Ejvind Sandal:

This Week’s Editorial: Trumping The Donald

Our prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, is about to visit the US to meet President Trump. It is somewhat flattering, as it is in the slipstream of Mrs May and Mrs Merkel, and far ahead of many other prominent government heads.

Shared goal in Syria
Mr Rasmussen is a seasoned politician and it would not be unexpected if he returned with operational insights on the major issues at hand.

He will bring to the president the news that the Danish Parliament is willing to increase defence spending in the future.

He does that based on the fact that Denmark has actually put boots on the ground as special forces have been deployed in Iraq/Syria with the task of training local forces and also taking part in sharp-end operations if needed. This is a visiting card of value.

Arctic agenda
At the same time, it is obvious that Denmark is going to play an important role in the political developments in the Arctic, where the relationship with Russia especially will become crucial. Denmark is a mini-state, but in the far-North, we are second to none.

The Arctic question has clearly not been on the president’s agenda so far, but will become central, not least because of the pressing issue of environment control.

America not alone
So President Trump may think that America comes first, but our PM will have to teach him – in a modest way – that America is not alone, and that her allies, such as Denmark, have learnt the value of co-operation – and that means interactivity with other nations.

Globalisation is not a buzzword. It has proved that knowledge, money, culture and security are divided and shared by merely pushing a button. If hot and cold water are mixed, we have the inseparable result of a uniform product. The world is coming together whether we realise it or not.

Cake in the face
In this respect, our integration minister, Inger Støjberg, made headlines again by baking an austerity cake, commemorating austerity regulation number 50 to make Denmark uninviting as a refugee or immigration land and to make life miserable for those already here.

We believe in harmonising standards for migrants internationally, but we do not appreciate a race to the bottom – and especially bragging about it.

Ejvind Sandal

Copenhagen Post editor-in-chief Ejvind Sandal has never been afraid to voice his opinion. In 1997 he was fired after a ten-year stint as the chief executive of Politiken for daring to suggest the newspaper merged with Jyllands-Posten. He then joined the J-P board in 2001, finally departing in 2003, the very year it merged with Politiken. He is also a former chairman of the football club Brøndby IF (2000-05) where he memorably refused to give Michael Laudrup a new contract prior to his hasty departure. A practising lawyer until 2014, Sandal is also the former chairman of Vestas Wind Systems and Axcel Industriinvestor. He has been the owner of the Copenhagen Post since 2000.