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NEWS Strict on street vagrancy, targeting camps and begging

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Broken promises State concedes it failed to honour COP15 pledge

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Tackling asylum at home and overseas BUSINESS We’ve never had it so good, but too much is a bad thing

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‘Is’ you’ll never forget Bon Bon Ice is dripping in nostalgia and goodies

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Development minister outlines plans to invest in projects in areas adjacent to the world’s trouble-spots

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HE GOVERNMENT managed to save 1.8 billion kroner in the area of dealing with an anticipated surge in asylum-seekers that failed to materialise in 2016.

The funds had been diverted away from international aid, and concerns were voiced in September 2006 that they would not be spent in that area.

Targeted trouble-spots HOWEVER, the development minister, Ulla Tørnæs, has now confirmed the funds will be spent on long-term overseas development projects in areas adjacent to the trouble-spots many of the asylum-seekers are fleeing from.

For example, it will be spent on creating jobs in the Middle East and Africa – especially for young people. It will also be used in education and to give women and girls broader access to family planning.

More employed MEANWHILE, the municipalities are becoming much better at getting refugees into the labour market, according to the employers association Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening.

Twice as many refugees aged 18-59, who arrived in Denmark between 2011 and 2015, found employment in 2016 compared to the previous year.

High-flyers THREE municipalities – Copenhagen, Høje-Taastrup and Lejre – have managed to get over 30 percent of the refugees

into jobs.

While Frederiksberg, Slagelse, Glostrup, Bornholm, Gladsaxe, Middelfart and Hvidovre are all clearing 23 percent.

The percentage of refugees in work in 2016 was around 15 percent. Of the 3,316 refugees who found a job, just 500 were women.

Company help key Lejre Municipality in midZealand focuses on individual job readiness, and it has established a close co-operation with the business sector to the extent that companies are now calling up to recruit refugees.

“Regardless of how much we can motivate the individual, we have nothing to offer without the companies,” Lasse Bjerregaard, a department head at a job centre in Lejre, told DR.

Still competitive DENMARK slipped a place to seventh in IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2017, but remained top in the Nordics.

It was marked down for its high wages, taxes and fees, low working hours, and poor ability to attract workers from abroad.

The top five were: Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, the US and the Netherlands. Sweden was placed ninth.

Healthcare issues DENMARK has the worst healthcare in the Nordics. It ranked 24th on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index with a score of 86 out of 100, a long way behind Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland, which were all in the top 10. The Danish system was criticised for its treatment of diabetes, testicular cancer, leukaemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and skin cancer.

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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK VESTERBRO claimed a triple victory against Nørrebro in the battle of the Distortion street parties on May 31 and June 1.

A crowd of 85,000 attended the Thursday night proceedings in the city’s west end – 5,000 more than in CPH N a day earlier.

Some 24 were arrested (just 20 in Nørrebro) and 24 were fined for public urination (13).

Huge Øresund conference COPENHAGEN and Malmö will in May 2018 host Øresund Climate Week, a massive energy conference that with the backing of the G20 will promote the green transition. The week will also include meetings of the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation.

Free adult swim classes IN CONCORDANCE with Copenhagen’s hosting of the European Swimming Championships in December, City Hall is offering free adult swimming classes in bathing areas by Halfdansgade and Sluseholmen.

Until August 27, the over-15 classes will take place on Fridays between 17:00 and 18:00 and on Sundays from 11:00-12:00.

Pricey trees favoured

City and state tackling Roma camps Capital’s mayor would like proof of residence to be a mandatory requirement for EU nationals exercising their freedom to move

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Vesterbro 3, Nørrebro 0

10 - 29 June 2017

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HE JUSTICE minister, Søren Pape Poulsen, has responded to a call from Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen to tighten up residence rules in order to tackle the growing number of illegal Roma camps in the city.

Since April 1, the authorities have been permitted to break up the camps, and they have already disbanded 25 of them.

Old haunts, new squawks COPENHAGEN Zoo has confirmed that its historic elephant house, built in 1914 by PA Rosenkilde, will be demolished to make way for a new panda enclosure. Meanwhile, the zoo is expecting an increase in visitors this summer following the birth of a baby elephant on May 17.

They’re camps, but not the ones Baden-Powell envisaged

EU must take action ULTIMATELY Jensen wants the EU to amend its regulations on free mobility to prevent people coming to Denmark who do not have an address. Many end up sleeping rough in makeshift camps.

In 2016, the police received 355 reports regarding illegal en-

campments. Already this year, the figure is around 125, Berlingske reports.

Staff at Trinitatis Kirke in Copenhagen have been offered vaccinations because of the growing amount of excrement and potentially toxic rubbish left round the church by people sleeping rough.

CPR registrations move online What was once a bad 24 hours for Jack Bauer is now “as simple and smooth as possible” promises International House Copenhagen

CITY HALL’S appeal to the public to help it choose the location of the 100,000 trees it intends to plant by 2025 has backfired a little. The most popular suggestion was planting trees alongside congested roads.

However, each tree would cost 75,000 kroner and come at the expense of parking spaces, so City Hall is now weighing up the feasibility.

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VERYBODY has a story about the day they finally got their CPR number – the national insurance number that enables new arrivals to work in Denmark – which makes a typical Jack Bauer outing look like a lazy 24 hours in a Swedish forest.

Among the top malls FREDERIKSBERG Centre has won a VIVA Best of the Best Award – the first Danish mall to ever win one of the Las Vegasbased International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) prizes, and the first to be nominated. It won in the ‘Design & Development’ category.

STEPHEN GADD

Busy day ON MAY 30, camps at Islands Brygge, Lille Kongensgade, Vesterbrogade and Nyropsgade were cleared and ten people were detained, taking the weekly total to 37.

Many were ordered to not return to the area again – infringing the directive, or being charged with breaking the law twice, will most probably result in them being deported (see also page 6).

ONLINE THIS WEEK

Cycling all over the city, juggling several languages, waiting for hours, changing horses midstream – a Catch 22 ensured you could only get a CPR number with a job, but that you could only get a job with a CPR number.

Online from June 1 BUT FROM June 1, internationals have been able to apply for a CPR number online and forego the agony of undertaking the process – last year 26,000

obtained one.

Granted, the opening of International House Copenhagen (IHC) on Gyldenløvesgade in 2013 did at least mean that everything could be done under one roof – as well as other relocation issues, job searches and networking – but it was still a taxing and time-consuming process.

Thomas Jakobsen, the head of culture and leisure at IHC, is confident the change will make the process “as simple and smooth as possible”.

Scientology opens doors THE CHURCH of Scientology has a new home in central Copenhagen – a 4,000 sqm newly-renovated building at Nytorv, a square adjacent to Strøget.

Some 2,500 people gathered over the May 27-28 weekend for the opening.

Finally a GP THE 3,200 RESIDENTS of the troubled neighbourhood of Tingbjerg in northwest Copenhagen will finally be able to visit a GP within their own community. For two years, they have had to leave Tingbjerg to see a doctor, but they now have a choice of two.

Belated demo arrests ON MAY 17, Copenhagen Police arrested 25 people in connection with the violent demonstration in Nørrebro on March 1 that marked the tenth anniversary of the closing of Ungdomshuset

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10 - 29 June 2017

WELCOME HOME

Since 2004, we’ve worked to cherish that special feeling of ‘home’. Without boasting too much, we can say we’ve succeeded rather well. Today, we are Denmark’s largest housing agency. We rent everything from the small, one-room flats in town to the 500 sq metre villa on the coast. Furnished or unfurnished. On a monthly or yearly basis. We know for sure that a new existence away from familiar surroundings requires tranquillity on the home front. That applies whether you are the landlord, who is moving on – or the tenant who just wants to settle in comfortably.

It’s all about making you feel right when you step inside the door.

Welcome Home to Denmark’s largest housing agency housingdenmark.com

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THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

10 - 29 June 2017

Still prohibited, is the tide slowly turning for commercial surrogacy?

STEPHEN GADD

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SURROGATE mother is a woman who becomes pregnant by agreement and has a child that she later hands over to her client. When she does this without being paid, it is termed altruistic surrogacy. However, a fee may be involved, and this is called commercial surrogacy.

In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother’s egg is used, making her the genetic mother.

In gestational surrogacy, the egg is provided by the intended mother or a donor. The egg is fertilised through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and then placed inside the surrogate mother.

There are many countries where surrogacy is illegal, and they are not all Catholic! Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Bulgaria are among the many that prohibit all forms of surrogacy.

Others, such as the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Belgium, allow a form of surrogacy in which the surrogate mother is not paid, or only reimbursed for reasonable expenses. These countries prohibit full-on commercial surrogacy.

Commercial surrogacy is legal in some US states and countries such as India, Russia and Ukraine.

No straight and narrow path WOULD-BE parents, who have exhausted all other avenues trying to have a child, are often tempted to try surrogacy.

However, it is not at all straightforward, and couples often end up heading abroad if their home country does not permit the process or if they can’t find a surrogate.

That can be complicated even further by various laws – for example, some Australian states have criminalised going to another country for commercial surrogacy whilst other allow it.

Countries popular with parents for surrogacy arrangements are the US, India, Thailand, Ukraine and Russia. Costs vary significantly from country to country, and they also depend on the number of IVF cycles needed, and whether health insurance is required.

A lot of money is involved ONE THING is certain. It is a billion-kroner industry worldwide. In India, for example, it generates around 13.5 billion kroner per year.

The price of having a child using a surrogate varies from country to country. In the US and India, it costs between 200,000 and 400,000 kroner, whilst in poorer countries the price is substantially less.

Kristeligt Dagblad reports that the surrogacy is often orchestrated by a clinic, which might have hostels where the mother can stay during her pregnancy. An example of one of these is the Indian clinic Akanksha Infertility. Clients pay up to 400,000 kroner for one of its surrogates to carry their child. The woman herself receives around 25,000-40,000 kroner whilst the clinic earns up to ten times more.

There is also the ethical dilemma regarding whether surrogacy exploits poor women.

Some women might see surrogacy as a means of survival and their only way out of poverty.

The situation in Denmark DET ETISKE Råd, the government’s ethical council, unanimously believes that commercial surrogacy is an ethical problem and a minority are against any form of surrogacy – either with or without payment.

Legally-speaking, commercial surrogacy is forbidden under paragraph 31 of the Child Act (Børnelov).

Danish doctors must not assist in inseminating a surrogate mother with eggs from another women who, according to an agreement, will become the child’s social mother.

It is also illegal for a third party to broker contact between a surrogate mother and a childless couple, so in practice it is almost impossible to find and use a surrogate mother in Denmark unless a friend or family member volunteers their services. Danish law does allow a surrogate if she uses her own eggs and is willing to give up the child for adoption without being paid for it.

If a family travels abroad to one of the countries where surrogacy is legal, they may have a problem bringing the child back to Denmark. In the spring of 2014, the appeals tribunal, An-

SURROGACY-UK

Many Danes are using the internet to find a mother abroad

SURROGACY IN DENMARK • In Denmark it is illegal to pay another woman to bear your child For many, surrogacy is the most feasible solution

kestyrelsen, underlined that in Denmark the women who gives birth to a baby is regarded as its mother, so it can be difficult to obtain permission to bring another person’s child into the country.

A political dilemma DANISH politicians are divided on the issue as well. Kristeligt Dagblad reported on a debate in Parliament held in December 2013 about the use of surrogate mothers in which many parties expressed scepticism about the idea. Özlem Cekic from Socialistisk Folkeparti said “personally, I feel that if really good friends asked me if I would be a surrogate, then I’d say yes. But if we have to examine the law, it is extremely important to look at the many dilemmas connected with surrogacy.”

“When money changes hands, there are also a lot of problems that could be equated with prostitution. We have to look at this without prejudice, but also investigate all the grey areas and dilemmas.”

Birgitte Josefsen (Venstre), another member of the committee reporting to Det Etiske Råd, had this to say: “Personally, I don’t support surrogacy.

I’m very afraid that situations might occur in which a familymember won’t be able to refuse another family member who wants a child.”

Danske Folkeparti was also negative. Its health spokesperson, Liselott Blixt, said “on the face of it, it seems a noble gesture that a woman would carry another woman’s child out of altruism. But ethically, we at Danske Folkeparti don’t think it is something we should allow in Denmark. We don’t know what new problems it might cause.”

A beacon of hope?

HOWEVER, in June 2016, DR Nyheder reported that Liberal Alliance wants to make surrogacy legal – the first party in Denmark to do so.

Despite the law, it seems as if an increasing number of childless Danish families are finding surrogate mothers abroad through the internet, using secret Facebook groups and false profiles.

“Liberal Alliance would like to make it possible for Danish citizens to find a surrogate mother here – rather than having to travel to the US,” said May-Britt Buch-Kattrup, the party’s health spokesperson.

In the US, there are thorough background checks on prospective surrogate mothers. “The screening model used in the US sounds very sensible and could form the basis for a similar law in Denmark,” added Buch-Kattrup.

But Karen Ellemenn, who was social minister at the time, came out plainly against the idea.

“Basically, I don’t think that it is a human right to have a child. I believe we ought to continue to uphold the ban.”

The Danish church, however, was more conciliatory. A spokesman for the Bishop of Copenhagen said that the Folkekirke does not have an official view on the subject. However, he added that individual priests probably have their own ideas.

Who DAREs wins?

MIKKEL Raahade is chairman of DARE Danmark, a lobby organisation that advocates for the legalisation of surrogate montherhood in Denmark.

DARE does not believe that it is the state’s business to interfere in these things. It should be looked at as an extension of the existing fertility treatments and available to all.”

• It is also illegal to initiate any form of contact with a potential surrogate • Infringements can result in fines or imprisonment for up to four months • In Denmark, the birthmother is automatically regarded as the mother – even though a foreign surrogate has made a declaration giving up her right – and therefore parental custody will always belong to the birth mother • The biological mother – the one who has donated the egg and who will raise the child – can obtain parental custody through adoption “On top of that, the present legislation seems to open up to all the pitfalls that the opponents of surrogacy are afraid of. For example, that the mother might have regrets and be scarred for life from the experience, or that it is a sort of human trafficking.”

He went on to say that “in addition, the current view is that it is okay if a friend or family member is involved. Our experience has shown that this might not be true. We know of at least two cases where a mother has disappeared with the baby.”

There have also been cases that when the baby is born, the parents have refused to take it, thus leaving the mother stuck with the child.

Like Liberal Alliance, DARE thinks the best solution would be one where some form of screening takes place, like in Ukraine or the US. In DARE’s view, having a child may not be a human right, but it makes sense that it is looked at in the context of fertility treatment in general.

Despite the best efforts of Liberal Alliance and DARE, it seems as if full legality for wouldbe parents is still some way off.

NEWS

10 - 29 June 2017

The Danish are coming!

But the Irish were already there

I

T WOULD appear the announcement that Casper Klynge will leave his embassy in Jakarta to become Denmark’s first digital ambassador – switching his focus from the Indonesian government to the likes of Apple, Facebook and Google – isn’t as novel as was originally presumed.

Ireland ahead in chariot IRELAND has had a similar position since 2012, and it is none other than ‘Chariots of Fire’ producer David Puttnam.

The Englishman, who has just stepped down from his role, was a ‘national digital champion’ charged with contributing to the development of the Irish government’s ‘National Digital Strategy’.

Klynge should have his own theme tune

Singapore close behind BUT THERE’S no doubt that Denmark’s January decision to appoint a digital ambassador has had an impact.

The UK’s Labour Party announced in its manifesto that if it were elected, it would appoint a digital ambassador.

And officials in Singapore, one of the world’s most tech-savvy countries, have praised the initiative to appoint a ‘Silicon Valley ambassador’ – in reference to where Klynge will be based. (SG)

ONLINE THIS WEEK

FULL STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Women’s seat “natural”

Targeted by snipers

DENMARK has declared its candidacy for one of western Europe’s vacant seats on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. So far, ahead of the April 2019 election, Switzerland is the only other candidate. The development minister, Ulla Tørnæs, said it was vital to protect women’s rights “in light of the American decision to enforce the ‘Global Gag Rule’”. Denmark’s high-profile stance made the candidacy “natural”, she added.

WORKERS transporting goods to families in Mosul on behalf of the Danish aid organisation Mission East are being regularly targeted by Islamic State snipers. Mission East, which uses local drivers in small pick-up trucks because larger vehicles are more likely to be shot at, told media it was vital families didn’t flee due to the extreme pressure it would place on nearby UN refugee camps. One truckload can cover the needs of 50 families for a month.

Arabic commitment

Al-Qaeda used Denmark

DENMARK has set aside around 1 billion kroner for the Danish-Arab Partnership Program (DAPP), the upshot of an initiative launched in 2003 to improve understanding between the regions. The DAPP’s main focus is the promotion of good governance to realise the region’s economic potential in partnership with Danish and regional NGOs. Looking forward, it aims to improve the lives of young people in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

A LEAK by the Spanish authorities has revealed that Denmark was important to an al-Qaeda network based in the Spanish enclave of Melilla in north Africa as it was the first stop on its jihadists’ journey to warzones. Additionally, according to documents obtained by DR, the two leaders of the cell travelled to Denmark on a number of occasions to set up several now-closed companies that owe 58 million kroner in unpaid VAT.

Arrested at worship A DANISH Jehovah’s Witness was apprehended by the Russian authorities on May 25 in a raid during a worship ceremony in the city of Oryol in central Russia. Dennis Christensen, 44, was arrested in line with April’s Supreme Court ruling that formally bans the religious organisation and identifies its members as religious extremists. The ruling had led to the enforced closure of local chapters as well as the confiscation of religious literature.

Greenland’s UN action GREENLAND delivered three complaints to the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur in April concerning the Danish government’s failure to clean up after the US military presence. Additionally, Greenland accused Denmark of failing to ensure the island received adequate financial compensation for hosting the Thule base in the northwest of the country. Apparently its patience snapped after waiting for a Danish response for four years.

Before long, you’ll belong Settling into a new country can be challenging – especially for the nonworking spouse. We know, from studies and from experience, that a successful posting depends on the happiness of the entire family – and our school is home to a very active, warm and welcoming community.

Our PTA offers a wide range of opportunities: Newcomers Network, Spring Fair, Halloween, Yoga, Art & Culture Tours, Wine and Cheese Evening, Dads’ Club and Ladies’ Night Out. Dedicated parents coach our sports teams, run our boy scouts and serve on the school Board.

At CIS the whole family finds a place to grow roots and make friends. So to quote one of our parents: “I came for the job, but we stayed for the school.”

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK Christ! You did what?

10 - 29 June 2017

Hands out, but don’t beg

ONLINE THIS WEEK Vegan crusade PIXABAY

PARLIAMENT has repealed Denmark’s 151-year-old blasphemy law. Previously the offence carried a maximum sentence of four months in prison. A case against a Danish man who burned a Koran on Facebook looks set to be dropped. PET warned the repeal would raise the terror threat against Denmark, but the government disagreed.

Exam result inflation A JYLLANDS-POSTEN investigation reveals that every eighth exam undertaken by upper-secondary students in 2015 earned top marks, compared to every tenth exam in 2012, fuelling fears that the phasing out of the old 13-step scale in 2006 led to a general inflation. The Education Ministry will now evaluate the scale and adjust if necessary.

Summer of discontent

Suspected of genocide

Look at what the cat dragged in. Try calling that begging

The socially-vulnerable can apply for 50,000 kroner, but they better not ask any passers-by

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At loose on the islands

WO PIECES of news in the last month have clearly demonstrated that while Denmark likes to look after its vulnerable, it is less keen on the vulnerable looking after themselves.

Just weeks after an initiative was announced that will grant socially-vulnerable people access to life-changing purchases, Rigspolitiet and the City Police confirmed that the number of people charged with begging has never been higher.

ISLAND life is never dull. A dwarf caiman escaped on Bornholm, causing moderate panic as it is a member of the crocodile family. Fanø is currently fighting a rat infestation – the first in its history. And the confederation of small islands in Denmark has ordered another 200,000 copies of its ‘island passport’, which has proven to be a useful marketing tool.

Making a difference UNDER the terms of a fouryear project proposed by Torsten Gejl, the Alternativet spokesperson for social issues, socially-vulnerable people will be able to apply for up to 50,000 kroner from a 10 million fund.

Once they have chosen a lifestyle choice to improve their quality of life – for example,

Cybercrime a priority

Jihadi girl gets six years

DANSK Industri has called on the government to implement concrete measures to fight cybercrime. A PWC survey reveals that 65 percent of companies are more worried about cyber threats than they were a year ago. While Danmarks Statistik reports that companies are investing more money in cyber security.

THE 17-YEAR-OLD girl from Kundby has been given a sixyear prison sentence after being found guilty on terror charges related to her plans to attack two schools. The city court in Holbæk in north Zealand took into consideration that she was 15 at the time of her arrest and that she was considered immature with a low sense of self-worth.

AN ELDERLY couple from southwest Jutland have been fined 2 million kroner for renting out 18 summer and holiday homes between 2005 and 2012 – 16 more than the permitted number. The couple made 12 million kroner from the rentals.

In other news, the government has abandoned plans to increase the retirement age by six months to 67.5 years.

SEVERAL MPs from Alternativet and Enhedslisten gave up meat and animal products for 22 days in April and May to draw attention to how Western food production has an enormous climate footprint. Meanwhile, in other news, Parliament’s speaker Pia Kjærsgaard is renewing her wedding vows to mark her golden wedding anniversary this summer.

it could be dental work or ITrelated – the client will sit down together with a social worker and prepare a budget for how the money will be spent. Applications can begin on July 1.

Taking back control “INSTEAD of one-size-fits-all solutions, we take as our starting point the needs of the individual – be they drug addict, abuser or mentally-ill – and make the person in question an expert on their own life,” explained Gejl to Metroxpress.

Rådet for Socialt Udsatte secretariat head Ole Kjærgaard is excited to see what happens.

“It is a really exciting initiative,” he said. “It might give some people the power to take control of their own lives in ways that nobody else has imagined up to now.”

nine charged in 2013.

It is particularly in Copenhagen that numbers have risen, which Kjeld Farcinsen, a section head at City Police, told DR was the result of “efforts starting in 2014 when the City Police decided to launch a targeted effort against the growing number of street beggars”.

In 2014, 19 people were charged, but the number then rose to 35 in 2015, which Farcinsen attributes to people first being warned in the form of a ban from the area for five years, and then being charged on their second offence.

THE POLICE have arrested a 49-year-old in north Zealand who is suspected of participating in the Rwandan Genocide.

Rwanda submitted a request to extradite the man in 2014, the same year he became a Danish citizen. The man, who moved here in 2001, is suspected of taking part in the slaughter of 1,000 people at a church and university.

Missing gun concerns EXPERTS are concerned that unaccounted-for weapons from various state bodies could fall into the wrong hands and be used either by criminals or terrorists. Nine of the weapons are either 9mm pistols or fully-automatic M95 and M96 rifles.

Festival organisers, particularly, have been on high alert since the Manchester bomb that killed 22 on May 22.

More public reports THE POLICE also revealed that the number of street beggars being reported to the police has jumped in recent years.

“Since the press has placed more focus on the problems, people have become more aware of what is illegal, so more people are reporting the issue to us – which we then respond to,” said Farcinsen. (CPH POST)

Average for suicides

Nurse sentence changed

Trusting in old media

Poor alcohol rating

THE EASTERN High Court has overturned a city court’s life sentence ruling in the case of a Danish nurse found guilty of killing three elderly patients and trying to kill another using morphine. The court reduced Christina Hansen’s sentence to 12 years, ruling it couldn’t be proven that Hansen actually caused the deaths of the patients.

ACCORDING to the EBU’s Trust in Media 2017 survey, the Nordic public’s faith in traditional media is the highest in Europe. Denmark placed in the top five for TV, radio and print media. However, the Nordic level of trust in social media is among the lowest in Europe. Only 38 percent of Danes trust internet media compared to 54 in 2012.

DENMARK scored just six out of 100 in a WHO report investigating alcohol culture in Europe.

Only Switzerland and Germany scored worse. While Danes can freely buy alcohol from many outlets, in the rest of the Nordics it is tightly controlled, and this was reflected in the scores of Sweden (77), Norway (70) and Finland (93).

More begging charges ACCORDING to figures from Rigspolitiet, the state police, a total of 76 people were charged with street begging last year – considerably higher than the

SOME 629 people committed suicide in Denmark in 2014 – at 12 people per 100,000, just one above the European average. Denmark was on par with Sweden and ahead of Finland (15), but trailed Norway (7), the world’s happiest nation. The European leader is Lithuania (32) while Cyprus and Greece (5) have the lowest rates.

NEWS

10 - 29 June 2017

ONLINE THIS WEEK

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FULL STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Arson unlikely

Cyclist info-boards

Jetski controls likely

Uber’s cousin arrives

Electric car sales stall

AN ENQUIRY into the 1990 Scandinavian Star fire, which killed 159 passengers on the OsloFrederikshavn ferry, has ruled that overheating of the ship’s steel hull was to blame for the rapid spread.

Previous theories had blamed arsonists – such as the Danish lorry driver with previous convictions who died in the blaze – and ship employees starting the fire in different places, but the report found no evidence.

TRAFFIC boards on motorways that inform drivers of accidents, queues or directions are commonplace. And now Copenhagen is establishing boards for cyclists to help them choose the best route. An initial five boards, at a cost of 4.2 million kroner, will be located at congested spots on Nørrebrogade, Gyldenløvesgade, Amagerbrogade/Prags Boulevard, Amagerfælledvej/ Svinget and Vermlandsgade.

THE JUSTICE minister, Søren Pape Poulsen, wants to introduce a licence plate system for jetskis following the accident that killed two US exchange students last month. Other possible new laws include higher fines and the possibility to confiscate watercraft.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in relation to the deaths and faces eight years in prison.

UBER, the ride-sharing app that pulled out of Denmark in March, has been replaced by Ubr City, a service that offers the transport of goods within a 70 km radius of Copenhagen.

Ubr City allows its users to ride along with their ‘goods’ – which can be something as small as a pen. Hours after the launch, the company was reported to the police by the Danish Transport Authority.

ONLY SEVEN electric cars were sold in Denmark between May 1 and 20 despite it being cheaper after the government agreed to ease registration taxes.

Even though the lower prices being heavily advertised by dealers do not come into effect until July 1, anyone buying a car will receive a rebate when the new tax regulations come into play.

However, consumers still seemed confused about the price.

Run off the road

New bike ferry opens

Hyper speed to Oslo

New passage to India

Airport in departures?

THERE were no coyotes involved, but the French showed enough wily verve to see off the DTU Roadrunners in the Shell Eco Marathon in East London – an event that challenges teams to travel the furthest possible distance on a litre of fuel. In 2015, the Roadrunners set a world record, but that mark was surpassed by the 2017 winners, Toulouse’s TIM, which managed 684.7 km – way clear of DTU’s 449 and world record of 665.

SINCE June 1, an 18 metrelong ferry with the capacity to carry 36 passengers and their bicycles, has been operating between Dragør in Denmark and Limhamn in Sweden. The M/S Elephanten, a converted fishing boat, will make three daily trips in each direction in June, July and August. The crossing takes about one hour. The route has existed before, but ceased to operate in 1999 ahead of the Øresund Bridge opening.

A HYPERLOOP – Elon Musk’s proposed mode of transport for goods and people that propels a pod-like vehicle through a reduced-pressure tube at speeds exceeding those attained by a plane – could become a reality between Oslo and Copenhagen, following a proposal at the annual conference of Norway’s environmentalist party De Grønne. The project, if approved, would cost an estimated 150 Norwegian billion kroner.

AS A RESULT of meetings between Air India and Danish ministers and ambassadors, a direct flight between Copenhagen and New Delhi will now become a reality. It will be possible to fly from Copenhagen to New Delhi three times per week from September 16. Ole Birk Olesen, the minister for transport, housing and building, is confident the link will “provide opportunities for increased trade between the countries”.

AUSTRALIAN investment bank Macquarie, which holds 58 percent of the shares in Copenhagen Airport, has reportedly recruited consultants with a view to offloading some or all of its investment. The Danish state owns most of the other shares.

Meanwhile, the airport saw a Q1 passenger increase of 2.3 percent to 6,243,782 as revenue rose by 3.1 percent and secure profits jumped to over 300 million kroner.

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NEWS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK Excrement explosion alert

State broke COP15 promise AMERICA.GOV

A CHOCOLATE surprise similar to the one provided by Spud in ‘Trainspotting’ could be in store when a sealed bottle containing liquid excrement is opened at the University of Copenhagen. The 1853 sample, which is infected with cholera, could yield new information about the disease. “We have no way of knowing whether it will explode,” the team warn.

10 - 29 June 2017

A whale of a time CETACEANS are thriving in Danish waters. According to Aarhus University, there are currently 107,000 porpoises, 1,900 dolphins and 600 minke whales.

While the numbers haven’t really increased, DR reports that they are steadier than the rest of the Baltic where rivers are increasingly polluting the waters.

Gripped by parrot fever NEW PARROT fever infections almost doubled to 25 in 2015 and then remained steady at 24 in 2016. Parrot fever (psittacosis) is a potentially fatal bacterial infection of the airways that is transferred from birds to humans.

In other bird news, a centre for migratory birds has opened in Skagen that should enable close contact for ornithologists.

High hopes for vaccine

Enjoy while you can CLOUDLESS days until Julyprovide good conditions for ‘Lyse nætter’ (bright nights), when the skies are lit up by a sun that never falls further than 18 degrees below the horizons. Star-gazers can clearly see stars and planets, often with a vibrant yellow, red and orange backdrop. In other news, the dreaded birch pollen season is over.

ONLINE THIS WEEK

RESEARCHERS from the University of Copenhagen have developed a new type of vaccine that gets the immune system to attack parts of the HIV virus it doesn’t usually attack. If the vaccine, which has performed well in testing on apes, is successful on humans, it could potentially save millions of lives.

As hosts, the government was as heavy-handed in its commitment as its street management

Aid organisations claim the government diluted a pledge to donate 100 million dollars to climate concerns STEPHEN GADD

P

Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, Care, Oxfam and Ibis claim the promised funds were diluted when they were thrown together with development aid.

It is claimed the government halved the amount of support to developing countries in climate support subsidies from 1.9 billion kroner to around 1 billion.

minister, Esben Lunde Larsen, is also under the cosh from municipalities concerned about the extraction of sand and minerals from the Øresund seabed, as well as various special interest groups.

Seven Danish and seven Swedish municipalities, together with 13 NGOs, have penned a letter to Larsen and his Swedish counterpart, urging an end to the mineral extraction, which is mostly used in construction.

Energy tech dreams THE GOVERNMENT is investing 115 million kroner in new energy partnerships with countries struggling to control their CO2 emissions, such as Mexico, Vietnam, South Africa and China. The government estimates that annual energy tech exports could double in value from 70 million kroner (2015 figures) to at least 140 million kroner in 2030.

Music to the beers

M LARS Løkke Rasmussen was among the first to lament the US’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement on June 1, but Donald Trump isn’t the only world leader who’s been cursed in relation to environmental concerns this past month.

DANISH craft beer darlings Mikkeller have joined forces with hi-fi stylists Bang & Olufsen and some musicians to create ‘Beobrew’, a 6.8 percent American-style IPA with floral notes. By lowering a speaker into a fermentation tank, music was played into the beer over a twoweek period, reports Beoplay.

Halved outlay RASMUSSEN has been accused of reneging on a promise his government made at COP15, the UN’s 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen, to donate 100 million dollars to support climate measures worldwide, reports Politiken.

Aid organisations such as

Dolce vita over diet

Good for body and soul

Thumbs up for bathing

Helping the blind to see

Green giant

A STUDY by TrygFonden and Mandag Morgen reveals that most Danes believe quitting smoking and enjoying oneself have more bearing on living a good life than having a healthy diet. Meanwhile, a University of Copenhagen study underscores the beneficial effects of lots of whole-grain products such as rye bread and porridge.

A STUDY by the University of Southern Denmark claims that the benefits of religious faith for your physical and mental health are even better than previously thought. Many turn to faith when they are ill, it contends.

The study’s findings were based on questionnaires filled out by 3,000 identical and fraternal twins.

SOME 85.9 percent of Denmark’s bathing water was deemed to be of an excellent quality in 2016 – the ninth best in the contintent, according to the European Environment Agency’s annual report. In 2014, the percentage was 79.2 percent.

Denmark’s has the 16th longest coastline in the world thanks to its numerous islands.

A P O S T - D O C TO R A L researcher at the DTU is developing an implant containing thousands of tiny isolated solar cells, which he believes can be placed behind the retina of blind patients to give them their sight back. Rasmus Schmidt Davidsen explains that the eye’s photoreceptors behave very much like solar cells. Each cell would provide one pixel.

DENMARK continues to position itself as a forerunner of smart city green technology, and its green branding organisation, State of Green, has accordingly created a platform so foreigners can observe how Danish companies overcome challenges and learn from them. Additionally, State of Green organises visits to Denmark, events and media promotions.

We should be proud THE DEVELOPMENT minister, Ulla Tørnæs, did not dispute the figures but rejected the criticism.

“If you count private investment in climate adaptation, Denmark contributes a combined amount of 2.4 billion kroner,” she said.

“That is a substantial sum that we have good reason to be proud of.”

Social media = stress

Extraction concerns ELSEWHERE, the environment

Changing the coast “WE CAN see that it is mutilating the seabed and leaving vast deep, dead holes, and this is definitely not good for our marine environment,” said Helsingør’s mayor, Benedikte Kjær, according to DR. DR also spoke to an angler who fears the extraction could deplete fish stocks, as it is removing the upper layer where all the nutrition is.

SCHOOL girls who check their phone a lot are more likely to be stressed than those who don’t, according to an Aarhus University survey of 2,700 upper-secondary students. It’s pretty normal among the girls to check their phones for messages and updates four to five times per hour. Of the 14 percent who do so every fifth minute, half said they felt stressed.

NEWS

10 - 29 June 2017

‘Inside’ better than Wales

NICOLAS RAYMOND

PHILIP SAVILLE

Ultimate adrenaline!

A little optimistic perhaps

Cosy like Al Capone

YOU MAY have heard that climbing is quickly becoming the fastest growing sport for adventurous people looking to explore the great outdoors. The good news is you do not need to have super strength, expensive equipment or any previous experience to get started in Denmark.

Copenhagen may not be the first place that comes to mind when considering outdoor climbing locations and dramatic Nordic landscapes. However you can practise the sport at a number of indoor and outdoor locations, all within easy access of the capital. (PS)

THE BRITS love to laugh at their fellow Europeans, don’t they? From popular TV programs like ‘Eurotrash’ to stories about straight bananas, there always tends to be a subtext of superiority that dates back to their Empire. And now a new film, ‘Denmark’, will laugh at the old joke that this country’s prisons are more comfortable than eastern European hotels.

The film stars Rafe Spall, the son of actor Timothy Spall, as an unemployed Welshman who sees a brighter future of hot meals and showers living in a prison in Denmark. (BH)

READ THE REST OF THESE STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK

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FULL STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Roskilde shake-up

Au revoir La Woz

So close to the top

LEGENDARY West Coast rapper Ice Cube has been signed up to appear at this year’s Roskilde Festival following the withdrawal of hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Meanwhile, another headliner, Blink-182, have also pulled out.

CAROLINE Wozniacki, who is the 87th biggest sports star in the world according to the ESPN World 100, bowed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, losing in three sets to Jelana Ostapenko.

MOUNTAINEER Rasmus Kragh was thwarted in his bid to become the first Dane to successfully reach the summit of Everest on his own without the use of oxygen. He had to turn back 250 metres from the summit due to adverse weather conditions on May 22.

Just like Dumbo THE STORY of an allegedly abused circus elephant echoes that of Dumbo. Separated from its mother, it was forced to perform tricks and isolated from the other elephants, and now a Care2 petition is calling for Ramboline’s release from Cirkus Trapez in Odense so it can move to a sanctuary.

Art gallery’s makeover NORWEGIAN architecture firm Snöhetta will begin work on an extension of Ordrupgaard in September 2017, shutting down the art gallery for two years.

Rowing’s new home AART HAS unveiled its plans for a new national rowing stadium at Bagsværd Lake in Greater Copenhagen. They include a tiered and timber-clad boathouse that integrates the centre into its surroundings.

Fidget’s choking fears WATCHDOGS have warned that fidget spinners, a new toy craze hitting school playgrounds, are hazardous to under-8s as young kids can easily choke on their components. Others have lauded the classroom distraction as a benefit to sufferers of ADHD and autism.

Clubs avoid fan fines FC COPENHAGEN and Brøndby, along with the DBU governing body, have avoided any punishment related to the fan trouble that took place during and after the Danish Cup Final on May 25 because the game falls outside the jurisdiction of the national disciplinary authority.

Euro 92 memorial draw DENMARK and Germany drew 1-1 in Brøndby on June 6 in the 25th anniversary match marking the Danes’ historic triumph at Euro 92.

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10

BUSINESS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK LIVEABLE Scandinavia, a business delegation backed by the Crown Prince Couple, visited Sweden last week to promote Danish innovation and find solutions to the challenges facing the region. Over 60 Danish companies participated. The delegation covered three main areas: Intelligent Healthcare, Sustainable Cities and Modern Lifestyle.

Well off, but not too wealthy PIXABAY

Scandinavian solutions

10 - 29 June 2017

ONLINE THIS WEEK End of an era FROM NEXT year, Danske Bank is ending a deal with PostNord that has allowed its customers to pay bills and withdraw money at the company’s 190 postal offices nationwide since 1996. Transactions have declined by 75 percent over the past four years. The move will save the bank a two-figure million kroner amount annually.

Boom and doom

Boost for fishing

DANSK Industri has welcomed the news that private sector output is growing at its fastest rate for six years in Germany, France and the rest of the eurozone, according to a new IHS Markit survey. However, the news was tempered by AE’s warning that there will be a surplus of 70,000 unskilled workers in 2025.

PARLIAMENT has agreed to a new 972 million kroner package that should stimulate Danish fishing and aquaculture over the coming years. Some 70 percent is financed through EU funding.

As well as boosting fishing with various subsidies, the package is also designed to bring more life to harbours around the country.

Geeky image a disservice ERHVERVSSTYRELSEN predicts the country could lack 19,000 IT specialists by 2030 if it doesn’t address the shortage of women in the industry. At present, only 28 percent are female.

Dansk Industri warns that the industry needs to shake off the geeky male stereotype that prevails, which suggests a career in IT involves long nights in front of a screen.

Budget shops struggling GERMAN discount supermarket chain Aldi is closing 32 of its 220 stores after confirming a loss of 243 million kroner for 2016, taking its total loss since 2010 to 975 million. In related news, Irma will no longer sell barn eggs, and Coop intends to launch ‘Bip og Betal’ (‘Beep and Pay’) – a new app-payment, self-service method – in 2018 to speed up queues.

Lego’s brand on fire THERE was no surprise about who topped the Brand Finance Denmark 50: Lego with a valuation of 50 billion kroner – up 68 percent on last year. The top ten was completed by Arla (24.7), Danske Bank (23.8), Maersk (22.5), Pandora (19.2), ISS (14.1), Vestas (10.15), Novo Nordisk (10.1), DSV (9.9) and Coop (9.6).

The Danes are more minted than ever, but they know when enough is enough

Danes have more income to spend than ever before, but still resent the accelerating wages of the top earners

P

EOPLE in Denmark might have more money at their disposal than ever before, according to new figures from Danske Bank, but that doesn’t stop them getting angry about executive pay and bonuses.

Family fortunes A TWO ADULT, two children family have 620,000 kroner of disposable income after tax per year –180,000 kroner higher than a decade ago – while childless couples average 450,000 kroner.

Singles and single parents were also in the pink, leaving just students and the unemployed, once inflation is taken into account, as having less than they had ten years ago.

survey carried out by Wilke on behalf of Finans, 68 percent of Danes believe that remuneration packages to CEOs are far too generous.

Almost three out of four believe it is important for social cohesion that CEO wages don’t deviate too far from current salary trends.

CEO wages have increased by almost 10 percent per year since 2013, whilst bonuses rose by 22 percent per year during the period.

In contrast, private sector wages have only risen by 6 percent.

Taking action THE DANISH Parliament is accordingly taking action to combat international tax evasion, demanding more transparency in the area of tax consultancy and freeing up more resources dedicated to controlling tax havens.

Some 100 million kroner of funding has been earmarked over the next four years to a new centre that will consolidate efforts against tax evasion, making it easier to share information and data, and thus better identify new methods and patterns of fraud.

“It’s damaging to the ordinary Dane’s sense of justice when they see the cheaters sneak money across borders in a bid to avoid paying taxes,” said the 33-year-old tax minister, Karsten Lauritzen.

“The former government had already created a sound foundation in this arena, and I am pleased to further build on that.”

(CPH POST)

Far too generous HOWEVER, according to a

A quarter stashed away IT’S PROBABLY no surprise to learn, therefore, that the country’s 320 wealthiest families have stashed an estimated 60 billion kroner in tax havens, according to a report based on the 2015 HSBC Bank leak in Switzerland.

According to ‘Swiss Leaks’, the families have hidden away a quarter of their wealth.

Canada’s opening up

New Google centre?

Solid cement deal

DENMARK has signed the EU’s free trade agreement with Canada (CETA) – a move that could increase annual exports to the country by 2.2 billion kroner and save Danish companies 98 percent of the 3.7 billion kroner’s worth of custom fees they currently pay, whilst improving their competitiveness.

GOOGLE has spent 65 million kroner on purchasing a 73.2 hectare site in an industrial park in Fredericia in east Jutland. However, Google refused to confirm it will follow the lead of Facebook, IBM and Apple and set up a data centre in Denmark, only stating it intends to set up more data centres in Europe.

ENGINEERING firm FLSmidth has signed a deal to build a high-tech cement factory worth over 100 million euros at an unspecified location in north Africa. The deal also includes construction supervision, commissioning, the training of labour, and the delivery of equipment.

Euro switch looming?

ACCORDING to leaked notes from a confidential meeting held in Strasbourg in May, Denmark may be coerced into forgoing the krone in the not-too-distant future. The EU Commission reportedly wants all 27 member states to adopt the euro by 2025, thus incorporating a fixed tax payment system that will fund mutual investments across the EU.

Go, go Greenland AN EIGHT-YEAR, 5 billion kroner development project has been announced for the Greenlandic capital Nuuk, which would include the construction of 2,500 new homes, 20,000 sqm of business premises, three new schools, ten pre-school institutions, an art gallery, an indoor stadium and a 1 km tunnel.

Danish companies are already preparing bids.

Moving away from oil DONG ENERGY is selling oil and gas assets worth 8.7 billion kroner to Ineos. As part of the deal, 440 employees will transfer to the British chemicals firm, which will take over oil production of 100,000 barrels a day.

Meanwhile, Maersk is stalling over new contracts for its drilling vessels amid speculation that it’s operations in the US could cease.

BUSINESS OPINION

10 - 29 June 2017

IVANKA RUSKOVA CPH CAREER Ivanka (Vanya) Ruskova is a senior business analyst with experience in IT, investment banking and the service industries. She currently works with graduates entering the job market in Denmark, offering extensive CV and application assistance, personal coaching and counselling. For more information and bookings visit: cphcareer.com

Millennials are different MOST OF them are educated foreign graduates with firsthand experience of the sector they are training or working in.

Most are also millennials.

I can testify from personal experience that this age range – typically those born between 1985 and 1995, although the precise years are a fierce topic of debate – hate to be managed.

Numbers, KPIs and a strict 8-4 schedule take a distant second place to a manager who can inspire them with their success, flexibility and enrich-

THOMAS N HORSTED STARTUP COMMUNITY Thomas (@thomas_hors) is the former co-founder and COO of Startup Guide – The Entrepreneur’s Handbook. He now works as a startup scout for IKEA Bootcamp in collaboration with Rainmaking (ikeabootcamp.rainmaking.io). As an entrepreneur with an academic background in media studies and kaospilot, he understands the combination of praxis, reflection, creativity and theory needed to bring startup projects to life.

NEXT ISSUE

Danish Capital in 2017

All of your Business

When smart becomes dumb HOW MUCH would you pay for a glass of delicious coldpressed juice? Bad startup ideas are a dime a dozen, but Silicon Valley startup Juicero wasn’t just a random product.

The smart home, wificonnected juicer had a lot of funding behind it: $120 million to be exact, with backers that included Google’s venture capital arm. Obviously someone smart believed in the company and the product.

But after the product hit the market, some investors were surprised to discover a much

ing example – namely a leader who cares about people.

Danish diversity a myth ALTHOUGH Denmark often advertises itself as one of the best countries to work, I regularly see motivated, knowledgeable foreigners voluntarily leaving Danish companies.

Most Danish companies are guilty through their insistence that for an English-language job one of the required skills is being able to speak and understand Danish.

This narrow-minded requirement is deemed essential to team-building, which most foreigners can confirm is limited to table talk whilst drinking and eating.

The joy of effective teambuilding does not come from a common language. And claiming you are an international company with a team of 51 Danes and one foreigner, who you require to speak Danish, is

Now imagine that the frikadeller are sub-standard: small talk is critical

hypocritical nonsense.

Time to wake up SOME OF you might think that speaking Danish is a very team-specific skill. But if it is, then the Danish language is probably the lingua franca in all aspects of the job – for example, sales and legal issues.

I am referring to transferable team skills like IT and finance, be it procurement, marketing, or research and development.

There may very well be employees/managers out there

who trumpet their team’s cultural differences as their biggest strength, but unfortunately in my experience Danish companies want their employees to melt down their home-grown working standards, dis-colouring them in the process.

This is a big turn off for a lot of qualified foreigners – not just millennials. Danish managers need to wake up and see the potential for growth by adjusting to a diverse workforce, rather than enforcing the opposite.

PIXABAY

W

HAT DOES a juicer with a retail price of $400, with $120 million in funding behind it, and an anonymous messaging app for college students with $73.5 million in funding have in common? Both Silicon Valley startups were incapable of realising their own absurdity!

PIXABAY

S

EVERAL of my clients have recently left a project, course, internship or an entry-level job, citing issues with the management or an inability to understand the mantra of the team. The further we spoke, the more I realised it was a case that they didn’t fit in.

11

cheaper alternative: you could squeeze the Juicero bags with your bare hands. Voila, you didn’t need the juicer. That’s what I call a dumb juicer.

Dangers of telling secrets ANOTHER company that was recently shut down is Yik Yak, an anonymous messaging app for college students. The app first launched back in 2014 as a way to discreetly communicate with others nearby, and it took off quickly at gossip-driven US universities.

Once valued at $400 million dollars, this business, though sporting promising user growth, never seemed to grow large enough, nor find a way to earn money in order to sustain itself. Its engineers eventually sold it off for $1 million.

Another anonymous messaging app put in the grave – who would have guessed?

IN 2 ISSUES

Mind over Managing

Wow, a monitor that can make tea as well. Sign me up!

Solve the big problems!

I HAVE to be honest. The stories of ridiculous technology startups trying to solve first world problems (which often never existed in the first place) are pissing me off!

We’re seeing hundreds of millions of dollars disappearing down the drain. And that is only two examples from Silicon Valley. There are thousands of these startups.

IN 3 ISSUES

That is why I am begging entrepreneurs and investors and the entire startup community to come together to collaborate on creating a better life for the masses not the few.

I really believe technology can enable a positive impact on the planet – both its people and society. Let’s put the money to good use and let’s solve the big problems!

IN 4 ISSUES

Living in an Expat World

Union Views

The Valley of Life

Give Yourself a Chance

12

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

It’s the policy, stupid!

T

super liberals are almost religious in their zeal for deregulation and unfettered market forces. These are both dead-ends.

OECD recommends a political global structure that will allow the advantages of the free movement of labour and capital to be distributed more evenly, as well as not leaving big groups of frustrated middle-class people who are now looking at the disruption with horror instead of optimism.

It doesn’t work for me UNTAMED liberalism is also a mistake. The world is full of angry people who lament over inequality. They do not feel that the system works for them, and it is unjust. They seem to be right. Free trade is a cause of unemployment and injustice.

Their anger is founded on real problems. But free trade is better than protectionism. The world has long since lost the innocence of splendid isolation.

A sensible Danish plan THE DANISH government has launched the 25 plan – a revised plan for the future – along these lines. It is recommending a redistribution policy and a basically responsible economic policy.

The overall perspective is a global policy without big divisive differences among people. The pendulum is swinging back from the migration of manufacturing to the cheapest and most miserable people to local production by robots and global competition – in other words: into services instead. That means zeroes and ones – and that is brain-related more than anything else.

World consumption is becoming smarter and waste will be a less pressing problem with proper global controls to face climate change. That needs smart governments who do not suboptimise.

Thank you OECD for your volte-face. It is the right policy, stupid! (ES)

A new third way THE OECD is now recommending a third way. The governments and supra-national institutions such as the EU should redistribute the wealth created from free trade via the tax system (not tax evasion) and invest in education, health and infrastructure.

Middle-class welfare is the answer. The super nationalists are EU-sceptical and call for border controls, customs walls and general protectionism. The

free guided tours JuNe – July – august suNday iN daNish saturday iN eNglish at 1 pm

www.davidmus.dk

MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA

Mishra’s Mishmash As a regular contributor to the Times of India, the country’s largest newspaper, Mishra is often sought-afer

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.

MARTIN LINDNER

HE HEADLINE of this piece is the conclusion reached in an editorial in the Danish daily Politiken on June 6 relating to the economic co-operation and development organisation OECD’s volte-face regarding the recommended future behaviour of modern governments.

Protectionism is not the answer. It will inevitably lead to less equality, less welfare and greater global problems.

10 - 29 June 2017

Copenhagen knows better than most that terror can strike at any time

MANY EUROPEAN cities have recently been hit by terrorist attacks, but what happened at a concert at Britain’s Manchester Arena in May has shocked many, again raising fears that a pan-European network of jihadists can hit any European city it chooses at any time.

The events of the past couple of years have shown us that many European cities are on their radar: Copenhagen, London, Paris, Nice, Brussels, Berlin, Stockholm and now Manchester.

Callous to target kids THE CALLOUS attack on defenceless children, especially young girls enjoying a concert, has raised the question whether terrorists are deliberately targeting children to create headlines.

As the details emerged of the terrifying moments in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Manchester – especially those involving a young girl of just eight years old, who was heard asking for her mum in the dying moments of her life – it is becoming clear that what happened in Manchester will not only affect election results in the United Kingdom, but all over Europe.

Second thoughts THE MONTHS of June, July and August see many people go to music festivals in Denmark, of which Roskilde, the most prestigious in Scandinavia, attracts close to a hundred thousand visitors.

Increasingly the organisers of these festivals have had to raise their security standards and are wary of long queues and the fear that some potential music enthusiasts will not want to participate at events where there are large gatherings of people, making them vulnerable targets for terrorists.

And it’s not just concerts. Innocent people are being targeted at market places and popular public events. There is no doubt that Europe is changing greatly as a result of the persistent threat it faces from Islamist terrorism.

Lone wolf threat THOUSANDS of radicalised jihadists are returning from wartorn areas such as Syria, Iraq and Libya with enhanced skills that can be put to devastating effect.

While the security services enjoy considerable success combating organised cells plotting to cause terror, they find it harder to stop an individual – particularly one who can return from overseas, ‘disappear’ off the radar,

manufacture a bomb and carry out an attack. The phenomenon is often referred to as that of a ‘lone wolf ’.

In the last decade, and especially in the last five years, thousands of jihadists holding European passports have crossed the porous borders of countries such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Even if they do not return home, they can inspire Manchester-style attacks by asking their sympathisers in European cities to act as lone wolves.

State-sponsored AT THE moment, many people in Europe are feeling shock and revulsion, but the pressure is growing to stop these terrorist attacks that are targeting civilians and now deliberately going after young girls.

The Danish government recently passed a law tightening the conditions for receiving welfare benefits. It has been disclosed that many of the so-called Syrian fighters – those returning from Syria after fighting on the side of Islamic State – have received welfare benefits.

Those benefits will be cut substantially from now onwards, removing the economic incentive to fight a jihad and simultaneously receive funds from the state.

OPINION

10 - 29 June 2017

JESSICA ALEXANDER

NEXT ISSUE

The Road Less Taken 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. She currently lives in Italy with her Danish husband and two children.

Double standards THERE was some speculation that “he cannot love his wife” because she is 24 years older than him.

“If I had been 20 years older than my wife, nobody would have thought for a single second that I couldn’t be legitimately together,” he points out.

“It’s because she is 20 years older than me that lots of people say: ‘This relationship can’t be tenable.’”

It’s a valid and interesting point and one that begs the question: considering all the work we have done for gender equality and women’s rights – do men and women really have equal rights to age?

Blinded by Hollywood I HAVE been married to a Danish man for over 17 years and I distinctly remember when I first started watching Danish films and television. I found it odd that there were so many ‘older’ women cast in the main roles – even sexy ones. When I think about my reaction now, it’s laughable.

These were not older women, but rather ‘normally’ aged women for the parts they were playing. I had become so used to watching females with scarcely a wrinkle of experience playing the parts of older women that I had never even thought to question it. It seemed completely reasonable that someone with a high flying career, three kids and a much older husband could also pass for a college student. That was what my culture thought success was supposed to look like.

Scandinavian equality AND SO I started doing some research into the question of equality of the sexes across coun-

‘Mere te’ Vicar?

DARREN MCCALLIG

Crazier than Christmas VIVIENNE MCKEE

THE WHITE HOUSE

R

ECENTLY there has been some uproar about the new French president Emmanuel Macron’s older wife.

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IN 2 ISSUES

Straight Up ZACH KHADUDU

A Dane Abroad KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN

Two 24-year age gaps, but which one is more scrutinised?

tries. In the World Economic Forum’s gender inequality index in 2016, the Scandinavian countries took the top spots worldwide for having the least gender inequality.

The US lands at number 45 (not surprising if you listen to our president) and the UK at 20. Italy, a country notoriously run for years by an old man who has slept with several underage women, rather unsurprisingly lands at 50.

A link to happiness WHAT I wonder is this: does gender equality also extend to a woman’s right to age? Is Scandinavia better at promoting equal ageing rights through media, film and societal messages? And if so, could this be another reason why they are consistently top of the happiness charts?

Camilla Semlov, a Danish social worker and author, says: “I think in Denmark we use ‘older’ women in film because it’s realistic. For us it’s very important to identify with something as real.

We all get old, men and women,

and that’s okay. Women getting older is beautiful!”

A glance at recent worldwide plastic surgery rates reveals that the US leads the way, with the Scandinavian countries nowhere in sight. These surgeries may make some of us look younger, but do they really make us happier? And are women more motivated to go under the knife than men because getting old is seen as unsuccessful? How many images of middle-aged women would make us think otherwise?

Generation at a time SO THE next time you see a film in which the age of the leading man and woman are wildly different (and that isn’t the plotline), please make a note of it. The next time you see a man with a much older wife, think twice about your reaction.

Talk about it. Think about it.

This is gender inequality and it has insidious effects. Maybe if we start being more aware of it, we can better teach our kids to ‘keep it real’. They might just grow up to be happier for it.

IN 3 ISSUES

Mackindergarten ADRIAN MACKINDER

Straight, No Chaser STEPHEN GADD

IN 4 ISSUES

An Actor’s Life IAN BURNS

Fashion Jam JENNY EGSTEN-ERICSON

14

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ABOUT TOWN

10 - 29 June 2017

PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD

The embassies of Israel, Argentina and Italy have all recently celebrated their national days. Israel (left) got the ball rolling on May 15 at the Marriott Hotel where its ambassador Barukh Binah (blue tie) welcomed (left-right) Greek ambassador Efthalia Kakiopoulou, Georgian ambassador Gigi Gigiadze and Japanese ambassador Toshiro Suzuki. Eight days later, it was Argentina’s turn (centre) at the residence of ambassador Conrado Solari. Among those gathered were (left-right) Austrian ambassador Ernst-Peter Brezovsky, Cuban ambassador Yiliam Sardinas, Solari, Moroccan ambassador Khadija Rouissi and Chilean ambassador Flavio Tarsetti. Italy’s big day (right) took place on the cruise ship Costa Favolosa on June 3 where Italian ambassador Stefano Palmas welcomed (left-right) Cypriot ambassador Maria Papakyriakon, [Palmas and his wife], Polish ambassador Henryka Moscicka-Dendys, Armenian ambassador Hrachya Aghajanyan and Czech ambassador Jiri Brodsky

It’s not always national days, as the French, Slovenian and Albanian embassies were happy to demonstrate over the past month. French ambassador Francois Zimeray (left: left) was the proud host of a ceremony at his embassy to bestow Mogens Lykketoft (glasses) , a former speaker of Parliament and former president of the UN General Assembly, with France’s Legion D´Honneur. Slovenian ambassador Tone Kajzer (centre: left) in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen opened the exhibition ‘WOOD 25 | LES 25’ at the uni’s Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management on April 28. Albanian ambassador Kastriot Robo (right) hosted ‘Albania – a touristic diversity in Mediterranean’, a seminar on May 16 at his embassy where his country’s favourite daughter, Mother Theresa, put in an unexpected appearance

On May 18, Tivoli chief executive Lars Liebst (left: left) and Frederiksberg mayor Jørgen Glenthøj (right) gathered for the inauguration of Georg Carstensens Plads to honour the founder of the themepark. Among those present in Frederiksberg were Edward Carstensen (centrE), whose grandfather was the brother of the founder. The urban square, located just west of Frederiksberg Town Hall Square, becomes one of several place-names that recalls the contribution of Carstense, Nearby Amicisvej is named after Gaëtano Amici, the Italian firework manufacturer who supplied the pyrotechnics to the early days of Tivoli, while Alhambravej is name after an amusement park founded by Carstensen (read more in our history section at cphpost.dk)

Ian Burns’ (guitar) production unit That Theatre Australia’s new ambassador is Mary Ellen Miller Company celebrated its 20-year anniversary at (no relation to her predecessor Damien Miller!).

Krudttønden on May 28. Among his guests were G’day! former sparring partner Tom McEwan (red cap), who is now retired from acting but not music

Swimmer Sarah Bro was among the guests at the premiere of the new ‘Baywatch’ film on May 30.

According to the critics, it sinks like a stone

MARKETPLACE & SCHOOLS

10 - 29 June 2017

15

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16

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

10 - 29 June 2017

W

OMEN EMPOWERMENT was the theme as the Danish fashion brand Tifiti hosted a networking event for international business women at 1508.dk’s office in Wilders Plads in Christianshavn on May 10.

On this occasion, Tifiti’s guests were invited to watch and contribute to a panel discussion on the subject of women in creative industries.

Moderated by Tifiti’s CEO and founder, Aleksandra Kiebdoj (bottom left), the

three panelists were: Charlotte Mielko, the founder of MIELKO Jewellery, Frederikke Antoine Schmidt, the CEO and creative director of Roccamore, and Hjørdis Thorborg (bottom, second left), 1508.dk’s senior brand

PHOTOS: JUSTYNA TOBIASZ & MAŁGORZATA MIELCZAREK

OUT AND ABOUT

experience designer.

It was an opportunity to get involved and learn about the link between creativity and business, and what a crucial role creativity plays.

After so much fun, it would have been rude to send

J0NNY1992

JOHNTEX

CLEARLYVEG.COM

Stop by for an evening of long-form comedy, courtesy of the Magnificent Seven improv team and a randomlyassorted troupe of ICC Theater performers (June 12, 20:00; ICC Teater, Frederiksholms Kanal 2, Cph K; 80kr)

Knitters must no longer sequester their shameful hobby in cellars and speakeasies. Embrace your pride and participate in this annual public knit-in (June 10, 11:00-15:00; Rådhuspladsen 1, Cph K; free adm)

Love Metallica and hate premium prices on beef? You’re in luck – to celebrate its 46th birthday, the Hard Rock Café is saluting 1971 with 7.1kr burgers for an hour only (June 14, 11:00-12:00, Rådhuspladsen 45-47, Cph V)

NAZARETHCOLLEGE FLICKR

Purchase some of the most spectacular costume pieces from past CPH Stage performances at this major rummage sale near Frederiksberg Have (June 10, 10:00-15:00; Allégade 7, Frederiksberg; free adm)

Performers of all walks, media and genres are welcome to the Cafe Cadeau stage for a supportive, energetic evening of creative arts staged by the Copenhagen Theatre Circle (June 16, 19:00-21:30; Cafe Cadeau, HC Ørsteds Vej 28, Frederiksberg; free adm)

Have a glass of wine, sit in the grass and enjoy a screening of ‘Amy’, the biodoc about the Grammywinning artist who also loved to have a glass of wine.

The film will start at around 21:30 (June 24, 19:30-23:45; The Red Square, Nørrebrogade 210, Cph N; free adm)

CHITRAPA

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LOCALFITNESS.COM.AU

It’s the sort of yoga you could do with a hangover.

Join yoga instructors and fellow yogists for a relaxing, accessible Sunday stretch (June 18, 10:15-11:45; Absalon, Sønder Blvd 73, Cph V; 50kr)

PIXABAY

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COMING UP SOON

the guests away empty-handed, or at least all of them.

A raffle ensued (top right) and 28 departed with a special gift from GOODIEBOX that clearly made some of the guests dance with joy.

DAVE SMITH

Love full-sized tennis, but plagued by weak wrists?

There’s still hope! Prove your ping-pong prowess in Copenhagen’s best competition (June 26, 20:0023:00; Absalon, Sønder Blvd 73, Cph V; free adm)

It’s not just for pensioners. Come by for some casual competition with your grandmother’s favorite pastime (June 29, 20:00-23:00; Absalon, Sønder Blvd 73, Cph V; bingo card: 10kr) AARON HATHAWAY

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18

HISTORY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

10 - 29 June 2017

It’s the ‘is’ in Danish – an unthinkable absentee on a summer’s day

PIXABAY

A stroll through the history of ice cream in this country reveals a number of curiosities and crucial inventions DAVID SMITH

D

ID YOU know that despite its umlaut ‘ä’, Häagen-Dazs is supposed to be Danishsounding? The original cartons even bore a map of Denmark.

The US ice cream brand’s Polishborn American-Jewish creator Reuben Mattus settled on the name in the early 1960s for three reasons: as a tribute to Denmark’s evacuation of its Jews during World War II, the positive image of the country in his home country, and the excellent reputation of its dairy products – most particularly ice cream.

If you want further evidence of Denmark’s high regard for everyone’s favourite summer holiday treat, just consider the word ‘guf ’. Now normally words that are only three letters long are either common-place in usage (numbers, prepositions, pronouns), bad for the health (gun, pox, tax) or extremely good (ace, bed, sex). In Danish, ‘guf ’ is a gooey substance made from beating egg whites with sugar, which is then added as the finishing touch to an ice cream cone. All together: Yuk! If that doesn’t convince you, stroll down Strøget to Nyhavn on a summer’s day and count the hordes of Danes and tourists munching on goliath ice creams, normally consisting of a monster cone, two or three scoops, cream or guf, and sprinkles or a dollop of jam.

But despite all this, few people know much about the Danish contribution to ice cream worldwide, or that the history of ice cream in this country involves the history of many Danish-Americans.

Oh, to be ‘alene’ with Anina ORIGINATING in southern Europe in the 16th century – or at least the modern equivalent, as the ancient Greeks, Persians, Romans and Chinese all enjoyed variations – ice cream found its way to Denmark in the latter half of the 19th century.

In the early days, it was confined to high quality confectionary shops and bakeries. The best known of these was, and still is, La Glace. From its elegant

FACTFILE • With an emphasis on creating a Danish low-fat equivalent to Italian ice cream, Denmark’s biggest parlour chain is Paradis.

Since its foundation in 2003, it has opened almost 60 more, although an expansion into the US has been less successful. For many, its free scoop openings in March mark the start of spring

If anyone ever invents a drip-free ice cream, Ali G is entitled to a share of the patent

French façade on Skoubogade just off Strøget, La Glace continues to serve the best in cakes, tarts, pastries and, of course, ice cream.

Founded in 1870 by Nicolaus Henningsen and his wife Anina, La Glace became renowned for its goods and patrons, although its biggest draw was Anina, who stood behind the counter in a white silk gown. According to ice cream historian Pim Reinders “all Copenhagen called her ‘the most beautiful woman of Skoubogade’ and many came to eat ice cream or pastries simply to be near her.”

Heavy US influence AS ICE cream became increasingly popular in Denmark, the need for better production methods grew. At the turn of the 20th century, ice cream manufacturing had not been perfected, and refrigeration units were only beginning to become available.

Until 1913 virtually all ice cream was made by hand.

The know-how for making ice cream and maintaining it at a stable temperature did not come until 1914 when DanishAmerican dairy production expert Christian Larsen sent a copy of his book on dairy techniques back to Denmark.

It was through Larsen, who had learned his trade at the Dairy Institute of South Dakota, that a liaison was established between the US and Danish industries.

The country’s first major ice cream factory was founded by the Swedish-born pioneer Lauritz Jensen. Following his return from a visit to the US he teamed up with a baker who possessed a number of Italian ice cream recipes. Established in the small town of Hellerup, now a suburb of Greater Copenhagen, the Amerikansk Iskrem Fryseri (better known as Hellerup Is) originally began making ice cream in small wooden upright containers.

Hellerup Is’s first customers were bakers in the Copenhagen area, and the ice cream was delivered by way of motorised tricycles. By 1939 the company had grown into one of Copenhagen’s largest ice cream factories with 12 delivery vans.

Too thin and rubbish NEVERTHELESS, the industry experienced teething problems in its nascent years. Danish ice cream was criticised as being ‘thin’, and in their defence, the manufacturers blamed the worldwide recession that followed World War I, depriving them of the expensive US technology needed to address the problems.

In May 1925, the engineer JF Engberg went as far as calling Danish ice cream “rubbish”, contending that “the milk solids content was too low”. Engberg argued that more American production processes were needed.

It was not until 1926 that a truly modern factory was built.

The Vesterbro Dairy Factory in Aarhus, used machinery manufactured by Silkeborg Machine Factory. With the help of Professor M Morgensen, another Danish-American who was an expert on the manufacturing of ice cream, the fat content was kept between 12 and 16 percent.

Engberg could sleep easy.

Loads of lolly HOWEVER, two DanishAmericans were about to unveil innovations that would put Denmark well and truly on the map.

Christian Kent Nelson, a Danish immigrant in Iowa, invented the choc ice in 1921, after a boy was unable to decide whether he wanted a chocolate bar or ice cream at his store. His ‘I-Scream Bars’, together with their catchy jingle, eventually metamorphosed into Eskimo Bars when sticks were added a little later.

That addition came thanks to the endeavours of DanishAmerican designer and savvy businessman Johannes M Larsen, when he introduced the prepackaged, machine-produced, ice-cream lollipop.

In Esbjerg on the west coast of Jutland, Larsen opened Premier Ice Cream Company in 1925 and it quickly became a household name, as previously ice-cream lollipops were handmade.

• The country’s most beloved ice cream maker was Hans Hansen, who went into business in Hillerød in 1922. Four generations later, the business remains in the family. Hansen’s Ice Cream has its own dogma to ensure its ice cream is local, ethical and of the highest quality • Hansen’s is one of two rival ice cream makers that can be found in the northern Zealand town of Jægerspris, to which no visit is complete without sampling its famous ‘is’. Borhnholm, Hellerup and Helsingør are also considered ice cream meccas • If you’re stranded in Copenhagen, then check out the five recommendations at cphpost. dk for the best places to go – Siciliansk Is, Ismageriet, Istid, Vaffelbageriet and Is à Bella – along with Bon Bon Ice on page 19 • Denmark continues to be a world leader in the area of ice cream evolution. Last year, Skarø revaled that its latest creation, ‘Mother-child’, alleviates morning sickness Utlising technology invented by the Danish Gram Brother’s Refrigerator Factory, Larsen automated the technique for manufacturing ice lollies. This revolutionised ice cream not just throughout Denmark, but all over the world.

To this day, the invention made Larsen ‘the King of Ice Cream’.

19 Once sampled, you’ll never forget Jumbo’s ice cream FOOD & DRINK

10 - 29 June 2017

BON BON ICE

Andebakkesti 4, Frederiksberg; open Mon-Thu 10:00-18:00, Fri-Sun 10:00-20:00; cones 30kr, coffees 28-38kr; bonbonice.dk BEN HAMILTON

A

S QUAINT as they might initially seem, most Danish customs tend to be Scandinavian-wide and not unique to this fair land.

Suitably located ONE SUCH example is the ‘sut træ’ in Frederiksberg Have.

Originally conceived in Stockholm, it’s where dummies (or pacifiers, depending on your vantage point of the Atlantic) come to die – a solemn rite of passage that one of my kids embarked on 17 times. Still, at least she doesn’t suck her thumb.

Elephants, too, are famous for their graveyards (elusive to everyone but Tarzan, apparently), so it’s apt to find one parked 300 metres from the sut træ just outside the Smallegade entrance to the park.

Bon bon appetit THE ELEPHANT in question is Bon Bon, the ‘owner’ of an ice-cream parlour that has rejigged its menu for the 2017 summer season. Purchased by Globe owner Brian McKenna as part of the 2011 Elephant Parade charity art initiative, there was only one choice of name when his wife Nikki opened the doors in 2014.

Unlike Nellie, his trunk is painted not packed, and upon entering his vibrancy makes way for a tasteful wooden/brickwork interior – or at least until you’re greeted by the pop art colours on display in the ice cream counter.

A line-up including mango mint, white chocolate basil and a pleasantly salty, crunchy peanut option will make it hard to select just one, so it’s just as well that’s it’s only 8 kroner a scoop after the initial 30 kroner purchase.

Sorry Jægerspris!

LIKE ALL the products, the cones are homemade – look out for news of kids party workshops, learning how to make cones and ice cream and about the food’s history, on Bon Bon’s website and Facebook page.

The quality is not lost on

my daughter Billie, 9, whose flavour of choice was raspberry and hitherto favourite ‘is’ of all time was purchased in Jægerspris, northern Zealand’s mecca for ice cream lovers – every time she goes to visit her grandparents in fact.

“I’m sorry Jægerspris, it’s not my fault, but this is better,” she said, licking her fingers, but not, I repeat not, sucking her thumb.

Nodding in agreement is big sis Karla, 13, who added: “Sometimes when you eat ice cream you can’t identify the flavour, but here you can really taste it.”

When Cruise was tall DADDY Hamilton, meanwhile, had opted for the Killer Vanilla milkshake – part of a new adult range recently tried and tested by Nikki and her crew, which also includes a Chocolate Overload and Pistachio Dream. At 48 kroner, this is a ‘5 dollar shake’ that even Vincent Vega would agree is worth the asking price – with kooties.

Unlike the thick ice creambased numbers served to the kids, the emphasis is very much on making this milky and not overdoing the sweetness – and

for once a vacuum cleaner isn’t required to get this baby started.

It’s still got a slurp sensation, but it’s also palate-cleansing – a commendable effort!

Now this 80s kid couldn’t resist the Knickerbocker Glory – a steal for 55 kroner. Granted, it wasn’t as goliath as the ones that haunted my youth, but even Tom Cruise looked tall back then. An obligatorily lengthy glass and spoon, fresh fruit and vanilla ice cream deliver a blast from the past, but without the sickly syrup that tastes like nectar until you hit the age of 11.

Wunderbar waffles AND FINALLY – I had help from the now coneless couple – a jumbo-sized Belgian waffle served with soft ice that takes your Tivoli/Strøget run of the mill and quadruples the oomph factor. It was, Karla observed, “simply the best I’ve ever had”, as I pondered whether sharing was the worst decision I’ve ever made.

In fact, I cried for the rest of the afternoon, so it was just as well we visited the sut træ afterwards.

PERFORMANCE

20 INOUT

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

BEN HAMILTON

CHILDREN’S musical theatre has its limits – for starters you can forget about Barry White impressions! And then there’s the believability. So this 12-year-old’s going to play

KOMOS FESTIVAL June 16-17; Kongens Have, Øster Voldgade 4A, Cph K;two-day ticket 665kr; komos.dk KRIS KRISTOFFERSEN meets kalvesteg, Passenger picks up some pariserbøf and Flogging Molly takes on flæskesteg. Confused? Welcome to the inaugural staging of the KOMOS Festival in the King’s Garden. Bringing together

folk and food, this festival is sure to bring a new energy to Copenhagen.

Over two days of evocative folk music and the tasting of some of Copenhagen’s best street food, visitors will be embodying the festival theme ‘Folk and Food in the garden’.

The festival will present a total of 18 international and Danish artists.

And it’s free entry for the under6s. (JC)

June 23; various venues; free adm TAKING place on Midsummer Eve Eve, this event is fun for the whole family.

Sankt Hans Aften, as it is known in Denmark, is the night before the birthday of John the Baptist and is celebrated every year with bonfires, barbecues and entertainment across the country.

SPECTACLE

RED BULL COPE’N’WAKEN

June 17, 12:00-16:00; Frederiksholm Kanal, Cph K; free adm The quiet canals of Copenhagen give way to a high-octane wakeboarding tournament, courtesy of the wing-bestowing energy drink’s extreme sports division. As we know too well, this city never runs out of wind. (AH)

KIDS

RINGSTED FESTIVAL

June 10-14; Nørretorv 22, Ringsted; free adm; boernefestival.ringsted.dk Enjoy concerts, theatre performances, shows and a selection of more than 45 activities for kids at the Ringsted Children’s Festival. And if your kids are feeling creative, they can participate in paint activities, readings and magic games. (AD)

PIXABAY

ASIAN EXPO

June 23-27; Korsgadehallen, Korsgade 29, Cph Nordhavn Test your cooking (and eating) skills as people from Asian countries exhibit their homemade food and traditional products during the event. There will also be various cultural shows. The festival is hosted by the Nepalese Street Festival Foundation. (JC)

Danes will gather to observe and partake in old traditions including placing a witch on a bonfire and singing songs as it burns.

Many events at different locations across the country have been announced on Facebook, so make sure you keep your eyes open as more become available.

It’s a night you won’t want to miss!

(JC)

EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE

HILLERØD TOWN FESTIVAL

June 9-11; Hillerød; slotssøbyfest.dk Hillerød’s annual city festival takes on new energy this year, as will also mark the 400th birthday of the lavish Frederiksborg Castle. Tour the castle and gardens, enjoy live music and grab some street food with the whole family during this threeday celebration. (AH)

SKT HANS AFTEN

FESTIVAL

For fans of Bugsy Malone, this is a real treat, and for everybody who doesn’t know his name, nobody’s gonna treat you finer all year!

Oliver! last year, director Collins is again offering tickets to the public to see their international school’s version of the rip-roaring musical.

EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE

FESTIVAL

EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE

CPH DANCE FESTIVAL

June 16-18; Teglholmsgade 27, Cph SV; cphdancefestival.dk Dancers, musicians, food trucks and entertainers are converging on a spacious factory hall by the harbour for a three-day celebration of dance.

Performance, competition, concerts and workshops await all those in attendance. (AH)

CPHDANCEFESTIVAL.DK

DANCE

val gangs use to fire custard cream at one another? And all those miniature Prohibition Era suits and hats – it’s a wonder there isn’t a company somewhere that entirely specialises in providing props for the show.

The brave man in charge for two performances at Albertslund Teater in mid-June is Russell Collins, the co-owner of Scene Kunst Skoler, which teaches children in the art of singing, dancing and acting for a career on the stage at various locations in Zealand.

Following his success with a Danish-language version of

Fagin? There’s picking pockets, and then there’s stealing from the entire audience.

But fortunately there are a few productions where the make-up department can rest easy they’re not going to run out of grey skin tone. The Lord of the Flies is one example, although its suitability for young audiences is questionable, and another is Alan Parker’s 1976 movie Bugsy Malone, which has been a popular choice as a school musical ever since.

Staging it doesn’t have its problems, though. Like how are you going to recreate the iconic splurge guns that ri-

June 10 at 17:00, June 16 at 17:30; Albertslund Teater, Bibliotekstorvet 1, Albertslund; 175kr, under-18s: 100kr, other concessions available, bit.ly/2s4w4J4; 120 mins, suitable for all ages; in English; scenekunstskoler.dk

SHEHAL JOSEPH

BUGSY MALONE

10 - 29 June 2017

21

10 - 29 June 2017

Do you know what to do if you find yourself caught with your hair in the postbox?

Take a Danish course at Studieskolen and find out Studieskolen’s courses are designed for everyone who wants to make fast progress with their Danish language skills. For beginners, the pros and everyone in between. Come to class up to four times a week in the heart of Copenhagen and you’ll no longer be treading in the spinach (as they say). Read more about the origin of different Danish expressions and how to use them at studieskolen.dk.

Follow us /studieskolen

22

FILM

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

10 - 29 June 2017

The stabilisers have gone, but this wheel’s in safe hands BEN HAMILTON

W

ERE THIS month’s cinema releases picked with the UK General Election in mind? ‘All Eyez on Me’ – sounds like most politicians today … it’s all about them and their careers, while most of us are an inconvenience, sitting with Winston Smith at ‘Table 19’. ‘Baby Driver’ – pretty much any party leader these days in the face of terror – ‘It Comes at Night’ alright. And you can forget about ‘The Sense of an Ending’ – with Brexit around the corner this isn’t even the end of the beginning.

Hardly inspiring NOW NORMALLY being judgemental serves me well. I went out on a limb to say that King Arthur: Legend on the Sword was going to be rubbish – it was either going to cost Guy Ritchie his career or mine – but I would have been hard-pressed to guess the same this month, particularly given the releases’ insipid titles.

‘It Comes at Night’ is straight from the pen of an executive who knows what American teenagers did last summer and will do every year in perpetuum. While ‘Baby Driver’ sounds like the cheap animation tale of a twoyear-old drawn by a two-year-old – an infant whose head is five times the size of the rest of his body, looks like Bruce Willis and is probably voiced by him too.

So blow me down if they aren’t the only films worth seeing in June – a month that for all our sakes is normally better off spent outdoors if only Thor and his (mostly perverted) brethren could arrange it for us.

Hot rods, no fuzz SATIRE is as dead as the Paris climate deal thanks to Trump, so maybe that’s why Edgar Wright has started making the kind of films he was only previously brave enough to parody. Let’s face it, Shaun of the Dead would have stood just fine as a horror without the comedy, ditto Hot Fuzz as an action film, while The World’s End … well that didn’t really work on any level.

In Baby Driver (81 on Metacritic; released on June 29), Wright can finally apply his trademark whip pans and crash zooms, normally reserved for mundane tasks, to sequences worthy of his expertise. The result is a taut homage to heist films starring Ansel Elgort (Divergent, The Fault in our Stars) – an actor whose name we’ve never remembered because our kids like his films so they must be rubbish – as a getaway driver who gets in too deep with a mysterious criminal (Kevin Spacey).

With strong support from John Hamm and Jamie Foxx (James Caan, Jake Gyllenhaal and Kirsten Wiig were too busy to appear), this is worth a trip to the flicks even if it is 25 degrees-plus outside.

Horror’s coming back WHEN YOUR continuity treadmill’s broken, turn to the weather and let the reader know that It Comes at Night (80; June 15) is worth dedicating some serious daytime to.

Half the battle when you’ve got a horror film to cast is persuading actors of repute to join you, but the tide appears to be turning thanks to the likes of The Babadook, It Follows and last month’s The Witch.

The first rule of a heist: don’t make it easy for the police with a live scale model

With the likes of hot Aussie property Joel Edgerton and US actress Riley Keough (The Girlfriend Experience – soon to be seen in Lars von Trier’s The House that Jack Built; top trivia: she is Elvis Presley’s eldest grandchild), it has the necessary gravitas to make this tom-foolery believable for the one to two hours necessary to build suspense.

He’s Blair and I’m Biggie THE OTHER three mainstream releases this month are respectively untested, unremarkable and unrecommended.

All Eyez on Me (Not Released Worldwide; June 15) is a biopic of the rapper Tupac Shakur. Following the moderate success of Notorious (East Coast!) and critical acclaim of Straight Outta Compton (West Coast!), the rapper’s story bridges the scenes somewhat as he was born and raised in East Harlem, but moved to California

as a teen. It’s interesting to note that Jamal Woolard will once again play Biggie Smalls (as he did in Notorious), cornering the role in much the same way as Michael Sheen has made himself the go-to Tony Blair.

Based on a novel by Julian Barnes, there’s something instantly familiar about The Sense of an Ending (61; June 29). But those three were in London Spy, you’ll find yourself saying, they ended up getting married in Downton Abbey, they were brother and sister in Match Point, they were mother and daughter in Restless … it’s a wonder anybody else gets any work. Being British and posh certainly appears to be an advantage these days.

Britain’s academics are all posh, it appears to be stipulated by casting agents, as are civil servants and anyone pre-1964 not working in a factory.

Finally, it doesn’t bode well for the wedding comedy Table

19 (40; June 22) that there isn’t a single decent line in the trailer and that they’ve already made a promo in which the actors commend each other on how funny they are in real life. Yes, we know Stephen Merchant and his brand of humour is funny, but undeliberately cringeworthy?

Avoid these nuptials at all cost!

Hardly animated ELSEWHERE, we’ve got four animation films – Transformers: The Last Knight (NRW; June 15), the Danish-produced Sheep & Wolves (NRW; June 15), Despicable Me 3 (NRW; June 29) and Fireman Sam: Alien Alert! The Movie (NRW; June 8) – that might or might not have English subtitles at selected cinemas.

What? The Transformers film isn’t a cartoon? With all the CGI it’s got, it might as well be.

suntan

film OF THE MONTH Experience the Greek comedy-drama ‘Suntan’. An entertaining and dark coming-of-middle-age story filled with grotesque humour and a serious take on being a local at the mercy of the tourist industry.

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

INOUT:TV

10 - 29 June 2017

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

JAMESTOWN SVT1, JUNE 17, 21:00

TOP PICK

FOR MOST, a visit to America makes for a fine holiday. But if the year is 1619 and you’re headed to colonial Virginia for an arranged marriage, such a tour loses a considerable amount of sparkle.

Therein lies the premise of Sky TV’s Jamestown, the story of three English women recently disembarked in the titular settlement as prototypical mail-order brides.

The men of this starved outpost are lacking in their positions

The ladies have their work cut out in a town in which every man is called James

WHY DO they always insist on making films about the aftermath of Mossad’s finest hour? The Eichmann Show (DRK, June 9, 22:30) starring Martin Freeman and Anthony LaPaglia feels like it’s left out all the exciting bits. Now give us the prequel in Buenos Aires.

The Passing Bells, the tale of a British and German soldier fighting WWI and occasionally meeting, also feels like a missed opportunity of sorts, even if it is a

COMING SOON Just when he thought it was safe

valiant effort by screenwriter Tony Jordan.

Sandwiching the two is Wheelchair President (DRK, June 19, 01:50), a conspiracy theory in its time – after all, who knew FDR secretly fancied Churchill.

Fast-forward to modern times and the best they can do is Ivanka Trump – America’s Real First Lady (DR2, June 22, 23:00).

Elsewhere, we’ve got S2 of Fortitude (TV2, June 16, 00:45)

– Sofie Grabøl’s still there but we guess the other big names have all been bumped off – S4 of the relentlessly dull Friday Night Dinner (SVT1, June 27, 22:30) and S3 of Please Like Me (SVT2, June 13, 22:15); Katy Perry: The Prismatic World Tour (SVT2, June 19, 22:45) continues with the enthusiasm of an asthmatic lemming; and Agatha Raisin (DR1, June 18, 00:50) is a police procedural starring the charming Ashley Jensen from Extras. (BH)

SVT1, June 13, 21:50 The Passing Bells

FOR EVERY Netflix success, like Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, there’s a Sense8 or Marco Polo – clearly it has growing pains.

Nevertheless, GLOW, a new series from the creative team behind Orange is the New Black debuting on June 23, looks promising. It explores the development of a women’s pro wrestling league

in LA during the 1980s, with a cleverly-edited trailer promising no shortage of ‘80s rock anthems, soft neon and pasteltone outfits.

Not to be outdone, HBO Nordic is releasing S7 of heavy hitter Game of Thrones on July 17 and new series Room 104 on July 28.

Created by actor/director

duo Jay and Mark Duplass, this intriguing blend of dark comedy and drama explores 12 different stories taking place in the same stale motel room – teasing forays into supernatural and conspiratorial avenues along the way.

Elsewhere, Stephen King’s novella The Mist is premiering on June 22; the BBC’s beloved Great British Baking Show re-

turns for a fourth season premier on June 16; and Niell Blomkamp (District 9) has recently released cryptic trailers for an upcoming project, which suggest the project will continue his themes of extraterrestrial insectoids and soft-apocalpyse aesthetics. Blomkamp hasn’t set a definite release date, only teasing that the project is “streaming soon”. (AH) CHASCOW

RICHTOM80

TOP SPORT DR3, June 17-July 2 Confederations Cup

K6, June 10, 18:00 2016 WC qualifier: Scotland vs England

TOP FILM SVT1, June 22, 23:15 The Hammer

on gender equality and feminist theory, and so arises much of the show’s central drama.

Described by the Telegraph as “silly but gripping” and singed by the Guardian for anachronistic shoehorning of modern social perspectives into an archaic setting, Jamestown makes up for historical deviance with an engaging, personal period drama.

Premiered just this past May, Jamestown explores a relatively uncharted perspective on an early chapter in US history.

AARON HATHAWAY

ALSO NEW

FABIO RODRIGUES POZZEBOM/ABR

AUSTRALIA’S representing Asia in the Confederations Cup, while NZ’s flying the flag for Australasia. Confused? Yes! Unenthused?

Already! With Kazakhstan in Euro 2016 and Jamaica in the Copa America, it could have been worse. Elsewhere, Scotland host England in the 2018 WC qualifiers, the French Open climaxes and F1 continues at the Canadian GP (3+, June 11, 18:30). (BH)

23

TV3, June 18, 21:00 Edge of Tomorrow

DR1, June 23, 21:55 The Vow

Eurosport, June 11, 15:00 French Open: Men’s Singles Final

IT’S A GAMBLE scheduling mediocrity when the summer weather is so unpredictable. The Hammer, a tale of a deaf wrestling champ, has its moments, as does Edge of Tomorrow starring Emily Blunt and … I forget. The Vow steals the old fogie storyline from The Notebook in a bid to be Dear John, and Selfless (TV3, June 11, 21:00) just wants to be good. It fails. (BH)

24

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

10 - 29 June 2017

Are you looking for an exciting summer of activities, friendship and exploration? ØIS Summer Enrichment Program offers seven weeks of programs for Students from 4 up to 12 years old.

English as Second Language Camp for Students from 6 up to 17 years old.

Are

Care and Camps Program weeks 26-32 (June 26th - August 11th 2017) Details and online enrolment at

www.oeis.dk/enrichments Are you looking for an exciting summer of activities, friendship and exploration? ØIS Summer Enrichment Program offers 7 weeks of care and camps for students from 4 up to 12 years old.

English as Second Language Camp for students from 6 up to 17 years old. Østerbro International School Rygårds Allé 131 2900 Hellerup (DK)

Enrichments Coordinator Ms. Chiara Giani cg@oeis.dk