Today in Denmark: A round-up of the latest news on Tuesday
Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
Politicians to meet for new discussion of expulsion centre
Immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye is to meet with representatives today to discuss the government’s plan to open an expulsion centre for foreigners with criminal convictions on the island of Langeland. The centre would accommodate persons who have been sentenced to deportation as part of their convictions but have not yet left Denmark.
Following last week’s announcement of the plan, fierce opposition to it from local communities and both left- and right-wing parties has left it looking less likely to go ahead. A parliamentary majority would need to back the minority government’s plan for the facility.
READ ALSO: Plan for new ‘expulsion centre’ reignites debate over Denmark’s treatment of unwanted foreigners
Remains of culled minks to be dug up
Thousands of minks, culled late last year due to concerns over a variant of Covid-19, are to be dug up at Nørre Felding near Holstebro in West Jutland. That comes after smaller test excavations of the remains, broadcaster DR reports.
The dead minks are to be incinerated due to environmental concerns. Around 1,300 tonnes are to be dug up and removed between now and mid-June, DR reports.
READ ALSO:
- Denmark to spend billions on compensation deal for mink farmers
- Denmark to exhume minks culled over virus
- Denmark introduces year-long ban on mink farming after cull
Denmark to announce squad for Euros
Danish national team manager Kasper Hjulmand will today announce the names of the 26 players who will represent the country at the Euro 2020 football tournament this summer.
The finals were originally scheduled to take place last year but were postponed due to Covid-19. Denmark will play all three of their group stage matches, against Finland, Belgium and Russia, in Copenhagen. The government has given permission for a large crowd attendance for the matches at Parken Stadium.
Mobile vaccinations begin in Aarhus
Mobile vaccination units are today scheduled to visit three housing areas in Aarhus to offer vaccinations to people who been invited to take a Covid-19 inoculation but are yet to book an appointment.
The units will offer vaccinations to around two hundred people over the next three days and gather information for a campaign, according to DR.
Video of racist verbal attack creates political debate
A video of a racist verbal attack on a family with two small children spread virally on Danish social media over the long weekend, giving rise to debate about the effect of political discourse on public behaviour and attitudes.
In the video, recorded at Kastrup Harbour near Copenhagen, a man shouts at the family “why don’t you piss off to your own country” and “look at your skin colour, you’re yellow, you don’t belong here”, amongst other things. It can be viewed here on DR’s website and has also been shared many times on Facebook and Twitter.
Politicians have condemned the incident, including representatives of the anti-immigration, populist right wing Danish People’s Party. In a statement issued on Twitter, immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye said he was “sad” to hear about the video.
“But it was also great to hear how passers-by and the police dealt with the situation. Stop racism. Together for Denmark,” he added.
Social media commenters argued that Tesfaye’s party is amongst those to have fuelled racial tension with its strident rhetoric against immigration, often specifically from Middle Eastern countries. The thread linked below contains numerous examples.
Urimeligt verbalt racistisk overfald mod denne familie. Hører ingen steder hjemme. Gode tanker til familien og især deres små drenge; jeg er ked af de fik så ubehagelig en oplevelse. De er en del af et stort fællesskab, som står sammen med dem. 1/3 https://t.co/gtsW6oOJv7
— Rasmus Stoklund (@RStoklund) May 24, 2021
The Social Democratic citizenship spokesperson, Lars Aslan Rasmussen, called the incident “clearly racist” in comments to DR, but said that Denmark was generally a tolerant country and denied Muslims were targeted by his party’s rhetoric.
“Strict immigration policy and racism are two different things,” Aslan Rasmussen said.
That view was not shared by Pernille Skipper of the left wing Red-Green Alliance.
“All the politicians who don’t think we have a problem with racism but who also ‘sympathise with the family’ have simply not grasped how normal this actually is,” Skipper said according to DR.
“This is not an outlier – it was just captured on video,” she also said.
Editor's note: this article previously erroneously attributed comments by Pernille Skipper to Kristian Hegaard of the Social Liberal Party. The error has been corrected.
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Politicians to meet for new discussion of expulsion centre
Immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye is to meet with representatives today to discuss the government’s plan to open an expulsion centre for foreigners with criminal convictions on the island of Langeland. The centre would accommodate persons who have been sentenced to deportation as part of their convictions but have not yet left Denmark.
Following last week’s announcement of the plan, fierce opposition to it from local communities and both left- and right-wing parties has left it looking less likely to go ahead. A parliamentary majority would need to back the minority government’s plan for the facility.
READ ALSO: Plan for new ‘expulsion centre’ reignites debate over Denmark’s treatment of unwanted foreigners
Remains of culled minks to be dug up
Thousands of minks, culled late last year due to concerns over a variant of Covid-19, are to be dug up at Nørre Felding near Holstebro in West Jutland. That comes after smaller test excavations of the remains, broadcaster DR reports.
The dead minks are to be incinerated due to environmental concerns. Around 1,300 tonnes are to be dug up and removed between now and mid-June, DR reports.
READ ALSO:
- Denmark to spend billions on compensation deal for mink farmers
- Denmark to exhume minks culled over virus
- Denmark introduces year-long ban on mink farming after cull
Denmark to announce squad for Euros
Danish national team manager Kasper Hjulmand will today announce the names of the 26 players who will represent the country at the Euro 2020 football tournament this summer.
The finals were originally scheduled to take place last year but were postponed due to Covid-19. Denmark will play all three of their group stage matches, against Finland, Belgium and Russia, in Copenhagen. The government has given permission for a large crowd attendance for the matches at Parken Stadium.
Mobile vaccinations begin in Aarhus
Mobile vaccination units are today scheduled to visit three housing areas in Aarhus to offer vaccinations to people who been invited to take a Covid-19 inoculation but are yet to book an appointment.
The units will offer vaccinations to around two hundred people over the next three days and gather information for a campaign, according to DR.
Video of racist verbal attack creates political debate
A video of a racist verbal attack on a family with two small children spread virally on Danish social media over the long weekend, giving rise to debate about the effect of political discourse on public behaviour and attitudes.
In the video, recorded at Kastrup Harbour near Copenhagen, a man shouts at the family “why don’t you piss off to your own country” and “look at your skin colour, you’re yellow, you don’t belong here”, amongst other things. It can be viewed here on DR’s website and has also been shared many times on Facebook and Twitter.
Politicians have condemned the incident, including representatives of the anti-immigration, populist right wing Danish People’s Party. In a statement issued on Twitter, immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye said he was “sad” to hear about the video.
“But it was also great to hear how passers-by and the police dealt with the situation. Stop racism. Together for Denmark,” he added.
Social media commenters argued that Tesfaye’s party is amongst those to have fuelled racial tension with its strident rhetoric against immigration, often specifically from Middle Eastern countries. The thread linked below contains numerous examples.
Urimeligt verbalt racistisk overfald mod denne familie. Hører ingen steder hjemme. Gode tanker til familien og især deres små drenge; jeg er ked af de fik så ubehagelig en oplevelse. De er en del af et stort fællesskab, som står sammen med dem. 1/3 https://t.co/gtsW6oOJv7
— Rasmus Stoklund (@RStoklund) May 24, 2021
The Social Democratic citizenship spokesperson, Lars Aslan Rasmussen, called the incident “clearly racist” in comments to DR, but said that Denmark was generally a tolerant country and denied Muslims were targeted by his party’s rhetoric.
“Strict immigration policy and racism are two different things,” Aslan Rasmussen said.
That view was not shared by Pernille Skipper of the left wing Red-Green Alliance.
“All the politicians who don’t think we have a problem with racism but who also ‘sympathise with the family’ have simply not grasped how normal this actually is,” Skipper said according to DR.
“This is not an outlier – it was just captured on video,” she also said.
Editor's note: this article previously erroneously attributed comments by Pernille Skipper to Kristian Hegaard of the Social Liberal Party. The error has been corrected.
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