happen? – has landed the lead in Dark Phoenix (Not Released Worldwide; June 6), the X-Men genesis film charting the rise of Jean Grey – a role she first played in X-Men: Apocalypse three years ago.

Not Lady Jane Grey!

WITH JEAN Grey, the jeopardy is missing somewhat, as we know where she ends up (thanks Wikipedia for confirming that 16th century nine-day monarch Lady Jane Grey was somebody different) and the same is true of the characters in Hotel Mumbai (64; June 6). Nevertheless, it looks like a thrilling ride with Dev Patel and Armie Hammer (the twins in The Social Network) onboard.

Not sure if the same can be said about British films Edie (no Metacritic score; May 29) and The Bookshop (62; June 6), which were both released in 2017.

The former concerns an octogenarian mountaineer, the latter the opening of a new shop in a rural town in the late 1950s – back when Vladimir Nabokov was the biggest threat to the sanctity of village life, not dogging.

Movies-wise that leaves fu-

Rob Stark finally catches up with Joffrey to administer a good slap

turistic tale I am Mother (56; June 8, Netflix) starring Hilary Swank, and a welcome return for Deadwood (June 1, HBO Nordic) as a TV movie, with the action resuming a decade after the western series somewhat abruptly stopped after three seasons. Ian McShane (with an episode of GOT under his belt) will return as Al Swearengen, but not his main rival Cy Tolliver, as the actor Powers Boothe died in 2017.

Mirror, Meryl, Miley FANS OF The Handmaid’s Tale (S3; June 6, HBO Nordic) will discover if Aunt Lydia survived being stabbed by Emily, who has already escaped justice for running over a guard, poisoning a commander’s ex-wife and kicking a commander in the balls. Emily may be a suppressed woman in a totalitarian state run by religious zealots, but our sympathy can only extend so far!

Also returning are US president yarn Designated Survivor

(S3; June 6, Netflix); Brazilian futuristic series 3% (S3; June 6, Netflix); dramedy Big Little Lies (S2; June 6, HBO Nordic) with Meryl Streep now attached; Black Mirror (S5; June 6, Netflix) with three episodes and Miley Cyrus onboard; imaginary friend cop series Happy! (S2; Netflix, June 5), spinoff Fear the Walking Dead (S5; HBO Nordic, June 3), LGBTQ drama Pose (S2; HBO Nordic, June 12) and San Francisco-based series Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City (S4; June 6, Netflix), which began in 1993 and was last seen in 2001.

Finally, we have Sanctuary (from May 30 on C More), an English-language psychological thriller series produced in Sweden about a woman (Astrid from Vikings) trying to make sense of her incarceration in a clinic.

Matthew Modine and British actor Will Mellor are among what is a curious cast.

So no eunuchs – or at least not heading into episode one.

FILM, DJ & DRINKS LATIN AMERICAN FESTIVAL

On June 8th experience ‘Marighella’ a powerful biopic about the guerilla-fighter Carlos Marighella.

Join us for epic Brazilian vinyls and drinks after the film in our bar.

We present some 50 films with English dialogue or subtitles every month.

See what’s on at cinemateket.dk or visit us in Gothersgade 55

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