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A VAST WELFARE reform spear-headed by the political left is gaining broad support from a wide spectrum of society, includ-

ing social workers, economists, mayors and leaders of the political far-right.

Socialdemokraterne (S) are behind the proposed reforms that aim to reduce the number of people under 40 on per-manent welfare bene­ ts and revolution-ise the way the state assists people with mental and physical illnesses.

“We’re working to make it so that

nobody under 40 will be given perma-nent disability status. Of course, there are exceptions,” the prime minister, Helle � orning-Schmidt (S), said in her weekly press conference on Tuesday.

Some 245,000 people – approxi-mately 9 percent of the potential work force – have permanent disability status (førtidspension), which means they have a full state pension for life. Of those, one in seven – or 33,500 – are younger than 40.

In a written plan laid out by the so-cial minister, Karen Hækkerup (S), and the employment minister, Mette Freder-iksen (S), on Tuesday, the government proposed to end lifelong disability ben-e­ ts for people under 40, unless they are so physically or mentally compromised that it is “absolutely obvious that they

Welfare reforms target young bene� t recipientswhich an additional 53,000 Danes cur-rently receive full-time salaries for part-time work, because they are considered too sick to work full-time, but not sick enough for permanent disability.

� e state currently subsidises a set percentage of their full-time salaries, but there is no ceiling on how much the state will pay. As a consequence, critics note, the programme rewards high earners and their employers, while taxpayers have to pay half the salary of some individuals who end up earning as much as 60,000 kroner per month for working 15 hours per week.

� e reform calls for a ­ ve-year, re-newable limit on a person’s part-time

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Reform continues on page 5

The Dominican � rst lady and the missing millions

Obama tells PM to shelve proposed magazine levy

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‘Cigar-gate’: Did the US overstep its bounds?

Proposed changes shift focus from lifelong bene� ts to rehabilitation

JENNIFER BULEY will never be able to work”. Instead, bene­ t recipients under 40

will have their cases assigned to multi-disciplinary “rehabilitation teams”, which will create individualised rehabili-tation plans, which may include, among other things, psychological counselling, social skill training, education, job train-ing, a mentorship and – initially – a state-subsidised job.

Rehabilitation periods will last up to ­ ve years and will be renewable. During the ­ ve-year periods, individuals will be allowed to both collect welfare bene­ ts and work, if they can, in order to incen-tivise working.

A second part of the reform aims to re-engineer the part-time disability job programme (� eksjobordningen), under

Resistance builds against online rights agreement 4

10,000 strong:‘Don’t ACTA fool’

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2 2 - 8 March 2012The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dkWeek in revieW

Public broadcaster DR was censured last week by the jour-nalists’ association Dansk Jour-nalistforbund for failing to in-form viewers that two ‘citizens’, who criticised governmental pol-icy on the news programme TV Avisen, were actually opposition politicians. in one interview, brian Palmund condemned the

government’s congestion charge proposal, while in another, Rune Kristensen decried its tax on in-ternational magazine subscrip-tions. However, at no point in either story did DR identify Pal-mund as the Venstre city coun-cillor in Albertslund or Kris-tensen as the former chairman of the Konservative youth party.

in An ARmeD rescue mission off Somalia’s coast on Sunday night, the Danish warship Absa-lon freed 18 hostages and arrested 17 presumed pirates. However, two hostages – an iranian and a Pakistani – died shortly afterwards of gunshot wounds. Søværnets Operative Kommando (SOK), the Danish marines, are investi-

gating whether the hostages were shot by the pirates or caught in crossfire. nATO co-ordinated the action and gave Absalon the go-ahead to fire on the pirate’s mothership (pictured). The 16 surviving hostages are also from iran and Pakistan. Two Danish seamen have been held hostage by Somali pirates for over one year.

eVeRybODy knows that boys and girls are different, but Dan-ish researchers argue that those differences aren’t good for young boys. A study of nearly 3,000 children from 140 daycare in-stitutions nationwide indicated that girls thrive more than boys at daycare. boys are less likely to en-joy going to their institution and

are more likely to be yelled at by the daycare providers, the study revealed. boys were also charac-terised as wilder and more restless than girls. One way to make day-care better for boys is to hire more male educators, said the head of national teachers’ union buPl, adding that there is a dearth of male role models at institutions.

Scandinavian invasion

Ten YeaRs ago. a danish journalism student wins the prestigious World press photo award, beating 50,000 other submissions.

FIVe YeaRs ago. politiken newspaper is named one of the world’s best designed newspapers in the society for news design’s 28th annual competition – a feat it repeated this year.

one YeaR ago. denmark ranks second-to-last out of 31 Western countries when it comes to the family reunification of immigrants.

FRoM oUR aRChIVes

The Week’s MosT Read sToRIes aT CphposT.dk

Us snubs out legal cigar transaction

get a job – any job– minister tells unemployed grads

Thorning-schmidt and obama trade praise, avoid criticism

The ally who’s come in from the cold

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A sculpture by the Danish artist Michael elmgreen and his norwegian partner ingar Dragset was unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square last week

Biased broadcast?RescueGirls rule!

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32 - 8 March 2012 The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dk News

U S PreSident Barack Obama brought up the controversial danish magazine tax during

their meeting last week, danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt revealed in parliament on Wednesday.

Thorning-Schmidt met with Obama last Friday at the White House (see story below), but there was no word immediately after the meeting about whether they discussed the danish deci-sion to charge VAt on foreign magazines, potentially raising the price of a 30 kroner American magazine to about 200 kroner.

despite widespread criticism, the government had otherwise seemed to be ploughing ahead with the proposal, with tax min-ister Thor Möger Pedersen de-fending the proposal before a par-liamentary committee last week.

Then quite abruptly on Monday, three days after Obama and Thorning-Schmidt’s meet-

ing, Pedersen announced that the government was postponing the proposal to see if it breaks the Florence Agreement, a Un convention that guarantees the free movement of educational, scientific and cultural material.

“We need to investigate it, so the government has decided to postpone the proposed law,”

he said according to Politiken newspaper.

The tax minister added that it was never his intention to make magazines extortionately expensive and that all they want-ed was to ensure that danish printers could compete on the same footing as foreign printers.

Thorning-Schmidt’s an-

obama tells government to shelve magazine lawRevelation that obama brought up the tax on non-eU magazines comes after tax minister said plan had been shelved

Peter StannerS

nouncement in parliament on Wednesday, however, seemed to suggest that Obama had a role to play in their reassessment of the tax.

“it’s an issue that has been discussed not only at home, but also to a great extent by the Americans,” Thorning-Schmidt said when she was asked about

the magazine tax in parliament. “For that reason the president brought up the issue with me during the meeting.”

indeed, criticism of the tax had been building stateside, par-ticularly in the state of West Vir-ginia where magazine national Geographic is printed.

national Geographic has been a vocal critic of the govern-ment’s plans and even lodged a formal complaint with the euro-pean Commission.

Piling on the pressure was congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, representing a district in West Virginia, who sent a letter to Obama asking him to raise the issue when he met with Thorning-Schmidt last Friday.

Capito need not have wor-ried that the tax would slip be-low the radar, as a spokesperson for the US embassy in Copen-hagen had already expressed concern about the effect of the magazine tax before Thorning-Schmidt’s visit.

“i can say with certainty that if the law is passed in denmark it will lead to a levy, and we have both committed ourselves to not placing customs duties on this sort of material by signing the Florence Agreement,” the US

Thorning-schmidt said that the proposed magazine tax was discussed in her private meeting with Obama

cultural attaché in denmark, Shawn Waddoup, told Politiken newspaper last week.

The cause of the conflict lies in the practice of danish pub-lishers printing their publica-tions in norway and Switzerland in order to take advantage of a tax loophole that allows them to avoid paying VAt on magazines printed outside of the eU.

to encourage business to return to denmark, the govern-ment last year proposed closing the loophole. But many maga-zines will never be printed in the eU, and as a result subscrib-ers will have to pay the VAt on these magazines before being al-lowed to take them home. This means the postal service, Post danmark, will have to sort the nine million magazines arriving in denmark each year – a job which they claim would require over 400 extra staff at a cost of 237 million kroner a year.

Consumers will be forced to cover this cost and pay a levy of about 160 kroner per issue. in the process, the government would raise 7.5 kroner extra in taxes per 30 kroner magazine and raise its total cost to about 200 kroner – a price many would find extortionate.

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I n WHAt was arguably her biggest moment on the inter-national stage to date, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-

Schmidt held a 40-minute meet-ing with US President Barack Obama at the White House last week on Friday.

The two leaders discussed a variety of topics during their meeting, including the european debt crisis, the situation in Syria, an upcoming nAtO meeting in May, and even the terrifying topic of teenage daughters.

recycling the same praise he bestowed upon denmark less than a year ago when meet-ing with former PM Lars Løkke rasmussen, Obama said that denmark has “punched above their weight” when it comes to the country’s contributions in Afghanistan and Libya. He also extended his compliments to Thorning-Schmidt directly, say-ing the US has been “very im-pressed with the first five months of her prime ministership”.

Unsurprisingly, economic matters made up a significant part of the conversation.

“Like folks here in the Unit-ed States, everybody in den-

mark wants to talk about the economy all the time, and jobs and growth,” Obama said after the meeting. “And we agreed that there has been some progress in resolving the sovereign debt is-sues, that there has been some progress with respect to the agree-ments between the eU and the iMF and Greece. The new gov-ernment in italy, and new govern-ments in Spain and Portugal are all making significant progress, but that there’s a lot more work to do. And we will be consulting closely with denmark.”

Thorning-Schmidt thanked Obama for “the friendship and the alliance between our two countries”, but also stressed that “a closer transatlantic relation-ship will be important” as eu-rope continues to work its way through its debt crisis. She also specifically thanked the US for the recent operation that rescued a danish hostage in Somalia.

Thorning-Schmidt prom-ised to attend a nAtO summit in Chicago in May, and invited Obama to visit denmark.

not everything was business during the meeting, however. The two leaders found common ground as parents.

“The final thing we talked about was the fact that we both have two daughters; they’re roughly the same ages,” Obama said. “We traded notes. The prime minister’s daughters are slightly older than Malia and

Sasha. She assures me that they continue to behave themselves, even well into their teenage years. So i’m encouraged by the report.”

danish media covering the event praised Thorning-Schmidt’s performance.

david trads, the US corre-spondent for Berlingske news-paper, characterised Thorning-Schmidt as appearing “very nervous and unsure” during a brief meeting with the danish press corps upon her Washing-ton arrival. But any butterflies in her stomach must have set-tled, as trads wrote following the Obama meeting that the danish prime minister had clearly “made a good impres-sion” on Obama.

Oliver routhe Skov, a US correspondent with pub-lic broadcaster dr, said that Thorning-Schmidt was “very happy and satisfied” after the meeting, and that she felt she had accomplished her objectives. Skov also indicated that Thorn-ing-Schmidt told the danish press that it wasn’t necessary for her to criticise the US for the continued use of the Guantana-mo Bay detention camp.

Several days following the meeting, it emerged that Obama brought up denmark’s proposed magazine import levy, which would make it prohibitively ex-pensive to subscribe to American magazines from denmark (see story above).

JuStin Cremer

The two leaders used their 40 minute meeting to discuss the economy, Libya and parenting

pM trades praise and avoids criticism with Us president

aUtHOritieS in the US have refused to return 137,000 kroner that was

confiscated from a danish po-liceman who attempted to le-gally purchase Cuban cigars in Germany using US dollars.

torben nødskouv intended to resell the cigars through his small business Cigarhuset and made the transaction in dollars with a Hamburg-based distribu-tor. But the transaction, which was automatically routed through the US, was picked up by Ameri-can authorities who froze the money, arguing that the transac-tion violated the American trade embargo with Cuba.

nødskouv appealed after the $20,000 transaction was frozen last autumn, but the money may

be permanently lost after he was recently informed that it would not be returned to him.

The intervention of the American authorities in a legal transaction between two eu-ropean countries has provoked criticism from a range of politi-cians and experts who argue that the US has overstepped its place in their policing of financial transactions under the guise of fighting terrorism.

Speaking to Berlingske newspaper, the foreign minis-ter, Villy Søvndal, said he was concerned by the Americans’ decision, adding that as it was a european issue, it would be brought up by the eU in their running dialogue with the US.

“it is worrying that the US is extraterritorially applying Ameri-can legislation to regulate busi-ness activities outside of the US,” Søvndal said. “i do not think it is fair that the US intervenes with european businesses, especially with a legal transfer of money be-tween two european countries.”

Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen,

the former head of the domestic intelligence agency Pet, called on denmark to use its position as eU president to pressure the US into releasing the money.

“The case is an obvious op-portunity for the danish presi-dency to step up to the plate,” Bonnichsen told Berlingske. “it’s a clear example of the US abusing rules which were implemented to fight terrorism. That the Ameri-can authorities can stop a com-pletely legal financial transaction between two european countries is an abuse of eU citizens’ rights.”

A US treasury official told The Copenhagen Post that they could not comment on specific cases but that trade regulations “generally prohibit US banks and financial institutions from pro-viding financial services related to transactions involving Cuba”.

This is not the first time the American authorities have con-fiscated danish money. in 2008, dress seller Christa Møllgaard-Hansen had 205 dollars frozen after attempting to buy six dress-es from Pakistan.

Us snubs out legal cigar transactionPeter StannerS

Foreign minister intervenes after danish man loses appeal to have 137,000 kroner returned to him by the americans

Villy søvndal argued that the Americans should not be interfering with european businesses

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heated aCTa debate takes to the streets

o n a warm late Feb-ruary day on Israels Plads in Copenhagen, a crowd started to gather.

many wore Guy Fawkes masks, and on the back of an open truck a man played the theme songs of ’80s video games through his modified Game-boy. a sign held aloft depicted a crudely drawn man asking: ‘Y u no leave Internet alone?’

It was the start of a demon-stration against the anti Coun-terfeit Trade agreement (aCTa), an effort to set international standards for pursuing and con-victing copyright violators.

Denmark — along with 21 other EU states, the US, Canada, australia and Japan — signed the agreement in January.

Protests against aCTa have been held in dozens of cities across Europe, sparked by fears that it will restrict internet free-dom and choke the trade of life-saving generic medicine. Several European countries have subse-quently withdrawn their support, with the Slovenian ambassador to Japan even apologising to the fu-ture children of Slovenia for sign-ing without “paying attention”.

Danish trade minister Pia Olsen Dyhr has maintained her support, however. In a piece penned for Information newspa-per, she argued agreements like aCTa are needed to fight copy-right violators and protect jobs.

“[Denmark] has a lot of in-formation-intensive enterprises, which thrive on developing and designing products such as fur-niture and high-tech machines,” she wrote. “These companies cannot survive without effective protection of their rights both inside and outside Denmark.”

not everyone is convinced however. One of the 10,000

The government seems to be failing in its attempts to reassure people that the trade agreement aCTa will not close the free and open internet

Peter StannerS demonstrators out on Copen-hagen’s streets last Saturday was mikkel Løve Graessler, a 19-year-old student who argued the pursuit of online copyright violators is counterproductive.

“aCTa is unnecessary,” he explained as he fiddled with his Guy Fawkes mask. “The internet is better for us open than it is closed and limited. aCTa was not written for the good of soci-ety, but to make sure big organi-sations can sue and boost their profits. They don’t understand the internet and what sharing and remixing is.”

nearby was 29-year-old abdellah Ihadian who was tak-ing photographs for an online magazine.

“I’m here to support the principle of internet freedom,” abdellah said, adding that he was also concerned about aC-Ta’s impact on the trade of ge-neric medicine. “Human rights should always come before cor-porate rights. But it’s complex.”

Ihadian could not have cho-sen a better word. The 23-page long treaty is divided into six chapters and 45 articles explain-ing in ‘legalese’ what sorts of pro-tection signatories should pro-vide for copyright holders, and the rights authorities ought to have when prosecuting violators.

But while it seems thorough, many organisations have argued that in some areas it is too loose-ly formulated and could allow clever corporate lawyers to inter-pret it in ways that would allow them to increase their profit and dominance under the guise of pursuing copyright violation.

For example, article 10 states that authorities may order that, “materials and implements, the predominant use of which has been in the manufacture or crea-tion of such infringing goods, be, without undue delay and with-out compensation of any sort, destroyed or disposed of”.

Is a website an “infring-ing good”? If so, does this give authorities the right to destroy computers used to create websites simply suspected of manufactur-

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ing an “infringing good” without even going through a court?

In recent weeks, Informa-tion led a campaign to inves-tigate aCTa, soliciting views from a wide range of parties who both support and oppose the agreement.

PrOSa, the Danish IT workers union, took exception to aCTa’s focus on protecting online business interests at the expense of the greater good the internet provides.

“aCTa makes it difficult for people to find out what is right and what is wrong, and the con-tent is so complex that it’s hard to assess what consequences the deal will have,” PrOSa wrote.

But while PrOSa argues that we ought to be discussing the rights of internet users, the Danish association of copyright holders, rettigheds alliancen, thinks something needs to be done to protect the creative classes from the threat of online piracy and file sharing.

“aCTa [...] is not about

ice providers, and that border of-ficials could confiscate material that was simply suspected of vio-lating copyright (such as generic drugs) without a court order.

none of these were true, she argued, pointing out that aCTa has been debated numerous times in both Danish and Euro-pean parliaments and can only work within the already existing legal frameworks of the coun-tries that have signed up.

But when quizzed on the specific articles in the agree-ment, Dyhr conceded that she would have to refer to a legal expert in order to explain its consequences. messerschmidt pounced on this point, arguing that many aspects of the agree-ment were so vague that they could limit freedom.

according to many at the de-bate, the chief failing of aCTa is seen as its failure to understand the potential of the internet as a forum for the free exchange of information. as the debate wound down, a woman stood

up and asserted that aCTa sim-ply maintained an old ‘analogue’ business model without looking at the new business models the internet, and file sharing, offer.

Speaking before the gathered crowd at Saturday’s protest, Hen-rik Chulu from an internet policy think-tank, Bitbureauet, argued that copyright lobbyists were threatened by what the digital realm offered and did not under-stand how to take advantage of it.

“Internet censorship is a slippery slope,” he said. “we want digital rights. we want a ‘digital spring’.”

Chulu and other aCTa op-ponents may get their wish. Last week, the European Commis-sion decided to halt the ratifica-tion of aCTa and wait until it has been examined by the Eu-ropean Court of Justice to see whether it is compatible with human rights laws. many are left questioning why this wasn’t ex-amined before countries, such as Denmark, signed the agreement in the first place.

Henrik Chulu (left) was one of the speakers at saturday’s rally that drew upwards of 10,000 people, including Abdellah Ihadian (right)

Internet censorship is a slippery slope

monitoring people’s behaviour on the internet. and it is not about limiting the flow of infor-mation,” rettigheds alliancen replied. “aCTa is about buy-ing and selling goods. The point of aCTa is to give businesses a greater opportunity to stop the copying of their goods.”

The two organisations were among those present at a de-bate on monday evening at Dr Byen, along with trade minister Dyhr and mEP morten messer-schmidt (Dansk Folkeparti).

There, Dyhr attempted to defend aCTa from allegations that it was written in secret with copyright lobbyists, that it would lead to the surveillance of online activity by internet serv-

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pHOnE company 3 has been court-ordered to block access to the popu-

lar music streaming website Grooveshark.

The case against Groove-shark was lodged by the Danish copyright holders association, rettigheds alliancen, on behalf of their members, which include musicians, artists and writers.

according to rettigheds al-liancen, Grooveshark provided an illegal service by streaming music to consumers for free, without first obtaining the rights from the musicians.

“Our members have at-tempted to get in touch with Grooveshark to make a deal for some time, but Grooveshark’s

owners are unfortunately not in-terested in entering a dialogue,” the organisation wrote in a press release. “The music service pre-tends to be legal and in so doing cheats the users who think they are paying the artists.”

Leaked emails from Groove-shark employees showed that the company intended to build up a consumer base using unlicenced music before striking a deal with record labels.

according to CnET.com, Grooveshark is now being sued by all the major record labels.

Legal rival streaming service Spotify launched in Denmark last year, but has been criticised for paying meagre royalties to artists. (PS)

grooveshark access blocked

52 - 8 March 2012 The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dk news

M ore than half of Denmark’s 2,201 parishes are too small and underrepresented

to stay open, according to the Church of Denmark’s own ana-lysts at Kirkefondet.

Kirkefondet was established at the end of the 19th century to strengthen membership and par-ticipation in the Church of Den-mark (Folkekirken), in particular among city dwellers. But today, at the beginning of the 21st century, the association is recommending that half of Denmark’s churches – many in rural areas – should, in theory, be closed. They simply do not have enough patrons to stay open, said the association.

“a parish with less than 1,000 members has a hard time maintaining a sustainable church life. It’s therefore obvious that we have too many parishes in Den-mark,” Morten Skruppeltrang, Kirkefondet’s secretary general, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

In its most recent cen-sus, Kirkefondet reported that 1,144 of Denmark’s 2,201 par-ishes had fewer than the mini-mum 1,000 members. and out of those, 40 parishes had fewer

Twice as many churches as necessaryChurch admits that over 1,000 parishes don’t have enough members to justify their existence

Jennifer Buley

than 100 members. although church member-

ship has fallen dramatically in re-cent decades, only nine churches have closed since 1849. today, the Church of Denmark has 2,354 churches, while less than five percent of the population – or fewer than 275,000 people – attend church on a weekly basis.

earlier in February, B.t. in-terviewed ten of the country’s eleven bishops, and eight of them predicted “a wave of church clo-sures in coming years”.

Per Buchholdt andreasen, the chairman of Præsteforenin-gen, the association of Church of Denmark ministers, came to

InvItatIon

The City of Copenhagen would like to invite you to a Welcome

Reception at the City Hall, Tuesday the 6th of March 2012 from

5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

· Head of Business Affairs Jakob Brandt from Copenhagen

Business Service would like to officially welcome you to

Copenhagen

· Introduction to the city through interesting glimpse and stories

presented by Jakob Parby from The Copenhagen Museum

· Taste the famous Copenhagen City Hall pancakes whilst having

the opportunity to meet representatives from different culture

and leisure activities and ‘visit’ the human library.

Please register through www.kk.dk/english

Enter through the entrance facing The City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen).

the same conclusion.“We are forced to acknowl-

edge that some parishes are too small. When the new parish councils take office, their obvi-ous project – along with the lo-cal deans and bishops – will be to make a list of parishes and churches that are too small to continue working independent-ly,” he told Jyllands-Posten.

The parishes elect new mem-bers to their church councils every four years. at the 2008 election, 490 parishes voted to merge with neighbouring par-ishes because they could not fill their own council seats.

“one way to determine

whether a church is sustainable is to count the number of bap-tisms and churchgoers. But that should also be supplemented by in-depth conversations with the people who work in the par-ishes,” said the church minister, Manu Sareen (radikale).

“That way, the church will have a good basis for deciding if a parish should be eliminated and its churches taken out of use,” he added.

This autumn the Church Ministry is expected to propose a law change that would allow parish councils and local deans to decide whether a church in their parish should be closed.

disability status and for the state’s contribution to taper off gradually as salaries rise and to stop completely when their sala-ries surpass around 35,000 kro-ner per month.

The government emphasised that people already in the pro-gramme would be unaffected by the reform.

Finally, the government is proposing to reduce welfare ben-efits for individuals on permanent disability who move out of the eU while continuing to collect welfare checks from Denmark.

today, Denmark has the largest percentage of people in the eU on permanent disability benefits due to mental illnesses, which include chronic stress, anxiety and depression.

Moreover, an estimated 20 percent of Denmark’s working age population, between the ages of 18 and 66, are on some form

of welfare today – whether it be cash benefits, unemployment, early retirement, permanent dis-ability or partial disability.

a research study from 2009, reported by Politiken newspaper, determined that with effective re-habilitation, one in five people on permanent disability would, in fact, be capable of holding down a normal, unsubsidised job.

With state welfare outlays for the permanent disability pensions alone topping 40 bil-lion kroner in 2010, the savings from “rehabilitating” just 20 per-cent of the people under 40 in the programme are considerable.

economists and local poli-ticians said that without such reforms, more drastic and wide-spread cuts in welfare spending would be necessary.

“We need a new balance. If we don’t get more people off public benefits, we’ll be forced to fire thousands of people who do a great deal of work in our nurseries and schools and for our seniors,” Jan trøjborg (S), the chairman of KL, the national

association of local councils, told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

over the weekend, KL an-nounced its own reform pro-posal, which largely mirrors the government’s plan.

also backing up the welfare reforms are business leaders from employers’ association Dansk ar-bejdsgiversforening, lead econo-mists from the government’s economic advisory panel, Det Økonomiske råd, social workers’ union Socialrådgiverforening, and the government-appointed labour reform commission, arbe-jdsmarkedskommissionen. even the far-right opposition party Dansk Folkeparti announced that it was ready to support the left-of-centre government’s plan, thus securing the majority need-ed to pass the reforms.

The more centrist opposi-tion parties Venstre and Kon-servative also indicated that they were positive about what they had seen of the government’s welfare reform proposal, but said they would need more details before giving it their support.

Reformcontinued from front page

I F PoLICe investigators suc-ceed in their goal, 300 more gang members – 200 from

Zealand and 100 from Jutland – will be behind bars by the end of 2012.

on tuesday, the national po-lice, rigspolitiet, together with the Justice Ministry, presented parliament with its game plan for increasing pressure on crimi-nal gangs throughout Denmark in 2012. as part of that plan, police named the minimum number of individuals they ex-pect to prosecute this year.

“We’re basing the number on the investigations we already have in the pipeline. That’s why we’re confident about reaching this goal,” Kim Kliver, the head of the national bureau of inves-tigation, nationale efterforskn-ingscenter (neC), told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

In 2011, police surpassed their goal of putting 250 gang members behind bars. By the end of the year, 356 individuals were either in custody or serving time for gang-related crimes.

Kliver explained that those were mostly the easy cases, in-volving low-ranking gang mem-bers: new recruits and foot sol-

diers. now police are turning their focus to nabbing the mid-dlemen and leaders.

“We’ve plucked the low-hanging fruit. That was the easiest option in the first years of our an-ti-gang effort,” Kliver said. “our experience shows that bikers and gang members are involved in extortion, human trafficking and organised crime in connection with prostitution, murder, assault with intent to kill, and selling weapons and drugs. That’s what we’re going after.”

although inter-gang violence in Copenhagen has tapered off following a rash of shootings in recent years, investigators note that there is still a simmering ri-valry between the hells angels, the Bandidos and several immi-grant gangs that could erupt into violence again.

In Copenhagen, gang-relat-ed crime and violence has cen-tred around the neighbourhoods of nørrebro, the Mjølnerparken housing estate in the nordvest district, Valby and Christiania. Police added that gang activity in Jutland was growing, particu-larly around esbjerg.

The government has com-mitted 50 million kroner in 2012 to a special project aimed at intercepting and preventing gang recruitment in marginal-ised areas. (JB)

police vow to jail 300 gang members in 2012government commits to increased spending on multi-pronged war against criminal gangs

onlIne ThIs week

the Man suspected of mur-dering a social worker in Viborg earlier this month has admit-ted to killing her, metroXpress reports. at the court in Viborg on tuesday, 39-year-old Kristian heilmann denied the further charge of rape or attempted rape in the murder of 46-year-old Judy Meiniche Simonsen. Si-

monsen’s body, which was dis-covered on the evening of Feb-ruary 7, bore stab wounds and indications she may have been sexually assaulted. heilmann was captured after crashing his car trying to evade the police. The crash left him with such se-vere injuries that doctors had to put him in an artificial coma.

Murder suspect admits guilt but denies rapeIF yoU want to live longer, you need to pedal faster. a new study by Danish researchers shows that it’s better to take a shorter bike ride at a fast pace than a long but slow ride. The so-called ‘Østerbro study’ followed 5,106 men and women aged 21-90 and con-cluded that cycling quickly can increase life expectancy.

Bike faster, live longer

The calls to close churches comes as many parishes experience declining attendances

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6 2 - 8 March 2012The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dkNews

a Danish human rights activist has appealed to Danish and European poli-

ticians to do more to secure his release from a Bahraini jail where he is serving a life sentence.

albdulhadi al-Khawaja is currently on hunger strike and has written an open letter to Dan-ish foreign minister Villy søvndal urging an investigation into the legal basis of his detention.

“i am entitled to protection by EU member states in accord-ance with the EU guidelines on the protection of human rights defenders around the world,” al-Khawaja wrote. “i would suggest that the Danish authorities kindly put more efforts, in co-ordination with other EU-state members, to take whatever possible actions […] to address my case and the cases of other detained activists.”

al-Khawaja was arrested on april 8 of last year for his role in protests against the Bahraini gov-ernment, which were launched as part of the wider arab spring movement in the region.

he said he was severely beaten following his arrest, held in solitary confinement, and tor-tured for two months before be-ing tried on charges of instigating hatred towards, and attempting

to overthrow, the regime. his sentence was life in prison.

al-Khawaja was granted asylum in Denmark after flee-ing Bahrain in 1989. While living in Copenhagen with his wife and daughters, al-Khawaja took on Danish citizenship and established the Bahrain human Rights Organisation, which he states helped improve human rights conditions in Bahrain.

he returned to Bahrain in 2001 and maintains that he was repeatedly arrested, beaten dur-ing peaceful protests, subjected to travel bans and villified in the

Bahraini media.Despite the troubles he has

faced promoting human rights, al-Khawaja wrote in his open letter that he has no regrets.

“it is a serious business to address issues such as corrup-tion, inequality, and discrimi-nation in order to promote the interests of members of the rul-ing family, and documenting arbitrary detention and torture by the brutal national security apparatus,” he wrote.

Danish diplomats were present in the court when al-Khawaja was sentenced and

serving life sentence in Bahrain, activist asks denmark to do more to secure his release

Peter StannerS

Jailed activist calls on denmark for help

We should be taking advantage of the fact that we have so many young people with Turkish roots

a sChOOl’s application to offer the foreign lan-guage of Denmark’s larg-est immigrant group as

part of its core curriculum has spurred culture versus capital-ism debate.

a majority of the students at Københavns Private Gymna-sium (KPG) have Turkish roots and a strong interest in improv-ing their ability to speak, read and write Turkish. That is a good enough reason, according to Crilles Bacher, KPG’s headmas-ter, to offer it as an official sec-ond foreign language – not just as an elective course, as it is now offered. But first KPG needs a special dispensation from the Education Ministry – and the ministry has declined their re-quest, reports altinget.dk.

To be approved as an of-ficial second foreign language, a language must contribute to Denmark’s economic growth, according to the Education Ministry. The education minis-ter, Christine antorini (social-demokraterne), said that KPG failed to show that Turkish meets

that requirement.“Maybe Turkey is an impor-

tant country for Danish trade, but that’s not something we took a position on in this case. [The school] argued that they wanted to help their students improve their Turkish. But we don’t offer special dispensations just because there are lots of students of a certain nationality who want to learn how to speak their own lan-guage,” antorini said.

in a later interview, antorini told the Ritzau news service she was “ready to take a look” at arguments to include other for-eign languages, including Turk-ish, in the schools’ core curric-ula, as long as those arguments were based on the economic advantages for society.

The foreign languages ap-proved by the Education Minis-try to fulfil Danish high school students’ second foreign lan-guage requirement are German, French, spanish, italian and Russian. English is the obligato-ry first foreign language for all.

several schools have re-ceived special dispensations to offer Chinese and Japanese as second foreign languages, on the grounds that they are significant to Denmark’s economic growth.

Meanwhile, Turkish immi-grants and their descendants are, by far, Denmark’s largest ethnic minority group. numbering al-

most 60,000 in 2010, they ac-count for nearly eleven percent of all immigrants – twice the amount of the next largest im-migrant group, Germans.

in fact, in 2008, the Educa-tion Ministry under the Venstre-Konservative government granted a dispensation to ZBC Ringsted, a business high school, to offer Turkish as a second foreign lan-guage – just as KPG requested.

ZBC argued that it hoped to attract more ethnic-Turkish stu-dents by offering Turkish as part of its core curriculum. The minis-try now claims that was the wrong reason to give a dispensation.

“From a political standpoint, we think the foreign language

Ministry: Teach Turkish? show us the money

should have absolute signifi-cance for Denmark’s economic development to be approved as a second foreign language. so, with 20-20 hindsight, we see now that it was wrong to give ZBC Ringsted a dispensation,”

offering students Turkish as a foreign language: bad for integration or good for business?

Jennifer Buley

A Bahraini girl wears a shirt with the image of Albdulhadi Al-Khawaja during an anti-government rally

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“Turkey is enjoying rapid growth and Danish exports to Turkey have grown by 40 per-cent in the past five years. We should definitely be taking ad-vantage of the fact that we have so many young people in Den-mark with Turkish roots.”

annette Vilhelmsen, the ed-ucation spokesperson from so-cialistisk Folkeparti, encouraged KPG to reapply for the special dispensation, but this time to emphasise the business advan-tages – not cultural ones.

“What they should have done, and still can do, is apply again using the same reasons used by the high schools that got approved for Chinese and Japa-nese,” Vilhelmsen said.

however, Dansk Folkeparti’s education spokesperson, alex ahrendtsen, countered that al-lowing Turkish as a second for-eign language would only en-courage a “parallel society and ghetto identity”.

“We live in Europe, so it’s obviously European languages we should be focusing on in our high schools,” he said.

if KPG does decide to apply again, they will have to persuade high school education council Gymnasieforligskredsen – which includes representatives of the government and the opposition parties – that teaching Turkish is good business.

said Merete Pedersen, an advisor to the Education Ministry.

Pedersen added that ZBC’s dispensation to teach Turkish would not be renewed.

Bacher said it was disap-pointing that the government apparently did not see that the students’ Turkish roots, and their natural interest in Turkish culture, could be turned to eco-nomic advantage for Denmark.

“We think that, as a society, we ought to acknowledge that students with native languages other than Danish have special competencies that we can defi-nitely use here in Denmark,” Bacher said. “We see bilingual-ism as a strong resource among our students, and we would like to develop it even further.”

Daniella Kuzmanovic, an as-sistant professor of Turkish stud-ies at the University of Copen-hagen, said there was no doubt Turkey would come to play a bigger role on the world stage.

“Turkey is under consid-eration for EU membership and it’s a growing export market for Danish businesses. Moreover, it’s expected to become one of the world’s ten largest economies. Familiarity with Turkey and facil-ity with the Turkish language will certainly be critical,” she said.

The Radikale education spokesperson, lotte Rod, agreed with Kuzmanovic’s assessment.

Turks are far and away the largest immigrant group in Denmark

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eU MinisTERs in Brussels agreed to impose tougher sanctions against the syrian

regime on Monday, though for-eign minister Villy søvndal said those measures will stop well short of military intervention to help bring the ongoing conflict to an end.

“i didn’t hear one foreign minister discuss the use of mili-tary force in this conflict at the meeting,” søvndal said after the meeting. “The conflict has no quick fix.”

saudi arabia and Qatar have both called for arming rebel forces in the country to aid them in their fight against government troops in the city of homs.

Reports indicate that at least 144 people were killed in the region on Monday, with accusa-tions that syrian president Bashar al-assad is attacking civilians in order to wipe out opposition. according to figures from the op-position network, about 9,000 people have been killed since fighting started last March, while the syrian government has stated that over 2,000 members of its se-curity forces have also been killed.

Russia and China have both vetoed motions in the Un se-

curity Council calling for in-tervention, with Russia making explicit warnings to Western powers against either sending in foreign troops or arming opposi-tion rebels.

The Us secretary of state, hillary Clinton, has also warned that a military intervention would accelerate a full blown civil war in the country. Other experts have warned that arming rebels would be risky consider-ing the presence of dangerous armed groups, such as hamas and al-Qaeda, which are thought to be operating in the country.

søvndal also turned down support for a ‘humanitarian cor-ridor’, which would allow aid into the country and the wound-ed a route out.

“That would require military control from the air and the de-ployment of ground troops by the countries involved in order to battle their way toward places such as homs.”

The new set of EU sanctions are intended to hit syria’s cen-tral bank and its precious metals trade, as well as preventing syr-ian transport planes from land-ing at all European airports.

These measures add to the oil and weapons embargo, fi-nancial sanctions, the freezing of government assets, and creation of a no-fly list imposed in the first set of sanctions. (Ps)

have kept communication open between him and his family. he expressed gratitude for this sup-port, but stated that he hopes to soon be released in order to con-tinue his work.

“i thank you again and [ex-tend] my warm greetings to all Danish citizens. i hope that the good efforts including yours would soon secure my release so i can join my family and friends and resume my work, which this time will be as the director of the Gulf Centre for human Rights that has recently started its work.”

no military intervention in syria, søvndal saysForeign minister says no military efforts even if they contribute to delivering humanitarian aid

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8 2 - 8 March 2012THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DKOPINION

Dwindling attendance belies true interest in church

Get a job – any job– minister tells unemployed grads

“When you start further educa-tion you are an adult. You are re-sponsible for yourself.” Well, let’s examine that statement com-pared to reality. From the day a Dane is born until 18 years old, they generate a free quarterly check for their parents - with no accountability. From 18 - 20 or 30 something, they get free edu-cation and free ‘lommepenge’ from the state, again, with abso-lutely no accountability for it - just take it and spend it. How in the world does the Danish gov-ernment create a socio-economic culture that makes students “re-sponsible for themselves” when the welfare state has pampered and coddled them? � e1youlove2hate By website

“... A master’s degree in modern culture...” In the USA we call these “degrees in basket weav-ing”, and the degree holders have a di� cult time � nding a job even at the best of times. Per-haps a bit of a focus on a degree that means something in the real world might be in order? Why are so many technically quali-� ed foreigners being recruited to Denmark while so many university-educated Danes are unemployed? Apparently “cause and e� ect” and “supply and de-mand” are not taught in Danish universities.Tom By website

Easy to see why young people here are work-shy. � ey spread out their studentships over 5 - 10 years and then see nothing wrong with welfare at 17,000kr per month. A nice, comfortable life.� eoldjanus By website

While I agree with the minister, he fails to recognise the interna-tional problem (I use “interna-tional” because it occurs in more places than merely Denmark) many graduates (whether fresh out of uni or out for many years) and/or heavily experienced in-dividuals face when they apply

for unskilled jobs, that of being passed over due to being “over-quali� ed”. � is was a problem even before the economy took its nosedive and has simply become even worse now.Nicole Grzeskowiak By website

Russia denies Danish election observers

When Denmark violates inter-national law, which is all the time, Danish politicians tell the world to stay out of their busi-ness. Now what’s the problem? Imagine if the UN decided to send a team of observers to in-vestigate why Danish citizens are not allowed to bring their wives to Denmark while the Prince’s girlfriend was given a passport overnight without ful� lling any requirements ... Or if India sent observers to the trial of Danish gun dealers who are protected by Danish courts despite their conviction for crimes against humanity overseas ... Oh, I for-got, these things never happen in Denmark.DanDansen By website

Hackers publicly out suspected paedophiles

One side of me, as a father, agrees, but the other side has concerns! A perfect opportunity to in� ict some revenge on an ex husband, (or wife) even upset daughter/son, because you did not get the iPhone you wanted. � ese two people were “suspect-ed of paedophilia”, not guilty of it. If they are, they should rot in prison - if not, they should be as free as you or me. But their names have been published; whatever happens now, there will always be the few (or many) who say, “there is no smoke without � re”.Rugratzz By website

To the police: If you are the sub-ject matter experts, then solve the problem instead of com-plaining that others are solving your problems.SNCO By website

Creeping legislation threatens national smoking habit

I have no problem banning smok-ing in public. I would have a problem with an outright ban of smoking. Here is the problem with “It is a desire to force a party’s politically - correct values on all Danes. It is not an expression of responsibility, but rather an in-sight into a group of politicians who do not have faith that Danes know what’s best for them.” If I am being healthy and responsible, but someone else is smoking near me, then in essence I am smok-ing whether I want to or not. It is not like alcohol or snu� , where by someone else consuming it, I don’t have to worry that I also might in-gest some of it. It should not be for me to have to leave a toxic en-vironment in a public area, but for the toxins not to be brought there.Sontaron By website

I think it is good news. � ere has to be some kind of discourage-ment about this, at least, among the young generation. Smoking is very old fashioned in my part of the world. But I am shocked to see here in Denmark almost everyone smokes. Everywhere I see cigarette butts on the ground. It seemed this country has been untouched about by the hue and cry against smoking. I wish such a lovely peo-ple wouldn’t smoke so much as it makes one terribly smelly - even the sweet and beautiful looking women too. I wish there would be a radical change of attitude against smoking in Denmark and among the Danish citizens.Jay06 By website

Councils threaten to abandon new electronic travel card

I don’t fully understand this sys-tem, but why are people making more trips because of a di� erent payment method? Are they just too lazy to use a ticket machine and would rather walk than do so? I assume there’s something I’m missing.Shu­ emoomin By websiteShu£ emoomin, that’s simple economics. To supply and de-

mand you should notice that there are some barriers to buy anything. Removing those bar-riers makes it easier to buy and consequently more people buy. For instance, when a super-market introduces credit, for the sake of argument/example, that boosts consumption. Don’t know the system in detail but an automatic payment card, replac-ing the manual purchase of tick-ets, does the same.Damiansen By website

Pernickety Dicky | Metrosexu-al Copenhagen

Or maybe because the idea of looking “gay” or “straight” is complete bullshit out of the 50s, the world is slowly starting to move beyond that ... (well, that and archaic gender binaries - slowly).Abby Crispin By website

Congestion charge proposal ends in rubbish bin

I keep reading about the gov-ernment making it easier to use public transportation and bikes around the city, but I don’t ac-tually SEE it happening. My girlfriend takes the Metro part of the way to work and bikes the rest. Up until this month, she had some sort of monthly travel card for taking her bike on the Metro. Now they’ve abolished that and tell her to buy a weekly stamp card. Just like that, the cost of taking her bike to work has gone from around 120kr per month to around 400kr. � ey already charge you a laughable amount to take your bike on the Metro when people who take large suitcases to the airport or baby strollers don’t pay for the space they’re taking up. As al-ways, the government talk a lot of crap and don’t actually follow through on anything!Shu­ emoomin By website

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READER COMMENTS

IT’S SAID THAT DANES are guaranteed to use a church four times in their lives – baptism, con� rmation, marriage and funeral. Most are also likely to attend the same services as the guests of their family members or friends. Christmas

services, too, are usually well attended.But even if you add it all up – and then double it – the ma-

jority of the members of the Church of Denmark will probaly attend church fewer times in their entire lives than the average members of other faiths will in a year.

Deconsecrated churches are the norm in many other coun-tries and should be so here as well, particularly given that the church of Denmark recevies about 700 million kroner from the state (on top of the 5.3 billion kroner it collects from its members and its other income). In fact, taxpayer funding for the church has actually increased over the past two decades, despite the declining membership.

Much of the state’s funding goes towards paying vicars, who are o� cially civil servants. And at a time when budget cuts are a� ecting every aspect of society, the state should be demanding that it gets more out of it its employees than a weekly church service for the bene� t of a couple of parishioners.

Churches, however, are made up of members, not bricks or boards. And in that respect, church leaders should take solace in the fact that people continue to show a desire to be a� liated with the Church of Denmark at the most basic level. Even as the church attendance has fallen to near nil in some parishes, foregoing any of the four big church events remains all but un-thinkable.

In a population that is far more sceptical of the promises of organised religion than other countries, it’s worth asking whether these events have more taken on the form of secular custom rather than religious rite. As a foundation for growth, their popularity provides an excellent opportunity.

Also working for the church is its progressive views on membership. Women are permitted to enter the clergy, as are homosexuals. Same-sex marriages are also being discussed. So inclusive is the church’s philosophy that the man heading the Church Ministry, though a church member, has openly doubt-ed his faith in God. So too did a parish vicar back in 2003.

� e vicar, � orkild Grosbøll, eventually stepped down. During his time as a vicar, though, it’s said his services were, ironically enough, well attended.

date more international school students, including through the establishment of a European school that students can attend free of charge.

It’s in our interest to do a better job. Diversity – whether cultural or educational – makes the city a more vibrant and var-ied place. And for companies, diversity is an asset that they can use to stimulate growth.

Copenhagen, however, isn’t the only city out there that rec-ognises the bene� t of attracting foreigners. � e competition to attract the best and the brightest is tough, and in order to make sure that foreigners continue to choose us, we’ve launched a programme aimed at making the city an even more attractive place for foreigners to live.

for everyone, and a city whose residents, regardless of where they come from, are able to live a good and rewarding life.

Unfortunately, I’m forced to admit that many foreigners have a di� erent opinion of life in Co-penhagen. � at’s something I, as lord mayor, would like to see changed.

We’ve already done a number of things in order to make foreigners feel more wel-come: we’ve established Inter-national Citizen Service Cen-tres where expats can get help settling in and get a hand with their paperwork. Once a year, we invite new foreign residents to City Hall for a welcome re-ception. We’re also working hard to communicate more in English, as well as to accommo-

ALLOW ME to start by saying that my vision for Copenhagen is crystal clear: an open and toler-

ant city. A city that’s big enough

Copenhagen: a city for everyone

FRANK JENSEN

A total of 38 million kroner has been set aside for the Copen-hagen Talent Bridge, a three-year programme established to create initiatives that will make it easier for foreigners to settle down in Copenhagen. Among the ideas already in the works are assist-ance for small and medium-sized companies that want to hire for-eign workers and professional networking events for foreign employees and their families.

I’m convinced that by work-ing together with companies, state agencies and the people of Copenhagen themselves, the City Council can make Copen-hagen a place where everyone who lives here can feel at home.

� e author is the lord mayor of Copenhagen

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92 - 8 March 2012 THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK OPINION

Am I, too, bound to be bitter, wilfully seeing only what I don’t like about Denmark?

A SERIES of recent online inter-actions – many spurred on by my last column – have left me feeling overwhelmed by anti-

Danish sentiment and aware of just how often I am guilty of engaging in Dane-bashing.

I trade Denmark-related barbs on Twitter, laugh along in agreement to pieces like ‘How to Piss O­ A Dane’, and engage in daily diatribes at work that must be quite wearisome for the poor Dane who sits across from me.

But even with that, I’m no match for some of the regulars on � e Copenhagen Post website, who take every opportunity they can to bash the country, its govern-ment, its policies and its people.

� e comments on our site are a topic of great discussion within the news room. I, for one, am convinced that for every bitter foreigner who does nothing but mutter about the “holy welfare state”, there are ten well-adjust-ed ones who simply read our articles in silence and are put o­ by the constant negative tone.

However, as much as I’d love to see a more balanced discussion on our web-site, rarely do I not � nd at least some truth and a basic level of agreement in the criticisms. Still, the chorus of vitriol built upon lazy stereotypes and simpli-� ed half-truths have begun to wear thin on me. Am I, too, bound to be bitter, wilfully seeing only what I don’t like about Denmark and discounting the things that I do like? I sure hope not.

I’ve come to see just how easy — and at times appealing — it can be to live a life in Denmark fully ensconced in the bubble of the international com-munity, where everyone shares the same complaints about Denmark and the Danes and � nds comfort in bitching and moaning about our adopted home.

But really, is it all that bad? After all, the vast majority of people reading this are in Denmark because they chose to be. Surely, there must have been a time when the idea of living here was appealing.

It’s made me stop and think about my general attitude towards living here. First and foremost, I am here because of a wonderful woman, with whom I now have two terri� c children. No matter what the outside world throws at me, as long as I come home to them I’m gener-ally a happy guy.

But still, I don’t want to become so blinded with disillusion that I no longer

see the pluses of living in Denmark. � ere is no doubt that I have a more

agreeable work-life balance here than I did in the US, Copenhagen’s cultural o­ erings dwarf those of my hometown, I � nd cycling and public transportation

In defence of the Danes

to be a very satisfying way of going to and fro, and soon I will be bene� ting from one of the gems of the national welfare system: paid paternal leave. If ever there was a time to bite my tongue about the things I don’t like, it will be when I have ten weeks o­ work to spend time with my child.

And though I am quick to make some of the same generalisations about Denmark and the Danes as other for-eigners (this might be a good time to mention that the term ‘expat’ is too pretentious for me), I know that they aren’t entirely true. For instance, it may

be true that Danes aren’t overly friendly towards strangers, but those that I have at least a surface interaction with – other parents at børnehave and my son’s swimming class, neighbours, etc – are quite friendly. I can even admit that those often interminable hours-long sit-downs, one of my other favourite topics of scorn, aren’t always as unpleasurable as I let on. And despite my constant complaints that Danes can’t understand me when I speak their language, I admit that when I have to, I’m able to make myself largely understood in Danish.

Sure, I’m still at times left feeling emasculated and helpless when my relative unfamiliarity with the country and the language makes the most rou-tine task di� cult. But those complaints would apply to any foreign country and I shouldn’t mix them up with my more Denmark-speci� c complaints.

� is isn’t intended as a love letter to Denmark. Make no mistake, this coun-try does not make it easy for foreigners, particularly those from outside of the EU, and it has a disturbing practice of � outing international law when it suits its purpose. And yes, I have my prob-lems with the Danish system and the jantelov go-along-to-get-along culture, and am likely doomed to forever strug-gle with the language.

But this is my home now. My wife is Danish, and my kids are half-Danish, so I should bear it in mind that my general-isations about ‘the Danes’ would include them as well. Besides, talking about what ‘the Danes’ do is no less generalising and discriminatory than Danes who paint with a broad brush when discussing ud-lændinge or indvandrer.

So yes, I will continue to be critical when it’s called for. But I’ll also remem-ber that I came here by choice and that my life here will be what I make of it.

Still AdjustingBY JUSTIN CREMER

A proud native of the American state of Iowa, Justin Cremer has been living in Copenhagen since June 2010. In addition to working at the CPH Post, he balances fatherhood, struggling with the Danish language and keeping up with the ever-changing immigration rules. Follow him at twitter.com/justincph

CPH POST VOICES

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

‘THE LYNCH REPORT’ English by nature – Danish at heart. Freelance journalist Richard Steed has lived in Copenhagen for nearly � ve years now. “I love this city and want Copenhagen to be a shining example to the rest of the world.”

‘PERNICKETY DICKY’ Born in 1942 on the Isle of Wight, Englishman Frank Theakston has been in Copenhagen 32 years and is on his second marriage, this time to a Dane. Frank comes from a di¢ erent time and a di¢ erent culture – which values are the right ones today?

‘TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK’ Clare MacCarthy is Nordic correspondent for The Economist and a frequent contributor to The Financial Times and The Irish Times. She’ll go anywhere from the Gobi Desert to the Arctic in search of a story. The most fascinating thing about Denmark, she says, is its contradictions.

‘MACCARTHY’S WORLD’

ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL VAN DER NOON / DANIELVANDERNOON.CO.UK

10 2 - 8 March 2012The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dkNews

The ImmIgraTIon Service (IS) has started the process of informing stateless immigrants from Syria, Bhutan and Burma, who have been incorrectly regis-tered as citizens of their respec-tive countries, of their right to be correctly registered as stateless.

The IS will then assess whether the individual can be judged to be stateless under Un conven-tions. The change in status will afford the individual greater rights in Denmark and confer the automatic right to Danish citizenship to their children.

stateless immigrants to be granted rights

online This week

afTer donating 200 million kroner to aid the democratic process in Zimbabwe, the de-velopment minister, Christian friis Bach, has now given an additional 40 million kroner to Zimbabwe’s finance minister, Tendai Biti, who recently vis-ited Denmark. The road to de-mocracy in Zimbabwe remains

uncertain, especially with the 88-year-old Zimbabwean dicta-tor robert mugabe still in pow-er. Biti, a member of the pro-reform wing of Zimbabwe’s split government, said Zimbabweans need financial support to take on mugabe. Bach agreed, saying that Zimbabwe had made “steps in the right direction”.

denmark gives additional 40 million kroner to Zimbabwea long-awaITeD report on Denmark’s domestic intel-ligence agency, PeT, which was released last week, recommends strengthening control over the organisation. The wendler-Ped-ersen Committee (wPC) rec-ommended that PeT’s activities become enshrined in law and for the current authority respon-

sible, the wamburg Commit-tee, to be replaced by a stronger body with expanded powers. The report’s findings will be up for consultation until June, after which the future of PeT will be debated in parliament. There is already a general consensus amongst political parties to in-crease control, however.

greater control of spy agency in the cards

Read The full sToRies aT CphposT.dk

Claudia santos

a n ImmenSe landfill project is currently un-derway that will trans-form Copenhagen’s

shape and size. like plastic sur-geons who take fat from a pa-tient’s buttocks to fill out their lips, city engineers are steal-ing earth from under the city’s streets to extend its waterfront and create the brand new nor-dhavn district.

The earth that will be used to literally build nordhavn up from the bottom of Copenha-gen’s harbour is to come from the concurrent subway building project, metro Cityringen. The stones and soil now being exca-vated from the metro’s 20 work sites around the city will eventu-ally end up in the north harbour.

when both projects are finished, more than 18 million tonnes of earth – enough to fill 41 fields the size of rådhusplad-sen, the city hall square – will have been transplanted from under Copenhagen to its outer edge, and the city will have a one percent greater landmass than it

Biggest landfill project in history of Copenhagen will transform harbour into home turf

Jennifer Buley has today.nordhavn is the biggest

landfill project in the history of Copenhagen, a city which already counts sections of Chris-tianshavn, Islands Brygge and Sydhavn among its landfilled, man-made wonders.

“This landfill literally cre-ates room for Copenhagen to grow,” said Jens Kramer mikkelsen, the president of By & havn, the state and city-owned company that manages the harbour and waterfront. “we’re building room for the 100,000 new residents who are expected to move to Copenha-gen over the next 15 years. at the same time, we’re making room so that the cruise ship in-dustry and harbour businesses can remain in the city.”

when the whole project is finished in 2022, city planners estimate that nordhavn will house 40,000 residents and some 40,000 workers. To keep them connected to the rest of Copen-hagen, the City Council recently approved funding to give nord-havn its own subway station.

But before nordhavn’s builders can begin dumping those thousands of truckloads of dirt into the harbour, they first need to finish the enormous iron retaining wall that will keep it all

The construction will increase Copenhagen’s total size by one percent

nordhavn: Building a city on water with stone, steel and soil

• once finished nord-havn will make Copen-hagen one percent larger than it is today

• nordhavn’s total area will measure one million square metres or 100 hectares

• Some 18 million tonnes of earth will be needed to fill in the area

• a 1,250 metre long iron wall and 1,200 metre long stone embankment will contain the landfill

how big will it be?

in place. The first section of the wall will be finished and ready to receive landfill at the end of the summer.

The project’s next phase calls for a massive stone embankment and a 1,100 metre long deep-water pier that will accommo-date up to three cruise ships at once. The new pier is scheduled to open for business in 2013.

while it might be tempting to take a stroll out to nordhavn to watch the mountain-moving job progress, the area is currently closed off to the public due to the heavy work underway.

By

& H

avn

in whaT sounds like the plot of a telenovela, Dan-ske Bank has found itself in

the middle of a political scan-dal in the Dominican republic involving the wife of President leonel fernández and alleged bank accounts totalling €43,8 million – the equivalent of 325 million kroner.

Dominican TV personality marcos martínez accused first lady margarita Cedeño lizardo, who is currently running for vice president, of money laundering on his TV show, ‘Diario 55’. martinez claimed to have docu-ments proving that lizardo was laundering money through bank accounts at Denmark’s largest

bank, Danske Bank.on february 23, Domini-

can newspaper Diario libre re-ported that Danske Bank denied any connection between them and lizardo.

according to Diario libre, on february 20, haivanjoe ng Cortiñas, a representative of the Superintendency of Banks of the Dominican republic, sent an email to Ulrik nodgaard, the

supervisor of the Danish finan-cial authority, finanstilsynet, asking whether lizardo was in fact a client of Danske Bank. Cortiñas told Diario libre that he acted according to a written request from the first lady, who stated that she wanted to get to the bottom of the accusations in order to prove her innocence.

finanstilsynet allegedly re-plied through mikkel holle, a

special advisor of the bank’s di-vision, by claiming that Danish privacy law forbids finanstil-synet from providing any infor-mation. however, the Domini-can Superintendency of Banks said that finanstilsynet revealed that lizardo was not a client of Danske Bank.

The Copenhagen Post con-tacted holle for confirmation, but he refused to comment on

denmark’s largest bank dragged into dominican political scandal

danske Bank denies any connection with the dominican first lady, who is accused of hiding over €43 million in danish accounts

the case and seemed surprised when told that he had been quoted in the Dominican media.

lizardo then posted a video on Twitter, in which she called martínez’s accusations a “great infamy” and claimed to be will-ing to handle the issue “in all its consequences”.

“I want you to know that not as a mother, nor wife, nor first lady, will I allow garbage to be thrown at me. This is part of the campaign, as I understand it, and I have entered politics to change the way things are done, and I am not going to let events like this one take place,” she said in the video.

lizardo is now suing mar-tínez for libel.

meanwhile, documents proving that lizardo is not a client of Danske Bank have sur-faced, proving that the first lady does not have money stashed away in Denmark. Dominican newspaper el Sol de Santiago featured lizardo’s lawyer trium-phantly holding the documents,

signed by Johanna ohlsson and Pontus larsson from the Swed-ish branch of Danske Bank. The letter (see left), reads: “we hereby confirm that margarita maria Cedeño lizardo has no relations with Danske Bank a/S, Denmark, Sweden branch.”

The Copenhagen Post con-tacted ohlsson, who confirmed that she did sign the letter and that lizardo has no ties with Danske Bank whatsoever.

“The Dominican embassy in Stockholm – which is concur-rent with Denmark and finland – contacted us personally multi-ple times and asked us to clear this up,” ohlsson said.

martínez, however, remains firm on his accusation.

“It is ridiculous to want to show this document as a response to the accusation I made,” he told Dominican newspaper, el País. “what they have presented contradicts itself because before revealing this fact, they made it clear that they cannot disclose any client information.”

Margarita Cedeño Lizardo, the first lady of the Dominican Republic, was accused of laundering money through Danske Bank, who in turn denied that any account existed

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112 - 8 March 2012 The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dk community

Take a bow Roland Mangulabnan, the choreographer and cultural co-ordinator of the event.

It was a great evening to catch up with old friends, enjoy some fantastic entertainment and even have a dance with the performers.

Many Filipinos have made Denmark their home over the last century, and the event was accordingly attended by a wide mix of different nationalities.

Among those representing the event’s sponsors were Susan Nielsen (RIA Financials), Hans Her-mansen (The Copenhagen Post), Mohammad Asif (QMT), BUKLOD’s chairman Rosemarie Alonzo Christensen and Martin Nielsen (RIA)

Pictured here (left-right) are the evening’s toastmasters Alena Jean M Uvero and Rodney Azurin, the event’s co-ordinator, BUK-LOD’s chairman Rosemarie Alonzo Christensen, and Racquel Blisby, who oversaw the night’s music.

Filipino group BUKLOD celebrated Valentine’s Day in style, and with cake, at a charity cocktail party at the Radisson BLU Scan-dinavia Hotel and Casino on Amager Boulevard. Love was in the air, as were the dulcet tones of a live band and DJ Ernesto as all those gathered raised badly-needed funds for the recent victims of the typhoons in the Philippines.

The evening began with welcome drinks carefully chosen to match the ambience of the occasion.

The BUKLOD dancers (left-right) Annie, Michelle, Crystal, Anabelle, Jen, Roland, Iresh, Flores, Aimy and Myra.

Love is in the air, everywhere the Filipinos go, they glowDave Smith

12 2 - 8 March 2012THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD (UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED)

COMMUNITY

FOUR OR SO YEARS AGO, I came back to Denmark in my fully-loaded Mini. Beloved, it was my companion for many a week-

end of spirited driving, and despite the lack of scenery to enjoy, I was looking forward to having the car with me, for a while at least, in Denmark.

First stop? � e Tax & Duty O� ce, of course. Wearing not so much a leather belt as a chastity belt, I headed o� armed with an estimate of how much duty I was going to have to pay to bring my pre-cious into the country. � e answer was 130 percent of what I bought her for, two years prior. I’m not here to grumble about the amount, as I sold it on shortly after for a tidy sum, but I mention it to raise the issue of duty on cars: Denmark has a duty on cars of something in the order of 180 percent of the car’s value over the � rst 75,000 kroner. Which is a lot.

I’ve found myself talking about this with other foreigners quite a lot over the last week or so, as the betalingsring case has played itself to its wretched

endgame. � e Post has covered it well, and the recent editorial hits a few nails on heads.

Anyway, I’ve long noticed that the taxes that get up the nose of the average ex-pat are not so much the income taxes (sure, you can discuss how they’re spent, but you don’t move here without knowing you’re gonna get spanked, right?). It’s the second-ary taxes that tap you on the shoulder with a “sorry son, but this is going to hurt”, none more so – especially for a petrolhead like myself – than the duty on cars.

It is not unreasonable to think that the amount (25 billion kroner per year) the government rakes in from this scheme would contribute to an e� cient collec-tive transport system, and for those in and around central Copenhagen, it does. I’ll happily support e� orts to reduce conges-tion in central Copenhagen, which the betalingsring was designed to do, but – on behalf of many an expat – it would be ap-preciated if someone would recognise that an e� ective and lucrative form of road pricing is already in place through the 180 percent duty!

� is, this right here, is what bog-gles the mind of many a foreigner. Re-gressive income tax + VAT + duty on car purchase + betalingsring? And the shirt o� your back?

It’s not that one opposes city cen-tre congestion aversion – it works very well in many a metropolis. It’s the aver-sion to discussing the already-in-place pricing structure that confuses and befuddles the foreigner, unschooled in the dutifulness of the average Dane and his tax return (unless we’re talking about handymen paid in cash - not that we talk about that, oh no!)

When discussing this with Danes – including the wife – I am met with looks of bemusement (Danes) and not a little pity (wife.) “But cars are just so cheap elsewhere!” � is is an admirably ‘glass half-way full’ way of approach-ing the matter that goes beyond ‘You say potato. I say potato’. But it’s not that they’re cheap elsewhere, my dears, it’s that they’re stratospherically ex-pensive here. Hvor svært kan det være at forstå?

Peter Foss, the chairman of Danish family-owned business Foss, was the key speaker at an event organised by the British Chamber of Commerce last Friday at the Royal Hotel, where he spoke on ‘The Impact of the Global Economic Situation on Danish Industry’. Here he is sharing the stage with BCCD chairman Thomas Thune Andersen (left), who joined him on stage for the ensuing debate about how to best prepare for the future. Foss argued that focus needs to be on creating wealth and jobs within the Danish borders, and the fastest way to achieve this goal is to lower taxes and create reforms within the job market and educational system. Photo: Hugh Mayo.

The American and British Chambers of Commerce, along with the Danish-American Business Forum, invited their members to attend the Heritage Foundation’s ‘2012 Index of Economic Freedom’, at which James M Rob-erts was the key speaker. Pictured here are (left to right) AmCham’s event and member services manager Therese Oliver, Danish-American Business Forum executive director Einar Dyrhauge, Roberts, AmCham’s policy and communications director Winnie Harboe Holst, and the BCCD president Mariano Davies.

Life is never dull at the national networking platform, Expat in Denmark. From questions regarding complicated tax issues to ones about the Danish psyche, Craig Till has heard it all. Here he shares his insights about the issues that mean most to our community.

LIVING IN AN EXPAT WORLD

Last month was the 100th anniversary of the launch of the Selandia (see page 19 for the full story), and the occasion was celebrated by various events across the city, the release of both a book and a documentary, and the opening of an exhibition at Diesel House on HC Ørstedsværket.

The key speaker at the meeting of International Club Copenhagen at the Marriott Hotel last week was parliament’s president Mogens Lykketoft, whose pres-entation addressed the country’s current political situation and the economic crisis. The Marriott, as always, laid on a cracking spread for those in attendance.

Meanwhile, another ship in town was Britain’s HMS Bulwark. Seen here being received on board is Penny Schmidt, the executive director of the British Chamber of Commerce.

Estonia celebrated its national day last week on Wednesday at its embassy. Pictured here are rep-resentatives of the Estonian community and some of the embassy’s sta� – ambassador Katrin Kivi is second from the right.

Shakespeare Unplugged is going great guns at Krudttønden theatre in Østerbro. Pictured here are (left-right) actor Adam Brix, director Barry McKenna, and actors Ian Burns, Vibeke Nielsen and Andrew Je� ers. See G2 in InOut for further details.

132 - 8 March 2012 THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

NO REST for the best. A young Bulgarian karate � ghter is busy training at the Danske Karateskole (DDK) in Øster-

bro harbouring dreams of success at the forthcoming European Champi-onships in May and possibly even the Worlds in November.

Zhivko Nedelchev moved to Co-penhagen at the beginning of 2010. He soon joined DDK, which teaches ‘kyokushin’ karate, which he also trained with in Bulgaria. Being asked to participate in the European Cham-pionships has made an impression on the modest Bulgarian black belt. “It is a very big honour for me,” he said. “I already feel part of the kyokushin family in Denmark. I’m looking for-ward to it.”

If things go as planned, DDK will also be sending � ghters to Japan for the World Championships in Novem-ber. Having all the tournaments spread out from May until November means that the � ghters have a long year ahead of them.

“It’s a hard slog – that’s why I train every day,” continued Nedelchev. “But it’s very exciting for me. I’ve

Bulgarian karate star � nds new home in Østerbro to � ght forwanted to do this for many years, but it was impossible in Bulgaria. I really enjoy the training and I feel that I have found my second family here in Denmark through kyokushin.”

� ere is no doubt that the compe-tition will be � erce. Top tournament � ghters train twice a day, six days a week. “� ey only take a rest on Sun-day,” said Nedelchev. “When they only train once.It is the kyokushin way.”

� e European Championships kick o� on May 26 and DDK expects to ship Nedelchev and two other � ghters o� to Italy to challenge for the European title.

In the meantime, the school is preparing for the annual Beker der Kempen, which takes place in May in the sleepy Belgian town of Beerse. � e preparations are already underway in the ‘dojo’ in Østerbro, where the smell of hard work invades the nostrils, if you � nd yourself entering the dojo too soon after a steamy training ses-sion.

“We’re doing what we can to pre-pare the � ghters physically and men-tally for the tournament,” explained Sensei Christina Nielsen, who is in charge of training the tournament � ghters. “It’s important as an interna-tional tournament can be quite cha-otic. � e mental aspect shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s rarely the � tness level that lets people down”.

And she knows what she’s talking about. As well as having a European Championship under her belt, she has also fought competitively in coun-

Zhivko Nedelchev moved to Copenhagen from Bulgaria in 2010 and has wasted no timemaking an impression in the city’s karate scene

International black belt is one of three challengers from Den Danske Karateskole heading o� to the European Championships in May

COMMUNITY

tries such as Russia, Japan and the United States.

DDK expects to send eight � ghters to the tournament in Belgium. Half of these � ghters will be youngsters mak-ing their baptism of � re in the junior category. While among the adults, the school is con� dent of winning at least one category, although its main goal is simply gaining the international expe-rience such a tournament provides.

“It’s important that they learn something about themselves,” said Nielsen. “� e experience can be very rewarding, both physically and men-tally. Not just the tournament, but also the training leading up to it. An inter-national tournament is an emotional rollercoaster ride. I want the � ghters to be able to use the experience positively in their life when the tournament is over. � en they can bring home the medals next year.”

DDK will be optimistic after a suc-cessful 2011, which culminated with a historic black-belt graduation where 17 of its students were successful. � e event ended with an unprecedented spectacle of 390 � ghts fought by the graduating students on the � nal day of the test, impressing the many specta-tors as well as several Japanese repre-sentatives, who had � own over from Japan to oversee the graduation.

� e karate school has vowed not to rest on its laurels, and the goals for this year have been set: both the Eu-ropean and World Championships are in sight. But for the time being, the sweat-dripping training continues at the dojo in Østerbro.

Free access to 65 museumsand attractions in the entire metropolitan areaSee more at copenhagencard.com

InOutThe CPH Post Entertainment Guide | 16 - 22 Sep

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER! THE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

page G9

KIDS ON FILM

COPENHAGENwww.copenhagenbluesfest iva l .dk

FESTIVAL

SEPT. 28 - OCT. 2 · 2011

BLUESS e e f u l l p r o g r a m m e : w w w . c o p e n h a g e n b l u e s f e s t i v a l . d k & w w w . k u l t u n a u t . d k

John Primer w. Nisse Thorbjorn Band [US/DK]Joe Louis Walker [US] | Holmes Brothers [US]

Mud Morganfield w. Peter Nande Band [US/DK]Louisiana Red & Paul Lamb [US/UK] | Janice

Harrington w. Kenn Lending Blues Band [US/DK]

Keith Dunn Band [US/NL] | Johnny Max Band [CA]

Delta Blues Band | The Healers | Shades of BlueThorbjorn Risager | Troels Jensen | Alain Apaloo

H.P. Lange | Mike Andersen & Jens Kristian DamTutweiler | Fried Okra Band | The Blues Overdrive

Bluesoul | Grahn & Malm | Ole Frimer | Paul Banks

Jacob Fischer Trio | Svante Sjöblom | Jes Holtsoe

IThe CPH Post Entertainment Guide |

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER!

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER!

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER!

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER!

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER! TTHE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

HE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

HE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

HE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

HE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

KIDS ON FILM

Page 10

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Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival

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SPORT

National coach Morten Olsen’s new

contract will keep him in the job

until after the 2014 World Cup.

14

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Dane unable to obtain family

reunifi cation for his � ai girlfriend

says residency rules are a Catch-22

6

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Price: 25 DKK

CAN YOU HAVE your cake and

eat it too? Conventional wisdom

says no, but with their � rst budg-

et plan since the shift of power,

the new Socialdemokraterne-Radikale-

Socialistisk Folkeparti (SRSF) coalition

appear to be giving it a shot.

Many of the elements of the new

budget – which is expected to be re-

leased in its entirety on � ursday – will

increase state spending at a time when

the budget de� cit has increased. But

where the money would come from re-

mained a mystery.A number of the new budget items A number of the new budget items A number of the new budget

reinstate spending cuts made by the pre-reinstate spending cuts made by the pre-reinstate spending cuts made by

vious Venstre-Konservative (VK) govern-

ment. Here are a few of the major points:ment. Here are a few of the major points:ment. Here are a few of the ma

Families: VK limited the state’s

monthly child support handouts (bør-

necheck) to 35,000 kroner per fam-

ily. � at limit has now been abolished,

meaning that many families will get

larger child bene� ts. � e government

will also pay for fertility treatments and

voluntary sterilisations.Welfare: VK and Dansk Folkeparti

(DF) introduced specialised welfare pro-(DF) introduced specialised welfare pro-(DF) introduced specialised welf

grammes that reduced the cash bene� ts

for new immigrants. � ose programmes

have now been eliminated and going

forward all residents in need of state forward all residents in need of state forward all residents in need of

support will receive the same welfare

bene� ts. Higher education and research:

Universities will get an extra one billion

kroner over two years to cover costs as-

sociated with a predicted increase in

the number of students. Moreover, stu-

dents will no longer pay administrative

fees, and prospective Master’s students

will have prerequisite course tuitions

paid. � e government will also fund

1,500 more state-supported internship

positions.Infrastructure and job creation:

Some 17.5 billion kroner will be in-

vested over two years in infrastructure

projects, such as a new rail line between

Copenhagen and Ringsted, a project to

widen the Holbæk motorway, erosion widen the Holbæk motorway, erosion widen the Holbæk motorwa

protection e� orts along Jutland’s west

coast, and renovations to public hous-

ing. Prime minister Helle � orning-

Schmidt has said that these ‘kickstart’

projects will create 20,000 new jobs

from 2012-2013. � e Danish Construc-

tion Association predicts 10,000.

Tax break: � e unpopular ‘mul-

timedia tax’ introduced by VK will be

abolished, saving some 525,000 Danes

with business laptops and mobile

phones 3,000 kroner per year.

Not everyone, however, can look for-

ward to a cash infusion. Smokers and junk

food lovers will be taxed higher on their

vices, while international corporations

will also see higher tax bills. SRSF plans

to raise revenue by closing a number of

tax loopholes going back nearly 20 years

that allowed international corporations

in Denmark to escape paying corporate

taxes (see more on page 15).

All told, the spending increases in the

new budget are not as big as the minister

of the economy and interior, Margrethe

Vestager (R), would like. She noted that

VK under-reported the de� cit for 2012,

making it imprudent to spend more. But

Denmark will still meet the EU’s � nan-

cial responsibility benchmarks, despite

the larger de� cit, she added.

A new budget to ‘kickstart’ the economy

SRSF’s � rst budget will spend 17.5 billion

kroner on infrastructure and abolish

previous taxes and restrictions

JENNIFER BULEY

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COMING UP SOONScreening of Jiří Trnka’s � lmsHusets Biograf, Magstræde 14, Cph K; Tue 6 Mar, 19:00; tickets: 50kr, sign up at jack.stevenson@mail.dkOn the occasion of the 100th an-niversary of the birth of Czech � lm director Jiří Trnka, the Czech Republic Embassy in Copenhagen and Husets Biograf cordially invite you to a screening of a series of animated short � lms: ‘� e Devil’s Mill’, ‘Cybernetic Grandma’ and ‘� e Hand’. Due to the limited capacity of the cinema, it’s recom-mended you reserve your seat by sending an email to jack.steven-son@mail.dk.

Meet the Leaders with Defence Minister Nick HækkerupRadisson Blu Royal Hotel, Ham-merichsgade 1, Cph V; Mon 5 Mar, 13:00; free adm, register at www.amcham.dkJust four months ago, Nick Hækkerup was appointed as Den-mark’s minister of defence. Min-ister Hækkerup’s appointment comes at a most challenging time, when the on-going economic crisis and cuts in government spending have put tremendous pressure on military budgets. So what’s next for the Danish military? Join the instalment of AmCham Den-mark’s ‘Meet the Leaders’ series, where Hækkerup will speak about his vision for the Danish military.

Audition for new sitcomFor a new sitcom in the mak-ing, Xinxin is looking for English speaking actors/actresses. Audi-

tions are being held on Saturday March 10. If you’re interested, send an email to xinxin@xinxin.dk, enclosing personal details and two photos.

Course: � e Danish SocietyUniversity of Copenhagen, Søndre Campus, Njalsgade 80, Cph S; Every Tue from 20 Mar to 1 May; Tickets: 540kr for course, 90kr per session; register at www.expatinden-mark.com� e course is intended for both newly-arrived citizens and for those who have lived in Den-mark for a number of years, or perhaps were born and grew up in Denmark. � ese lectures deal with the overall structure of Dan-ish society. � e course consists of six two-hour sessions in which di� erent lecturers present Den-mark, seen from their social scien-ti� c perspectives. � e aim of the course is to give the participants an introduction to the Danish state and its way of functioning with the aid of several scienti� c disciplines.

Celebrate Holi with IDDPeder Lykke Skolen, Brydes Allé 25, Cph S; Sat 19 Mar, 16:30; free adm (only members); info@indi-ansindenmark.comCelebrate the traditional Hindi spring festival ‘Holi’ with IDD (Indians in Denmark) where it is customary to throw scented pow-der and perfume at each other. Dinner is available for 50kr – a reservation is necessary and should

be made by sending an email to info@indiansindenmark.com. � is event is for members only so remember to sign up before you go.

Expat in Denmark Spouse MeetingTietgenhuset, Slotsholmgade 3, Cph K; Wed March 7, 13:00; www.ex-patindenmark.dkExpat in Denmark invites recently arrived spouses to Denmark to a meeting where they can gain prac-tical information and a short intro-duction to Danish culture and the Danes. � e meeting is targeted at the spouses and partners of inter-national employees since they are often the ones left with all the daily practicalities and questions in re-gards to settling in a new country.

Round-table with EPWNDEFAP, Frederiksgade 21, Cph K; � u 15 March, 18:30; www.euro-peanpwn.net/copenhagen� e European Professional Wom-en’s Network o� ers a range of forums for discussion and profes-sional development opportuni-ties. � eir round-table events are targeting smaller groups and more interactive participation, allowing for deeper levels of discussion and understanding. � e � rst round-table of the year will be focusing on ‘positive psychology’. � ere are limited numbers so sign up quickly at www.europeanpwn.net/copenhagen to be sure to get a seat.

MIKE HOFMAN

SEAN COOGAN

14 2 - 8 March 2012THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DKSPORT

PAKISTAN’S national football coach Zavisa Milosavljevic has recruited Hassan Bashir, cur-rently a striker at Danish Second Division club Hellerup IK, for his country’s AFC Challenge Cup bid, which begins next year. � is will give Bashir, a Dane of Pakistani origin, the time need-ed to get a Pakistani passport to become eligible to play.

CAROLINE Wozniacki’s world ranking points total has decreased markedly following back-to-back failures to match good 2011 results at Doha (2011: � nalist; 2012: � rst round loss to Lucie Safarova) and Dubai (2011: winner; 2012: semi-� -nal loss to Julia Goerges). She remains fourth, but her lead over Dubai’s Polish winner Agnieszka Radwanska (� fth) is now a slender one.

THE WORLD number 21 Michael Maze has helped his club, the Russian out� t UMMC Ekater-ingburg, qualify for the semi-� nals of table tennis’s Champions League with a resounding 3-0 defeat of French rival Stade Lavallois. A bet-ter aggregate set total helped over-turn a 3-0 defeat in France and ease UMMC into the semis where they will play Germany’s Saarbrücken.

Striking a blow for semi-pros No longer poles apart Mazy run to semis

SPORTS NEWS AND BRIEFS

Various locations around Copenhagen; from spring to the onset of winter; www.sparta.dk

BOTH DANISH entries failed to advance beyond the second round of the World Match Play in Tuc-son, which was contested by the world’s top 64 players last week. Francesco Molinari holed a bunker shot at the 20th hole to oust � o-mas Bjørn in the � rst round, while Anders Hansen, who thrashed KT Kim 5&3 in his opener, lost 3&2 to eventual runner-up Rory McIlroy.

DANIEL AGGER on Sunday helped Liverpool win the League Cup, his � rst medal in English football since winning the 2006 FA Community Shield, his � rst full game for the club. He is the � rst Dane to taste success in the compe-tition since Allan Nielsen in 1999, and very nearly � nished the game as a goal-scorer, but his � rst half header ¥ ew straight at the keeper.

World match dismay Agger kops medal

AFTER MONTHS of win-ter gorging and inebria-tion, health-minded folks have put on their re¥ ective

vests and headed back outside at regular intervals in the mornings, eve-nings, and even some afternoons.

No, they’re not about directing tra¦ c or working in construction; their focus is on pace, breath, and time. � ese are the people in training for marathon season.

If you haven’t noticed them yet, now you will realise they are every-where. � is city is over¥ owing with runners - more even than all the parks and green spaces can handle.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:

DHL Sta� eten Fælledparken, Cph Ø; August 27-31, 18:00; entry 620kr per team, registration starts April 1 � is is a huge relay race, where teams of � ve compete against each other and each participant runs � ve kilometres. Some 125,000 people are expected to take part over the � ve-day period in Fælledparken. Participants pay 620kr per team to join, which includes a bas-ket of food and goodies, and the route is designed so that team members can cheer each other on.

Spartas Kvindeløb Starts and ends on Øster Alle, Cph Ø; June 17 at 11:00; women only; www.copenhagenswomens10k.dk Now in its 31st year, Spartas Kvindeløb is a 10km run that starts and � nishes on Øster Allé in a blaze of many shades of pink. Over 1,000 women are already registered, and many more are expected to join. Register online and view the list of participants.

Nike test runs Starts and ends at Sparta Hallen, Cph Ø; March 11 (15km) & April 15 (21 .1km) ; w w w .s p a r t a . d k Sparta is an athletics or-g a n i s a t i o n that arranges most of the large running events in Den-mark, including the Copenha-gen Marathon, the Ekstra Bladet Cityløb and Spar-tas Kvindeløb. In the run-up to marathon season, they hold free week-ly training events, and three serious test runs in order to prepare runners for the entire distance. On March 11 and April 15, the Nike-sponsored test runs in Østerbro will take place over distances of 15km and 21.1km re-spectively. Information about training, test runs, registering for events, and membership can be

Jog on through 2012: from springto summer to autumn to even New Year’s Eve

ALEXIS KUNSAK

Back and on track as the modern-day Spartans take to the streets

found at www.sparta.dk. Other events arranged by Sparta are listed on their website for the summer and autumn.

Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon Starts and ends in Islands Brygge, Cph S; May 20 at 09:30; www.copenhagenmara-

thon.dk For runners who count them-selves well above the basic jog-gers, the highlight of the sea-son, the Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon, takes place on May 20. � e training process takes months, even for those in rela-tively good physical shape, and this on ¥ at pavement through city streets blocked oª for par-ticipants. No walkers are al-lowed and the exact 42.195 km route loops around through the city, passing through certain ar-eas more than once, where spec-tators cheer on the runners and keep up the spirit of the mara-thon. � e marathon begins and ends in Islands Brygge and 15,000 runners are expected to start the race. Participants can register on-line.

Änglamark Nytårsløb Starts and ends at Sparta Hallen, Cph Ø; 31 Dec at 09:30 and 11:00� is December 31 event starts and ends at Sparta Hallen, and true to the New Year spirit, competi-tors get a goodie bag, champagne and festive cake from Änglamark. Race 5km, 10km or 21.1km, while the kids can run 2.5km.

THERE ARE RUMOURS that Mikkel Kessler’s April 14 � ght against WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz, origi-nally postponed from last Novem-ber, has been cancelled. And it is re-ported by boxing media that Kessler is now considering an April 21 � ght against interim WBA belt holder Brian Magee, who defeated Den-mark’s Rudy Markussen last month.

Kessler bout doubt

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RB

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OTHER EVENTS:

Mini City Løb Starts and ends at Black Diamond, Cph K; May 2 at 18:30 & 19:00 � e Mini City Løb takes runners through the city streets on 5km and 10km routes on May 2.

Politiken mini marathon Starts and ends at Østerbro Stadion, Cph Ø; May 19, 11:00-13:00 � e Politiken mini-marathon for kids on May 19 begins and ends at Østerbro Sta-dium. � ere are 1km and 2km options.

MINI Strandparkløb Starts and ends on Amager Strandpark, Cph S; July 4, 18:30 (5km), 19:00 (10km); for kids For children, there are a 5km and a 10km runs held on Amager Strandpark on July 4 called the MINI Strandparkløb.

Mini HavneløbStarts and ends at Ge� onspringvandet, Co-penhagen Harbour, Cph K; Aug 16, 18:30 (5km) & 19:00 (10km)Run around Copenhagen Harbour in the summer heat over 5km and 10km.

Powerade Copenhagen Half Marathon Starts and ends on Øster Allé, Cph Ø; Sep 9, 11:00; www.copenhagenhalfmarathon.dkJoin 6,000 others at Øster Allé and fol-low a route that goes around the entire city centre. In the days leading up to the event, there’s an expo at Sparta Hallen on September 7 and 8.

Marathon Start OpStarts and ends at Sparta Hallen, Cph Ø; 28 Oct at 09:30Run 5km, 10km or 15km in everyone’s favourite running suburb.

152 - 8 March 2012 THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK BUSINESS

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

• official media partner

So you’ve seen our events and been impressed, but you can attend as a

non-member so there’s no reason to consider joining, right?

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK

If you would like to know more about Corporate, Small Business or Individual membership of BCCD,then please contact Nina Norheim:

Nina@bccd.dk or call +45 3118 7558.

*Membership benefits vary by membership category.

Except... You don’t get to come to our Christmas ReceptionYou pay 125 – 350kr for each event you attendYou are peripheral to the network – would you refer business to someone you don’t know??

Wouldn’t you rather...Make an active contribution to BCCD?Attend seminars and on the way home meetings free of charge?Attend lunches and socials either at cost price or free of charge?*Profile your business, news and events via our website and newsletter (1200 subscribers and growing)?*

union to de� ne fair terms for the airline’s employees at Billund.

Ryanair refuses.“Since all our workers are

employed on Irish air territory and under Irish contracts, we have no interest in negotiating with the Irish, the Danes or any trade union,” Ryanair spokes-person Stephen McNamara told Politiken newspaper in an email.

3F did not take kindly to that message.

Noting that Ryanair had been known to use shell com-panies to hire workers under shoddy employment terms, Brian Lyst, 3F’s representative for the Varde-Billund area, told Politiken: “We don’t accept em-ployment under those terms. If it manages to slip in here, it will spread itself and undercut work-ing conditions in other areas.”

For years the airline has been in legal con� icts with labour unions in Ireland and other EU countries for refusing to o� er pi-lots and cabin crew permanent employment contracts. In one

Sell 5.70 5.38 7.33 0.07 0.18 0.81 6.06 8.61 5.54

Buy 6.22 5.82 7.56 0.07 0.20 0.85 6.26 8.96 5.69

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Price in kroner for one unit of foreign currency Date: 29 February 2012

We can ... ensure that they can’t refuel, get provisions or have their baggage handledI RISH discount airline Rya-

nair is on a collision course with Danish trade unions over employment practices

at the company’s new Billund Airport headquarters.

� e new Ryanair regional headquarters, which is scheduled to open for business on March 23, will employ as many as 100 new permanently stationed em-ployees. But those employees will not be guaranteed the same workers’ rights as other Billund Airport employees.

� e Danish trade union 3F, which represents the other Bil-lund Airport employees, says that is unacceptable and is in-sisting that the Irish company negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with a Danish trade

notorious case, an Irish pilots’ union took its case against the company as far as the Irish su-preme court, before � nally los-

3F threatens to blockade Ryanair if budget airline does not accept labour laws

JENNIFER BULEY

Trade union ready to rumble with Ryanair

BUSINESS NEWS AND BRIEFS

CAR LEASING � rms did � ve times their usual business last week, as people scrambled to sign new agreements before leasing taxes jumped by an average of 1,000kr per month. � e higher taxes close a loophole that once made leasing cheaper than buy-ing. � e new revenue will fund lower public transport prices.

Last leaseIN A REPORT released on Tues-day, the national economic coun-cil’s environmental team claimed that the compensation agreement the old Venstre-Konservative government made with Maersk Oil over pro� ts from Denmark’s share of the North Sea oil � elds was too generous to Maersk. � e economic council called

for “a fairer distribution of the extraordinary earning potential of exploiting society’s natural re-sources”, in the North Sea. Just a day earlier, Maersk Oil had an-nounced record pro� ts of 11 bil-lion kroner for 2011. However, “signi� cantly lower” earnings are expected for 2012, due in part to reduced North Sea oil yields.

North Sea deal is black gold for Maersk

ing the battle. � e International Transport Workers Federation runs a campaign and website called ‘Ryan-be-fair’ to pressure Ryanair into improving condi-tions for workers.

Lyst said 3F was ready to � ex its muscle to make the cost-cut-ting airline comply with Danish labour rules at its new Billund headquarters.

“We have entirely legal means at our disposal. We can � ght them through our vari-

didn’t [the Norwegian trade union] Parat do the same thing at Rygge [Airport, near Oslo]? Ryanair is a terrible company that ruins things for everyone working in the airline industry,” wrote one commenter using the handle ‘Diper’.

Another, ‘Slip and turn’, wrote: “Good luck to the Dan-ish unions. What people out-side Denmark almost always fail to appreciate is that the unions are an essential part of Danish society, which are acknowl-edged by Danes generally as a force for good.”

“Ryanair on the other hand is a notoriously belligerent citi-zen wherever it goes and com-mands respect only from the minority who believe that’s an acceptable way to behave in business,” Slip and turn added.

But another network mem-ber sided with the airline. “Good luck to Ryanair with the new base in Denmark,” wrote ‘Boeing� yer’.

L IKE TAKING candy from a baby. � at’s how easy it is for banks to squeeze extra

money out of complacent private customers, according to competi-tion and consumer authorities. Experts say Danes need to get smart, start asking questions, and be willing to take their banking business elsewhere.

“We want to tell consum-ers that it’s good for them and their wallets if they study the market a little and switch banks. It’s about getting consumers to be more active – for their own good, but also for the competi-tion,” Hanne Kristensen, the vice president of Konkurrence og Forbrugerstyrelsen, told Ber-lingske newspaper.

In a recent study, the con-sumer magazine Samvirke found

that just 35 percent of private customers negotiate interest rates and fees with their banks. Mean-while, just 22 percent compare interest rates o� ered by other banks before borrowing money.

Only 30 percent of Danes have changed banks in the last six years, according to Samvirke.

� at is far too few according to John Norden, who helped start Mybanker.dk, a website where consumers can compare the banks’ products, rates and fees.

“Bank charges have gone up by 30 to 35 percent in the last year. � e interest rate mar-gin has grown, and that means many people are either paying too much for their loans or get-ting too little for their deposits. So, they can most de� nitely get something out of switching

banks,” Norden said, adding that consumers should compare rates and, if necessary, switch banks as often as once a year.

But economist Morten Bru-un Pedersen from the consumer council Forbrugerrådet said peo-ple often do not change banks, even if they know they are being overcharged.

“Psychologically, it’s hard to switch banks. And then there are tonnes of practical things with bill paying and account numbers that make switching di¦ cult,” he said. “We would like to introduce bank account portability, just like we have when we switch mobile providers. � at way, the new bank could acquire your exist-ing account number, so that you wouldn’t have to change your payment arrangements.” (JB)

ous organisations and simply ensure that they can’t refuel, get provisions or have their bag-gage handled.”

Workers at other Danish air-ports besides Billund would sup-port a blockade against Ryanair if it came that far, Lyst added.

Responses to the showdown between the airline and the un-ion were mixed on the online professional pilots’ network pprune.org.

“Good job, Danes. Why

3F says it will blockade Ryanair at Danish airports, if the airline does not abide by national labour laws

Switch banks, consumer authorities say

16 2 - 8 March 2012THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

SPOUSE: Christina Koch FROM: AustraliaSEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Drama, 1997 University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Experienced actor and voice coach for speakers, with parallel high level experience in written communications.LOOKING FOR: Voice coaching for corporate presenters and speakers, Writing and Communications work, work in theatre organisations.IT EXPERIENCE:Microsoft O� ce, O� ce for Mac.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English - Native speaker, excellent written and oral expression. German – good reading and listening skills. Spanish – � uent oral communication, good reading and listening skills. Danish – beginners level speaking and writing skills.CONTACT: Tel: +45 52 77 30 93 Christina@hermionesvoice.com, www.hermionesvoice.com.

THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE

WHY: The Copenhagen Post wishes to help spouses looking for jobs in Denmark. We have on our own initiative started a weekly spouse job page in The Copenhagen Post, with the aim to show that there are already within Denmark many highly educated international candidates looking for jobs.If you are a spouse to an international employee in Denmark looking for new career opportunities, you are welcome to send a pro� le to The Copenhagen Post at aviaja@cphpost.dk and we will post your pro� le on the spouse job page when possible. Remember to get it removed in case of new job.

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

PARTNERS:THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE

SPOUSE: Vadim Fedulov FROM: USASEEKING WORK IN: Pre-clinical or clinical/ biotech or academia/ Copenhagen region (100km radius).QUALIFICATION: Ph.D., Biological Sciences (2008).EXPERIENCE: 5 years research experience in biotech and 6 years in academic settings. For full experience summary, please visit: http://dk.linkedin.com/in/drvadim.LOOKING FOR: Position in research, project management, writing, editing, teaching, or new challenging career opportunities.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (native), Russian (native), Danish (completed Module1 at Studieskolen).IT EXPERIENCE: Pro� cient in both Mac and PC OS, MS O� ce (Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc.), StatView, Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator).CONTACT: fedulov@gmail.com and mobile tel: +45 41 83 36 60

SPOUSE: Ste¤ en Schmidt FROM: GermanySEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen.QUALIFICATION: Structured Finance Pro¤ esional.LOOKING FOR: A challenging � nance position in Copenhagen (preferable within Corporate Finance).LANGUAGE SKILLS: German (native), English (business � uent).IT EXPERIENCE: MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint.CONTACT: be¤ enmidt@gmail.com

SPOUSE: Pooja Nirwal FROM: New Delhi, IndiaSEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen and Capital region.QUALIFICATION: Masters (M. Sc) in Environmental Science, +2 yrs of Exp. as Env. Consultant in the � eld of Environmental Impact Assessment.LOOKING FOR: Positions in Consultancies/Organizations/NGOs working in the � eld of Environmental Science (Climate Change, EIA, Env. Compliance Audits, Solid Waste Management etc.).LANGUAGE SKILLS: Fluent in English, Hindi and Sanskrit, Started learning Danish.IT EXPERIENCE: MS O� ce (PowerPoint, Word, Excel).CONTACT: poojadahiya1@gmail.com, +45 503 904 60

SPOUSE: Nina Chatelain FROM: Vancouver, BC, Canada SEEKING WORK IN: Midt- og syd jyllandQUALIFICATION: BA courses in english and anthropology, certi� cate in desktop publishing and graphic design, internationally certi� ed yoga teacher since 1999.EXPERIENCE: Over 7 years experience as the assistant to the director (what would correspond to a direktionssekretær position) at an international university museum where i also was seconded to act as the program administrator – a project management internal communications role – for the museum’s major renovation project. I acted as the director’s right hand and the museum’s communications hub where i had daily contact with the visiting public, community stakeholders, volunteers and students. I have earlier worked as an editor and writer in various capacities, as well as a desktop publisher/graphic designer.LOOKING FOR: An administrative role in a creative company that needs someone who can juggle a variety of projects and use excellent english writing and editing skillsLANGUAGE SKILLS: English (mother tongue) and Danish (� uent comprehension-studieprøven / university entrance exam).IT EXPERIENCE: MS O� ce Package, PC and Apple, have earlier worked with various desktop publishing software, quick to learn new software and systems.CONTACT: nina.chatelain@gmail.com, Phone: +45 29707430

SPOUSE: Momina Bashir Awan FROM: PakistanSEEKING WORK IN: All of DenmarkQUALIFICATION: MBA (Degrees Assessed by Danish Agency for International Education).EXPERIENCE: 4 years of wide experience as Human Resources Analyst in a USA based Pakistani.Organization. Involved in Recruitment of IT personnel for outsourcing, Compensation and bene� tsplanning, Wage analysis, Conduct Training and Development Seminars and Team building. One year of Experience in Telesales of Citibank NA., 6 months of experience in Customer Services in Telecom sector.LOOKING FOR: Jobs in HR and Customer ServicesLANGUAGE SKILLS: English [Fluent], Urdu [Mother tongue], Hindi [Fluent], Danish [Beginner’s Level].CONTACT: mominabashir@msn.com, +4571352387

SPOUSE: Debasmita Ghosh FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmachemistry specialization). EXPERIENCE: 4 years in Clinical Research (Pharmacovigilance/Safety and Medical Coding) in a leading CRO (Quintiles) and 6 months experience as a lecturer for bachelor degree students in Pharmacy College.LOOKING FOR: Job in pharmaceutical industry, CRO or any vocation suitable per quali� cation and experience.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (� uent written and spoken), enrolled for Danish language classes, Indian Languages (Hindi, Bengali, Kannada).IT EXPERIENCE: MS O� ce Applications i:e Microsoft o� ce word, excel, outlook, power point and tools, lotus notes, medical and drug softwares like micromedex and ISIS draw. CDM systems like ds Navigator-Medical coding tool and AERS database.CONTACT: ghoshdebasmita@gmail.com, Mobile No. +4571488438

SPOUSE: Magda Bińczycka FROM: PolandSEEKING WORK IN: SjællandQUALIFICATION: M.A. in philosophy, pedagogy ( postgraduated diploma) ,5th year ofhistory of art ( Master Program).EXPERIENCE: Independent curator 2009 - present, art catalogues editor (English&Polish versions) 2009-present, art critic 2005-2010, art and English teacher for children 2005-2010, English tourist guide 2010, gallery assistant 2004/5 and 2009.LOOKING FOR: Job as a curator, coordinator, gallery assistant, event organizer, English tourist guide, art history teacher.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (pro� ciency), Danish (intermediate), Polish (mother tongue), German(basic), French (basic), Latin (basic).IT EXPERIENCE: MS O� ce (Word advanced user).CONTACT: Tel: +45 41 44 94 52, magda.binczycka@gmail.com

SPOUSE: Bhargavi Lanka Venkata FROM: IndiaSEEKING WORK IN: IT industry- Software - Manual & Automation Testing.QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science Engineering.EXPERIENCE: Part Time/Full Time work in Software Testing, 4yrs and 9 months experience as Senior Software Engineer – Testing in a U.S based MNC in Bangalore, India.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi, Enrolled for Danish classes.IT EXPERIENCE: Manual testing, Automation Regrwession testing using QTP, Web service testing using SOA Tool, HP Quality center, Unix, SQL, XML, Basic shell scripting.CONTACT: bhargavipsk@gmail.com; Mobile: 50376689

SPOUSE: Munawar Saleem FROM: PakistanSEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: MBA logistics and supply chain management (Jonkoping University, Sweden) M.Sc. Computer Sciences (Punjab University, Lahore Pakistan).EXPERIENCE: 4 years, Lecturer in computer sciences.LOOKING FOR:Full time or part time job in Logistics and Supply.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (� uent), Urdu (mother tongue), Swedish (Basic).IT EXPERIENCE: Pro� cient in MS O� ce (word, excel, power point etc.).CONTACT: libravision3@gmail.com, 71412010

SPOUSE: Lillian Liu FROM: TaiwanSEEKING WORK IN: Marketing/Public Relations.QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Foreign Language and Literature (Major in English, and minor in French)EXPERIENCE: 5+ years of professional experiences in Marketing and PR. I am a dynamic and creative marketing communications talent with substantial international working experience in large corporation and in agencies, possessing Integrated Marketing Communication ability. Pro� cient in analyzing market trends to provide critical inputs for decision-making and formulating marketing communication strategies. Familiar with brand image build-up, channel marketing, media communication, issue management, etc. Possess in-depth understanding/knowledge of APAC market and Chinese culture.LOOKING FOR: Marketing jobs in Jylland.LANGUAGE SKILLS: Mandarin Chinese, English, Danish, French.IT EXPERIENCE: Familiar with Windows O/S and MS O� ce.CONTACT: sugarex@hotmail.com

SPOUSE: Fernando Carlos Cardeira da Silva FROM: PortugalSEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Accounting course from Danish Institution (Regnskabs medarbejder at Niels Brock), previous frequency of Accounting and Management courses in Portugal.EXPERIENCE: I have more than 5 years of experience in accounting.LOOKING FOR: Job as accounting assistant.IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft O� ce (Excel, Word and Power point) and accounting software such as Navision C5.LANGUAGE SKILLS: I can read and write Danish, English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.CONTACT: fercardeira@gmail.com +45 50437588

SPOUSE: TEJA PRIYANKA FROM: IndiaSEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: MBA in Finance and marketing , bachelor in Biotechnology.LANGUAGE SKILLS: Telugu(mother tounge), Hindi, English, Danish(biggnier).IT EXPERIENCE: Familier with Microsoft o� ce(word, excel,powerpoint,access, ), photoshop.CONTACT: teja.priyanka.n@gmail.com

SPOUSE: Clémence Arnal FROM: FranceSEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen; Region SjællandQUALIFICATION: Wastewater/drinking water (processes and treatments, building design, water sampling and pollution rate measurement); environment protection ( river basin management, waste management).EXPERIENCE: Waste sorting representative (O� ce “Communauté du Pays d’Aix”, France); Leaks investigation on drinking water networks, Help to communes to deal with their drinking water system, Control operation of individual sanitation systems (O� ce “G2C Environnement”, France); Drinking water stations security: putting the Antiterrorist security plan in practice, employees security , Distribution network security: determining the cost of a network re-chlorination unit (“Drinking Water” administration of Aix en Provence, France).LOOKING FOR: Water treatment assistant / engineer.LANGUAGE SKILLS: French (mother tongue); English (Fluent); Danish (Prøve Dansk 3).IT EXPERIENCE: MS-O� ce; AutoCAD (basic); Mapinfo (basic).CONTACT: clem.arnal@gmail.com / tlf: 23 34 63 22

SPOUSE: Laxmi Chawan FROM: IndiaSEEKING WORK IN: Sjælland, as an architect/ interior designer or as a logistic co-ordinator.QUALIFICATION: Masters in Design Sciences and Sustainable Design, University of Sydney, Australia; Bachelors in Architecture, University of Mumbai, India.EXPERIENCE: Design development, Drafting, Working drawings, Planning and scheduling of projects, Report compilation, Invoicing and Administrative works.LOOKING FOR: Part time /Fulltime work in Architecture/Construction /Interior Designing Firm or Supply chain management � eld. IT EXPERIENCE:AutoCAD 2009, Adobe In Design, Photoshop, Microsoft O� ce, Project management softwares.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English,Hindi.CONTACT: lchawan@gmail.com, Mobile : +45 5253 2498

SPOUSE: Malgorzata Tujakowska FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Aarhus and the surrounding areaQUALIFICATION: Masters in Ethnolinguistics with major in Chinese and English, Chinese HSK and Business Chinese Test certi� cates, 2-year long studies at Shanghai International Studies University and National Cheng Kung University,Taiwan.LOOKING FOR: Working for companies hiring Polish and Chinese employees, teaching Chinese, Polish, Business English, linguistics, translation and interpretation, proofreading, Chinese business and culture consulting, administrative work.LANGUAGE SKILLS: Polish (native speaker), Chinese – simpli� ed and traditional (� uent), English (� uent), German(intermediate), Danish (intermediate-currently learning).IT EXPERIENCE: MS O� ce.CONTACT: Tel:+45 28702377, m.tujakowska@gmail.com

SPOUSE: Hugo Ludbrook FROM: New Zealand SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen.QUALIFICATION: BA (1st Class Honours) in International Relations + BA in History and Religious Studies.EXPERIENCE: Have worked in a wide variety of organisations with focus ranging from the organics sector, to international development, to company directors, to work with the United Nations.LOOKING FOR: Research, writing, editing and/or communication work.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (Fluent), French (Good), Danish (Basic).IT EXPERIENCE: Strong MS O� ce, Outlook and Excel Skills.CONTACT: hugo.ludbrook@hotmail.com

SPOUSE: Deepak Kumar Koneri FROM: IndiaSEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: M.Sc in Electrical Engineering specialization in Embedded Systems (Jönköping, Sweden), B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Hyderabad, India).EXPERIENCE: Worked as Electrical Distribution Design Engineer in Electrical Consultant company for more than 2 years. I was responsible from the start of design de� nition phase till the implementation phase of individual project. LOOKING FOR: Full and part time job opportunity in Energy, Robust Electronics design, PCB Design, Thermal Analyst, Design & Modelling of power systems, power optimization, simulation and also in constructional, architectural consulting organization.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (Fluent), Hindi (Mother Tongue), Swedish (Basic) and Danish(Basic, Currently learning).IT EXPERIENCE: MS-O� ce (word, Excel, Power point, Visio), CFD (Mentor Graphics FloTHERM, FloVENT, Noesis OPTIMUS, Electrical CAD, Assembly Programming (PIC 16f77, 8086,8051), Wire-MOM, Telelogic SDL-99, C and VHDL.CONTACT: konerideepak@gmail.com, 71561151

SPOUSE: Sadra Tabassi FROM: IranSEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: Master of Business Administration (MBA)LOOKING FOR: Any full time job related to my quali� cation � eldLANGUAGE SKILLS: Languages Fluent in English; Native in Farsi (Persian) and elementary level of Arabic.IT EXPERIENCE: Basic knowledge about computer (Windows), O� ce 2010 (Word, Excel, Power Point),Statistical software (SPSS)CONTACT: sadra.tabassi@gmail.com, Tel:+4550337753

SPOUSE: Ylenia Fiorini FROM: ItalySEEKING WORK IN: CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: Post Graduate Master’s Degree in Peace Studies, Development Cooperation, International Mediation and Con� ict resolutionEXPERIENCE: I have ten years experience as social worker in Italy,and experience in various � elds, in the social and third sector and I feel that my educational background combined with my campaign assistant practice in the Ngo Burma Campaign, in Barcelona, has been an excellent preparation. In the same way also my job experiences in the social � eld made me open to di¤ erent situations and to see them as a source of knowledge.LOOKING FOR: Entry Level jobs in the third sector � eld, in international organization or NGO’sLANGUAGE SKILLS: Italian Mother tongue, � uent in Spanish, English, French, Swedish (basic)IT EXPERIENCE: Ms O� ce (Mac,Windows)CONTACT: email ylenia� orini@yahoo.it

SPOUSE: Andrea Heilmann FROM: Germany (Marburg)SEEKING WORK IN: Greater CopenhagenQUALIFICATION: Communications Manager & PR Consultant.EXPERIENCE: I successfully work as Communications Consultant for a global company and havemore than 10 years of experience with company communication and public relations as well asevent management, executive assistance and project coordination. I also have a strong cross-cultural understanding since I always worked with di¤ erent cultures from all over the world.LOOKING FOR: Communications, Public Relations or Event Management job.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (� uent), German (native).IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, Outlook; Lotus Notes; CMS; Acrobat Writer;PaintShop Pro.CONTACT: andrea_heilmann@web.de, cell phone +49 160 3534209

SPOUSE: Chia-Pei CHEN FROM: TaiwanSEEKING WORK IN: Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching in corporations, institutions or International schools.QUALIFICATION: A certi� ed teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language. A degree in Social Science discipline. Continuously participation in training program (organized by Beijing Hanban of CHINA and CBS) to teach Chinese to foreigners in western context. Enrolment to distance Chinese teaching education system that keeps professional Chinese teachers resourceful. EXPERIENCE: I am a certi� ed teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language to foreigners. And I have started teaching Chinese with English in my class for 2 years. I design suitable materials to teach Chinese with di¤ erent phonetic systems (PinYin for China and HongKong, and Mandarin Phonetic Symbols for Taiwan) as well as to interpret di¤ erences between simpli� ed and traditional Chinese characters. My past positions were Chinese language-related, such as: reporter, translator and social science researcher. Students who I taught before regard me as a sincere, discreet teacher who helps learners to progress in short time.LOOKING FOR: Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching.LANGUAGE SKILLS: Chinese (mother tongue), English (Fluent), French (basic), Danish (beginner).IT EXPERIENCE: Word O� ce, SPSS statistic software, Basic Video and Audio editing, Blog writing.CONTACT: teacherchen@live.com, Tel: 25 81 65 18

SPOUSE: Geet Shro¤ FROM: Bangalore, IndiaSEEKING WORK IN: Midtjylland / Copenhagen / OdenseQUALIFICATION: Bachelor’s degree in Communicative English from Bangalore University, India.EXPERIENCE: 8+ years of experience as Senior Copy Writer, Assistant Manager – Marketing Communications, Executive – Customer Loyalty & Communication, Customer Service Associate respectively. Through these years, I have developed content, handled complete marketing communications, organized numerous corporate (internal & external customer), private and institutional events ranging from 50 to 1000 people and also handling special projects that have included training & internal communication campaigns.LOOKING FOR: A Corporate or Marketing Communication (Internal or External) position or that of a Copy Writer at an advertising agency or a corporate house. Also open to a position at an event management company.LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Danish (Beginner).IT EXPERIENCE: MS-O� ce, Adobe In Design CS3 (Basic).CONTACT: geet_shro¤ @yahoo.co.in +4550834024

172 - 8 March 2012 THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

Biotech Job Vacancies

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

Resource & Systems Manager, Clinical Development Support (TEMP)Ethics Associate, Global Ethics Office(TEMP)

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Novo NordiskProject Manager / DFM coordinatorAssociate Manager - Biopharm QC ChemistryResearch Scientist for in vitro Potency assaysExperienced Statistician to BiostatisticsStrategic Purchaser – Plastic Components and Raw MaterialStudent AssistantStrategic Purchaser – Plastic Components and Raw MaterialR&D Sourcing Project ManagerPostDoctoral position in biomolecular modelling procedures incorporating HX-MS dataProject Manager in Global Mobility - maternity coverEnteric coating specialist - Oral protein formulation

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LundbeckQPPV ManagerHead of SectionQA AcademicSite Agreement Manager; Global Study Management (temporary position)Scientist, Immuno-toxicology/ImmunologySpecialist GCQA Systems

Rygaards International SchoolInvites experienced, enthusiastic and well-qualified teachers, familiar with and experienced in British-style education, to apply for the following teaching position. Applicants should be lively, energetic and committed professional teachers. They must also be native English speakers. The job will be for April 2012.

Rygaards School has a Danish and an International English-speaking school each teaching its own separate curriculum. Rygaards International School consists of Key Stages 1 – 4 (Years 1 – 11).

Rygaards is a Catholic school founded in 1909 by the Assumption sisters.The school has strong ecumenical traditions and welcomes applicants who are interested in actively supporting Christian values. It would be an advantage but not a requirement that the applicant be willing to teach in the Catholic Religion Programme.

The teaching position is as follows:• A secondary school teacher with a combination of the following

subjects; English, Drama and Music. This is to cover a maternity leave.

Terms of employment in accordance with contract between The Ministry of Finance and LC (Teaching Unions)

Applications should be addressed to The Board of Governors and sent by e-mail to: The principal of Rygaards International School, Charles Dalton,charles.dalton@rygaards.com. Information about the school can be obtained from our website www.rygaards.com

Closing date for applications: Thursday the 15th March 2012

Description:Over the past decade the Equinor group has provided international tax advice, company administra-tion, and accountancy services to an international clientele consisting of private individuals, corporates, and funds. We have an experienced team of lawyers, accountants, and corporate secretaries from five countries.We are seeking a full time, experienced accountant whose primary role would be to assist with the prep-aration and finalisation of annual accounts for the holding companies we administer (assets typically include share capital, real estate, and aircraft).

the role woulD incluDe:• Ongoing bookkeeping and accounting preparation using Navision Financials;• Liaising directly with our international client base on accounting matters;• Liaising with Danish and foreign auditors regarding the finalisation of accounts;• Liaising with Danish tax authorities, the National Bank, Statistics Denmark, etc;• VAT administration;• Salary administration;• Developing client accounting systems for our ever expanding client base;

Qualifications:Preferred applicants are cand.merc, HD or similar qualification in Accounting or Economics/ Finance and have extensive experience of accounts preparation and internal auditing.

The successful applicant with also be a proficient user of:• Navision Financials• Microsoft Office Applications, in particular excel

Due to the international nature of our client base, an excellent competence in both written and spoken English is vital. Fluency in Danish will be useful, but is not a necessity. An experience and understanding of other cultures are also important in order to adapt and understand the needs of our clients.

Also of interest would be a working knowledge of French and Italian.

we offer: • The opportunity to work directly with a varied international client base spanning the globe;• Being a part of a highly motivated, enthusiastic team of existing staff;• An attractive salary package including pension and fringe benefits;• Opportunities for ongoing professional development.

Please send applications to a.soerensen@equinor.eu no later than 16th March 2012

accountant

Frederiksgade 21, 1265 Copenhagen a.soerensen@equinor.eu

Phone: +45 39166166

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

Administrative Intern

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SPORT

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

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NEWS

Dane unable to obtain family reunifi cation for his � ai girlfriend says residency rules are a Catch-22

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Exploiting ‘fat tax’

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Supermarkets are scammingtheir customers under the guise of the new national ‘fat tax’

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

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C AN YOU HAVE your cake and eat it too? Conventional wisdom says no, but with their � rst budg-et plan since the shift of power,

the new Socialdemokraterne-Radikale-Socialistisk Folkeparti (SRSF) coalition appear to be giving it a shot.

Many of the elements of the new budget – which is expected to be re-leased in its entirety on � ursday – will increase state spending at a time when the budget de� cit has increased. But where the money would come from re-mained a mystery.

A number of the new budget items reinstate spending cuts made by the pre-

vious Venstre-Konservative (VK) govern-ment. Here are a few of the major points:

Families: VK limited the state’s monthly child support handouts (bør-necheck) to 35,000 kroner per fam-ily. � at limit has now been abolished, meaning that many families will get larger child bene� ts. � e government will also pay for fertility treatments and voluntary sterilisations.

Welfare: VK and Dansk Folkeparti (DF) introduced specialised welfare pro-grammes that reduced the cash bene� ts for new immigrants. � ose programmes have now been eliminated and going forward all residents in need of state support will receive the same welfare bene� ts.

Higher education and research: Universities will get an extra one billion kroner over two years to cover costs as-sociated with a predicted increase in

the number of students. Moreover, stu-dents will no longer pay administrative fees, and prospective Master’s students will have prerequisite course tuitions paid. � e government will also fund 1,500 more state-supported internship positions.

Infrastructure and job creation: Some 17.5 billion kroner will be in-vested over two years in infrastructure projects, such as a new rail line between Copenhagen and Ringsted, a project to widen the Holbæk motorway, erosion protection e� orts along Jutland’s west coast, and renovations to public hous-ing. Prime minister Helle � orning-Schmidt has said that these ‘kickstart’ projects will create 20,000 new jobs from 2012-2013. � e Danish Construc-tion Association predicts 10,000.

Tax break: � e unpopular ‘mul-timedia tax’ introduced by VK will be

abolished, saving some 525,000 Danes with business laptops and mobile phones 3,000 kroner per year.

Not everyone, however, can look for-ward to a cash infusion. Smokers and junk food lovers will be taxed higher on their vices, while international corporations will also see higher tax bills. SRSF plans to raise revenue by closing a number of tax loopholes going back nearly 20 years that allowed international corporations in Denmark to escape paying corporate taxes (see more on page 15).

All told, the spending increases in the new budget are not as big as the minister of the economy and interior, Margrethe Vestager (R), would like. She noted that VK under-reported the de� cit for 2012, making it imprudent to spend more. But Denmark will still meet the EU’s � nan-cial responsibility benchmarks, despite the larger de� cit, she added.

A new budget to ‘kickstart’ the economySRSF’s � rst budget will spend 17.5 billion kroner on infrastructure and abolish previous taxes and restrictions

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The one-year general management full-time MBA at CBS focuses on Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Practical Business Skills.E-mail lm.mba@cbs.dk or call 3815 6022 to sign up for the meeting.

Join Scandinavia’s most internationally diverse programThursday 17th November 17:30-19:00

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The one-year general management full-time MBA at CBS focuses on leadership, entrepreneurship, and real-world experience. Organise a personal meeting and hear how the MBA can give your career a new dimension.

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Free access to 65 museumsand attractions in the

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InOutThe CPH Post Entertainment Guide | 16 - 22 Sep

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT BUSTER! THE CHILDREN’S MOVIE FEST IS HERE

page G9

KIDS ON FILM

COPENHAGENwww.copenhagenbluesfest iva l .dk

FESTIVALSEPT. 28 - OCT. 2 · 2011

BLUESS e e f u l l p r o g r a m m e : w w w . c o p e n h a g e n b l u e s f e s t i v a l . d k & w w w . k u l t u n a u t . d k

John Primer w. Nisse Thorbjorn Band [US/DK]Joe Louis Walker [US] | Holmes Brothers [US]

Mud Morganfield w. Peter Nande Band [US/DK]Louisiana Red & Paul Lamb [US/UK] | Janice

Harrington w. Kenn Lending Blues Band [US/DK]Keith Dunn Band [US/NL] | Johnny Max Band [CA]

Delta Blues Band | The Healers | Shades of BlueThorbjorn Risager | Troels Jensen | Alain ApalooH.P. Lange | Mike Andersen & Jens Kristian Dam

Tutweiler | Fried Okra Band | The Blues OverdriveBluesoul | Grahn & Malm | Ole Frimer | Paul Banks

Jacob Fischer Trio | Svante Sjöblom | Jes Holtsoe

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

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

We are looking for a candidate who has completed or is currently pursuing a marketing-related or other relevant degree. You must have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and be able to work daily for approximately 20/25 hours per week. You should be an enthusiastic team-player with the ability to work independently at times. It would also be an advantage if you have a driving license.

The internship is unpaid.

Please send your application and CV to jeanne@cphpost.dk noting ‘Administrative Intern’ in the subject line.

For more information please contact Jeanne Thames, jeanne@cphpost.dk, tel.: 3336 3300

EMPLOYMENT

18 2 - 8 March 2012The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dkculture

Who is ... L.o.C?

Malene Ørsted

Three years ago Mike sheridan’s debut electroni-ca album ‘I syv sind’ (Of Two Minds) spent seven

weeks in Denmark’s Top 40, and won a Danish Grammy for ‘Best electronica album’. his single ‘Med små skridt’ (With small steps) spent several months at number 1 on iTunes Denmark, his track ‘Too Close’ (ft Mads Langer), was featured on an epi-sode of ‘The Vampire Diaries’, and in 2009 sheridan played at roskilde. and all of this hap-pened before Mike sheridan had his 18th birthday.

How old were you when you first started playing around with electronic music? How did it happen?

I’d just turned nine. I started playing with music on the com-puter kind of accidentally. Then it quickly became a language of some sort, with blocks of sound. When I first heard electronic music I was 13, and it was an in-credible soundscape. Generating sound kind of triggered me, like if you fall in love with someone and you just - you don’t doubt it at all. It’s just like: this is the thing I’m going to be doing.

What kind of music did you listen to growing up? Before you heard electronica?

I’ve grown up with classic rock, like Led Zeppelin and the Doors. The Beatles never inter-ested me; I was more into Jimi hendrix. The thing that fasci-nates me with rock music, and folk music, is the great musician-ship that makes the music come

alive. and that’s what’s difficult in the computer.

How does being so young affect the way you were perceived in the industry?

When you’re at a club with your parents, just 14 years old, you feel very young. everyone is drunk and happy, and you’re just com-pletely scared of everything, but still drawn to it. Now I don’t really think about it much. I think my oldest friend is 90 years old, and we can talk about music.

Do you think you were less like-ly to be taken seriously because you were so young?

yeah, a lot of the Danish DJs were like: “Why is he getting paid the same as me?” It faded and you quickly found out those people were more busy doing nothing and bragging, so why waste time? I found my group of people who supported me and eventually all the hype disappeared. I’ve learned a lot from the DJs and promot-ers out there, and we respect each other. It took a bit of time, but it was worth it.

What are the best and worst parts of being a musician?

Worst thing in Denmark is that it’s extremely hard to find an au-dience. The media coverage (com-pared to england or Germany) destroys the possibility of mak-ing anything original popular in Denmark. It’s only commercial music, there’s no underground coverage, no classical coverage that gets young people interested. I’m getting so extremely bored with playing club gigs for Dan-ish audiences because they’re so ungrateful. you’ve been to clubs in Copenhagen?

I haven’t yet.

No? Be afraid - take precautions! People are extremely drunk and

people are extremely rude. They just want to get drunk and f**k each other’s girlfriends. It’s hor-rible. It’s a horrible environ-ment to be in, the places where you can play this sort of music. I think it’s actually rubbish say-ing that I don’t enjoy it because I should be finding it extremely interesting. It’s just been the same for so long that I need a change. so I’ve chosen to play live gigs, cut down on every-thing else, and do something that I feel really matters.

What about the best part of being a musician?

The best part? It’s the best thing in the world.

What inspires you?

I made eleven tracks in three years that I thought were good enough to put on a record. I

he is a Danish rapper and judge on the TV2 music programme ‘Voice’.

How would I recognise him?If you’ve ever seen the show, you’ll probably remember him as the cool, ever so smug one who always knows immediately if a contestant is good enough for him.

Oh yeah, but didn’t that show just end?yes and the smug one actu-ally ended up winning it with the artist he had coached, Kim Wagner. It has to be mentioned, though, that Wagner was already pretty much a professional sing-er, so I don’t know how much credit L.O.C can actually take for the achievement.

Well, good for him. But is he at least a talented musician?I don’t know about that. he’s a rapper, so it’s not like he plays an instrument or anything. But ap-parently he got lucky this time around.

So what’s so special about him?In the beginning he was just an-other performer rapping about alcohol, drugs and sex. But he has slowly and steadily built up great popularity, both in the me-dia and amongst fans, so much so that he is often referred to as the king of Danish hip-hop.

What does l.O.c stand for?Well, his real name is Liam O’Connor, so that’s why, but we’re not sure he would have chosen his initials as a stage name had his first name been Ciaran.

No, that would have been in-appropriate. Is he a Dane?you might think he’s from these parts … until he opens his mouth and you see his teeth. They’re small and pearly, and ever so slightly wolfhoundish.

So he’s Irish?actually he’s half Irish. his dad Dermot O’Connor is an Irish truck driver – we’re not sure whether that’s how he met his mother. Unlikely as she works in a bookstore, not a roadside café.

Anything else?Well, he has dated Christiane schaumbourg-Müller. equally smug, you would think they were the perfect match, but they cancelled their wedding in 2009 - apparently because both they were too busy. Given his recent success, maybe he should pick his next squeeze based on the sound of her voice.

The media favours conformity over originality, says dJ

Still only 20, the whole world lies before Mike Sheridan to conquer

have to experience something over a long time, I have to go out, drink wine, meet people, travel - then suddenly all these things that are inspiring - that in itself is where the music and structures come from. I have a certain passage, a place on the new record that’s like: this is me on my way to Paris and this is me coming home from this and this is me seeing a skyscraper for the first time. There’s not a sec-ond that’s not thought out.

It’s been three years since the last album - how is this new album different?

The sound has changed because I’ve recorded every second in-stead of creating it with a com-puter. It’s the complete opposite working method to the last one. sound-wise, it’s more real dynamics, it’s real. I’m looking forward to seeing what people

one of the biggest names in the country’s electronic music scene decries the ungratefulness and unruliness of his fellow countrymen

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think of it. I like to seeing how I can make people react. I don’t think it’s going be the easiest thing for people to hear and get the first time.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? How do you think your music is going to change? Do you think you’ll still be creating electronic music?

I don’t think much about in five years, in ten years, 20 years. I’ve been thinking about getting an old house, out on amagerbro, in one of the old neighbor-hoods out there. a really busted place, and I’d like, cut the gar-den down and restore it a bit, build stuff, and cook food and just go up on the first floor and play on my weird instru-ments and record stuff. Being isolated in the middle of eve-rything, a place where you can daydream…

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The court jester has returned to reinvent hamlet

YOrICK Is BaCK! he’s alive and well in the form of Martyn Jacques of the Tiger Lillies, the court

jester who has come back from the dead as a macabre musi-cal muse to guide the audience through republique theatre’s production of a sinful ‘hamlet’ that is innovative, imaginative and incredible. Indeed, for a 30-minute period in the second half, it was sustained perfection – and no, I didn’t have a large one during the interval.

It was during this segment – from the staging of a play within a play up until hamlet’s trip across the sea to england – that the four key components of the British/Danish co-production of ‘The Tiger Lillies perform hamlet’ came together in per-

fect symmetry. at the front of the stage, Jacques on his ac-cordion delivered soul-piercing reflections on the play’s many dark themes; behind him the actors gracefully brought to life the invention of artistic direc-tor Martin Tulinius; and at the back, simple but yet powerful installations provided an un-forgettable backdrop, etching the visual memory of the scene forever on the minds of the au-dience before them. It was as if it had all been framed by akira Kurosawa. stunning!

But while the focus in the second half was crystal clear, the first half was slightly blurry. In hindsight, I wonder why there weren’t more installations. While the set changes were inexorably incorporated into the action, sur-really and even joyously so, other elements of the staging, including perhaps one too many wire sus-pension moments, felt clunky.

Ben HaMilton

hamlet

Hamlet has been shaved down to become a two-family affair - so this is actually the entire cast

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But seriously, how to do you squeeze a five-hour play into a two-hour narrative that includes 19 mainly thematic songs. This is not a political thriller. Go and watch ‘Tinker Tailor soldier spy’ if that’s your bag.

No, instead world theatre has a new ‘British’ musical to

cherish (Martin stout’s musi-cal saw, which charted Ophe-lia’s decline, was a highlight, as was her eventual demise in the haunting ‘Drowning’, which is surely destined to be a classic), which in this production has been more than matched by ‘Danish’ artistic endeavour (hu-man puppets, ventriloquists,

suspended heads, the swordplay, the drowning scene and ham-let’s piratical swinging at sea – take your pick).

so watch out for the return of ‘The Tiger Lillies perform hamlet’ in april, when it will be performed entirely in english. It’s an evening that will haunt you for all the right reasons.

192 - 8 March 2012 The Copenhagen posT CphposT.dk Denmark through the looking glass

February marked the centenary of the maiden voyage of the world’s first diesel-powered ocean liner, from Copenhagen’s B&W shipyard to Bangkok

It was 100 years ago today, that the selandia first sailed away

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she was the pride of Denmark’s east asiatic Company (eaC), built by the Burmeister & wain (B&w) shipyard in Denmark,

and was the first diesel-powered ocean liner to become seaworthy in a scram-ble that had been on since Dr Rudolf Diesel’s patent on his engine expired in 1910.

The race to be the first to launch a large-scale ocean liner with a motor en-gine could have been won by a number of contenders, but the M/s selandia pipped them all to the post in Febru-ary 1912.

The selandia was known as ‘the

Jane Graham

malene Ørsted

Thirty years into its lifespan, the selandia sunk off the coast of Japan, but still, 70 years later, its memory is being celebrated this month with an exhibition, documentary and book

The ship without a funnel. selandia is actually the latin nickname for the island of sjælland

included a clause stating that the diesel engines should be replaced by steam engines if they did not work satisfacto-rily – a clause that proved unnecessary.

The selandia’s pioneering propul-sion engine would be the first of many. In a matter of months, other shipyards across the world were making similar large diesel engines, including MaN, sulzer Bros, Krupp Germania Yards, Vickers sons & Maxim, and Carels Freres.

For more than 20 years, the selan-dia continued to generate interest all over the world. her fans included an impressed winston Churchill, at that time the British minister of naval af-fairs, who ordered a study to find out whether the engines could be used as propulsion plants for naval vessels. her route, between scandinavia, Italy and Thailand, opened an export corridor to the Far east and started the Danish service line.

The selandia remained in service for the eaC until November 1936, when she was sold to a Norwegian

ship without a funnel’: unlike steam-ships, the engine exhaust went through the foremast. It was a combined pas-senger and cargo vessel with 20 luxu-riously spacious (at least for the time) first-class cabins that included toilets, baths and even servants’ quarters.

at 370ft (112m) long and 53ft (16m) wide, the selandia was a giant of a vessel. But it was not her size nor her quarters that made her unique, but rather her two eight-cylinder, four-stroke, 1,250hp diesel engines, designed with both crossheads and pis-ton rods, which gave the vessel a serv-ice speed of 11 knots (about 20 km/h).

The selandia was not the first die-sel-powered ship, but it was the first to make diesel engines seem an eco-nomically-viable alternative to the old coal-fired engines. Officially, it earned the title of being ‘the world’s first mo-tor ship’ as the first one built for ocean travel using a propulsion plant.

a report at the time of selandia’s sea trials said “the future of the big mo-tor ship is practically assured.”

and with it, so was B&w’s eco-nomic future. Following the official acceptance tests of the selandia, the Danish shipyard was inundated with orders from steamship owners for sim-ilar ships, and the company reported in 1912 that it had enough marine oil ship contracts for three years’ work.

with the selandia, the eaC be-came the first operator of diesel en-gine-powered vessels between inter-national destinations. The ocean liner ushered in the era of diesel, and made the old coal-burning steam ships out-of-date almost overnight. switching to diesel was preferable in every way: environmentally, operationally and – most importantly for companies like the eaC – economically.

The eaC’s order of the selandia was a much bigger risk for the ship-ping firm than it might first seem. The vessel’s revolutionary propulsion plant was by-and-large untried, and it was not assured that it would work on such a long journey. Because of this risk, the contract between B&w and the eaC

firm and renamed ‘the Norseman’. Four years later she was sold again, this time to the Finland-america line and renamed ‘The Tornator’. somehow she ended up being sent to a Japanese firm, sailing in Japanese waters under the Japanese flag during the second world war, though still with a Finnish crew.

On 26 January 1942, 30 years to the day after her first trial sailing, the Tornator, formerly the selandia, struck a rock near Yokohama in bad weather, broke into two pieces and sank. all the crew were rescued without loss of life.

In conjunction with the centenary of the selandia’s maiden voyage, a number of events have been planned, including a special exhibition at the Diesel house industrial museum in Copenhagen and the release of a docu-mentary, ‘The ship that Changed the world – M/s selandia’ and a book. at the centre of the exhibition, and tow-ering above the rest of the fascinating photographs and travel accounts from the ship’s crew members, is one of the selandia’s 12-metre tall diesel engines.

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