Posted on 06/29/2002 9:19:11 AM PDT by GeneD
Filed at 11:49 a.m. ET
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- As it takes its turn at the European Union's helm for the next six months, Denmark feels it has an image problem.
The reason is its rightward turn in elections last November, and its ensuing crackdown on immigration which, while largely in line with the European trend, is thought by some Danes to be at odds with their country's image of tolerance.
The vote catapulted Liberal Party leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen to power promising a tougher stance on asylum-seekers and on foreigners benefiting from the country's generous welfare system.
By unseating the Social Democrats after nine years of rule, prosperous Denmark became part of a conservative wave that has toppled the left in France, Italy, Portugal, Norway and the Netherlands.
Many Danes are unsettled by the change. They have been ahead of the European curve in legalizing pornography and same-sex marriages, their drug policies are tolerant, and they even put up with Queen Margrethe II's chain-smoking in public.
Now the homeland of Hans Christian Andersen and the Little Mermaid finds itself depicted in international media as xenophobic. The U.N. refugee agency has voiced concern about the immigration clampdown. A unusually high-decibel quarrel has erupted over neighboring Sweden's criticism of the new policies.
``As a Dane it came as a shock to me,'' said Lykke Friis, research director at the independent Danish Institute of International Affairs. ``Usually we're described as being a fairy-tale country.''
The new rules narrow the criteria for granting asylum, and make it harder for immigrants to bring in relatives and tap into the social benefits that are funded by income tax rates of over 50 percent.
Coincidentally, the legislation takes effect Monday -- the same day that Denmark takes over the six-month, rotating European Union presidency from Spain. That means that although it is one of smallest of the 15 EU nations, with just 5.3 million people, it will have significant influence over the EU agenda. And that agenda is likely to be heavy on immigration issues.
Part of the worry among liberals about Denmark's future direction stems from the governing coalition's reliance on the small Danish People's Party. Its leader, Pia Kjaersgaard, is outspoken in opposing immigration. She has accused Muslims of bringing a ``medieval mentality to Denmark.''
Danish leaders insist the new law respects all international conventions. ``Denmark is simply following the mainstream in Europe,'' Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen told The Associated Press in an interview.
About 7 percent of Denmark's population is of foreign descent -- mostly from Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.
An opinion poll in January of 1,013 people found 50 percent backing the crackdown, while 34 percent found it too harsh and 7 percent thought it wasn't harsh enough. Pollsters PLS Ramboell gave a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
As he prepares to move into the European cockpit, Fogh Rasmussen has sought to emphasize Denmark's openness on a different front -- expanding the EU to include eight former communist-bloc countries, plus the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta.
``Twelve years ago, the Eastern European people liberated themselves and booted out the communists,'' he said. ``Western Europe has already been dragging its feet for too long about getting the Eastern European countries into our community.''
As for the blunt-talking Kjaersgaard, she laughs off the international criticism, inviting reporters to come and ``search for the racists and the fascists.''
``They will find nothing else but friendly and smiling people who simply don't want to become a multiethnic society,'' she said.
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^On the Net:
Denmark's presidency site, http://www.eu2002.dk/main/
You're right. I'd bet most Danes don't, but the leftie internationalistas are embarrassed to appear at their Brussels cocktail parties and explain to the others why their masses have not been correctly "educated."
And I would not doubt for a moment that such percentages correspond to that in the rest of Europe, and America.
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