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April 2nd, 2013

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"We don't know how long it will last"

Parents nationwide are facing the reality of a school lockout today and many are left scrambling for someone to take care of their children. Roughly 875,000 students – both children and adults – are affected by the lockout, with some schools closing altogether and others running at limited capacity. "The kids can maybe be alone for a few hours during the first couple days, but we don't know how long it will last," Rune Hardlei, a father to two in Aarhus, said. While some are relying on grandparents for help watching the kids, other parents have volunteered to help by taking care of their friends' children. – Politiken

Appeal for governmental intervention

With the two sides in the teacher negotiations far from reaching an agreement, the pressure is on the government to step in and end the conflict. And the message from both sides is 'the sooner, the better'. Anders Bondo Christensen, the head of the teachers' union DLF, said that since the government clearly already has "a master plan" on its role in the conflict, it should hurry up and act. Christensen has long said that the teachers never stood a chance in the negotiations due to collusion between the central government and the local government association, KL. – Berlingske

Military power shake-up

While the US remains the world's largest military superpower, and will hold that position for some time to come, the global balance of military power is beginning to shift. As the US and other Western countries are cutting back on military spending in the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, developing countries such as China, India and Brazil are expanding their military might. Karsten Møller, a senior analyst for the Danish Institute for International Studies, said the developments would have a serious impact on Europe and that with the Americans cutting back and focusing more on the Far East, "Europe needs to be able to take better care of itself." – Jyllands-Posten

DF's rise brings responsibility

With opinion polls continuing to bring good news to Dansk Folkeparti (DF), chances are good that the far-right party will return to power at the next election. And if that happens, according to DF member Morten Vesterager, the party needs to deliver on the things that current coalition party Socialdemokraterne (S) has not. In a guest blog entry on Den Fri, Vesterager argues that S has let voters down on social issues and that if DF wants to truly take advantage of the fact that the party finds itself bigger than S in the polls, it needs to hold fast to its principles in the social arena. Vesterager also cautions against working with libertarian party Liberal Alliance in a future coalition, saying that party is too far away from DF on social issues and immigration. – DenFri