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| Europe | |
| A most un-Danish Dane | |
| 2006-02-11 | |
In sharp contrast to the laid-back and sociable image the Scandinavians have of themselves, Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a loner and a tough prime minister. Despite this – or perhaps for this reason – he is thought by most of his compatriots to be the right man to defend the cohesiveness of a small and homogeneous nation faced with a large minority that defies the culture of its adopted homeland. At the end of the toughest week in the 53-year-old Mr Rasmussen’s political career – in which he pleaded to the entire Muslim world for an end to violence over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed – few cracks have appeared in the prime minister’s support at home. Faced with the most serious international crisis to hit Denmark since the German occupation – in which the Danes successfully protected the country’s Jewish minority – they stand behind the leader they respect, if not love. Approval ratings for Mr Rasmussen, who was elected in 2001, have remained above 50 per cent, well ahead of any opposition politician. They have barely fallen since January, when the conflict over the cartoons, first published in the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, erupted into a global stand-off between the west and the Muslim world. Mr Rasmussen came to power on a platform that defied the traditional left-right boundaries in a country largely ruled according to social democratic principles. His centre-right coalition built its programme on two cornerstones: a tax freeze and strict restrictions on immigration. These, combined with a pledge to maintain Denmark’s cradle-to-grave welfare state, constituted a radical new approach in Danish politics that secured the centre ground for Mr Rasmussen’s party. While the tax freeze has proved popular in high-tax Denmark, it is Mr Rasmussen’s tough immigration policy he is best known for. Soon after his election, Mr Rasmussen set about severely curtailing the number of foreign migrants. The government passed laws making it difficult for residents to bring in spouses from outside the European Union – until then a commonly used avenue of immigration among ethnic minorities, the biggest of which are Turks, Iraqis and Lebanese. Now a resident seeking to bring in a foreign spouse must be over 24 years of age, financially secure and have a lease on an apartment, while the couple must have a demonstrable “connection” to Denmark. These requirements make Danish immigration laws among the strictest in the European Union, a sharp departure from the country’s liberal tradition. While achieving the government’s goal of dramatically reducing immigration, the law has caused considerable ill-feeling among Danish immigrants, who argue that the restrictions reflect a growing intolerance towards ethnic minorities and their culture and religion. The immigration law has damaged Denmark’s international standing, as residents married to foreigners – some of them ethnic Danes who find the rigid permit system humiliating – have been forced to emigrate or remain abroad. But the majority of Danes are staunch supporters of the policy, reflected in Mr Rasmussen’s high approval ratings a year into his second term. Danes began to see immigration as a threat to social harmony in the 1990s. A rapidly growing Muslim population that was nearing 200,000 stood out in a traditionally homogeneous country that lived off agriculture until the 1960s. Danes worried that a large part of the new minority was slow in adopting the Danish language and was living living on state benefits on the margins of society. The growing fears about alien influences on Danish society found resonance in Mr Rasmussen, the son of a struggling farmer from Jutland, Denmark’s agricultural heartland, which remains socially much more conformist than liberal Copenhagen. Nostalgia for the era before mass immigration appears to drive one of the government’s latest initiatives, too. A cultural canon, aimed at improving Danes’ knowledge of their heritage, will determine the artistic works all school children must study. Critics of Mr Rasmussen say the parochialism of his humble beginnings in the countryside has never quite left him. He may have earned plaudits for an efficient handling of Denmark’s presidency of the EU four years ago, but Danish intellectuals like to joke about Mr Rasmussen’s lack of sophistication and exposure to the wider world. Peter Mose, author of the Handbook for Prime Ministers, says Mr Rasmussen’s limitations in foreign policy may have contributed to the cartoon crisis, which has been brewing since September. While the publication of the drawings initially drew little attention, they spawned a controversy after Mr Rasmussen declined to meet a group of ambassadors from Muslim countries who were seeking to raise their concerns over the pictures, regarded as blasphemous by Muslims. Many observers say Mr Rasmussen should have responded to the concerns early in order to pre-empt a crisis at a time when Denmark’s participation in the Iraq war had already strained relations with its Muslim community. Instead, he resolutely defended Danes’ right to freedom of expression. | |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #6 He may have earned plaudits for an efficient handling of DenmarkÂ’s presidency of the EU four years ago, but Danish intellectuals like to joke about Mr RasmussenÂ’s lack of sophistication and exposure to the wider world. Gosh, that sounds familiar.Competence in no way makes up for not being one of us. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-02-11 19:10 |
| #5 These requirements make Danish immigration laws among the strictest in the European Union This is the real reason Denmark has been targeted. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-02-11 18:30 |
| #4 The ghost of his father is his most trusted advisor. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-02-11 18:24 |
| #3 1)Sept. saw the publication of the cartoons. 2)Looks like the Danish mullahs traveled through Muslims countries with the cartoons to "incite" some sort of response 3) Are they Danish residents or citizens? Are they coming back to Europe? Will they be allowed back in European soil? |
| Posted by: Elmutle Sperong7998 2006-02-11 18:20 |
| #2 When you do the right thing expect the multi-culti types to damn you. Keep doing the right thing. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-11 17:26 |
| #1 Many |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-11 15:50 |