Today’s front pages – Tuesday, Feb 19

The Copenhagen Post’s daily digest of what the Danish dailies are reporting on their front pages

Danes fighting in Syria

Domestic intelligence agency PET says that an increasing number of Danes who are involved in the extremist Muslim environment are travelling to Syria to take part in the battle against Bashar al-Assad's regime. In its most recent terror-threat report, PET warned that Danes travelling to Syria can come in contact with extremist groups and therefore be motivated to commit terrorist acts upon returning to Denmark. A central source from the radical Muslim environment in Denmark said that he knew of at least 30 people who had been to Syria to fight. – Politiken

New PET law lacks control

A majority in parliament are on the cusp of approving a new law that will give oversight over PET, but the law will result in any illegal wire tapping by PET only being discovered by coincidence. The new oversight is expected to be ratified with support from opposition parties despite criticism that it is too weak and under-funded.  While politicians have hailed the new law, the first to be directly aimed at keeping an eye on PET, as groundbreaking, security experts contend that the oversight controls will lack the necessary mechanisms to monitor PET's tapping of phones, bugging of rooms and access to personal data. – Berlingske

Immigrant women on permanent benefits

Immigrant women from non-Western countries make up 25 percent of the nation's long-term cash welfare (kontanthjælp) recipients. Of the 24,000 people nationwide who have received kontanthjælp for more than ten years, more than 6,000 are immigrant women from non-Western backgrounds. While accounting for a quarter of the long-term benefit recipients, immigrant women from non-Western countries only make up 3.4 percent of the total population between the ages of 16 and 64, and thus are vastly over-represented amongst the long-term benefit recipients. – Jyllands-Posten

Carlsberg slipping on the global stage

The pressure is mounting on Danish beer giant Carlsberg due to its competition growing quicker and earning more money. Carlsberg, the world’s fourth-largest brewery, saw its stocks plummet by six percent yesterday. The company's CEO, Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, blamed a stagnant market in eastern Europe for the brewery's decline. While Rasmussen said that Carlsberg is out-competing its rivals in Asia, Børsen financial daily reported that the three biggest global breweries – AB-Inbev, SAB Miller and Heineken – continue to pull ahead of Carlsberg on the world stage. – Børsen




  • Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    A Wall Street Journal article describes that the US will now begin spying in Greenland. This worries the Danish foreign minister, who wants an explanation from the US’s leading diplomat. Greenlandic politicians think that Trump’s actions increase the sense of insecurity

  • Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    What do King Frederik X, Queen Mary, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Jaime Lannister have in common? No, this isn’t the start of a very specific Shakespeare-meets-HBO fanfiction — it was just Wednesday night in Denmark

  • Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    For many years, most young people in Denmark have preferred upper secondary school (Gymnasium). Approximately 20 percent of a year group chooses a vocational education. Four out of 10 young people drop out of a vocational education. A bunch of millions aims to change that

  • Beloved culture house saved from closure

    Beloved culture house saved from closure

    At the beginning of April, it was reported that Kapelvej 44, a popular community house situated in Nørrebro, was at risk of closing due to a loss of municipality funding

  • Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    With reforms to tighten the rules for foreigners in Denmark without legal residency, and the approval of a reception package for internationals working in the care sector, internationals have been under the spotlight this week. Mette Frederiksen spoke about both reforms yesterday.

  • Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Currently, around 170 people live on “tolerated stay” in Denmark, a status for people who cannot be deported but are denied residency and basic rights. As SOS Racisme draws a concerning picture of their living conditions in departure centers, such as Kærshovedgård, they also suggest it might be time for Denmark to reinvent its policies on deportation

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