The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

38 Europe TheEconomistDecember18th 2021

W

hendanesthinkaboutLolland,

whichisnotveryoften,theytend

tofeelsorryforit.TheislandintheBaltic

sea,a flatexpanseoffieldsandbeaches,

enjoyedbriefnotorietyin 2015 thanksto

atvdocumentaryseries,“OntheAssin

Nakskov”,aboutprivationinitslargest

town.Nakskovfellonhardtimesafterits

shipyardclosedin1986.Peoplehavebeen

leavingtheislandfordecades.Since

2007 itspopulationhasdroppedfrom

49,000to41,000.ThoseoutsidersLol­

landstillattractsarelargelylow­income

householdsseekingcheaperlodgings

thantheycanfindinCopenhagen.

Butnowworkhasbegunona tunnel

linkingLollandtotheGermanislandof

Fehmarn,18km(11miles)away.Whenit

opensin 2029 Lollandwillnolongerbe

“justa smallruralcommunityasfarfrom

Copenhagenasyoucanget,”saysThom­

asKnudsen,itstopcivilservant.Itwill

cutinhalf,to 90 minutes,thetimeit

takestodrivetoHamburg.MoreGerman

touristswillflocktoLolland’sbeaches,

hehopes.Greenindustrieswillsetup

shop,takingadvantageofthewindy

island’ssurplusofrenewableenergy.

IfLollandistofulfilitsambitionsit

willneedimmigrants.TheFehmarnbelt

tunnelwillitselfrequirethousandsof

workers,manyofwhomwillbenon­

Danes.Unlikethenationalgovernment

inCopenhagen,Lollandhasnoqualms

aboutwelcomingthem.InAugustthe

localgovernmentopenedaninterna­

tionalschool.Its 55 pupilshaveorigins

asfarafieldasTanzaniaandIndia.Some

areMuslims.Thelocals’responsehas

been“optimisticpositivity”,saysDomin­

icMaher,theschool’sheadteacher.

Lollanddoesnotjustneedtunnellers;

it hasplacedEnglish­languageadvertsto

recruitdoctors,too.Privatefirmsneed

everyonefrom“engineerstounskilled

labour”,saysMrKnudsen.Lollandwould

happilytakeAfghanrefugees.Itsplansto

recruitforeignlabourwereblessedby

thelocalbranchofthegenerallyanti­

immigrantDanishPeople’sParty.

Onereasonforitsopennessisearlier

experiencesofimmigration.Polescame

toharvestsugarbeetintheyearsbefore

thefirstworldwar.Somerefugeesfrom

theBalkanwarinthe1990sstayedand

thrived.TherefugeesMrKnudsenis

mostworriedaboutarethose“fromthe

Copenhagenreal­estatemarket”.

Thatputstheislandersatoddswith

thenationalgovernment,whichwantsto

keepimmigrationfromnon­Western

countriesaslowaspossible.Buttheydo

notdisagreeabouteverything.Lolland

wouldnotwelcomepoorlyeducated

refugeeswhowouldburdentheecon­

omyratherthanbuoyit.Butinthispart

ofDenmark,productivitymattersmore

thanpassports.

Anotherview

TheLolland exception

M ARIBO

OnebitofDenmarkfeelsdifferentlyaboutimmigrants

Helpneeded

[and]behomogeneous”,saysUlfHedetoft,

a scholarofnationalismattheUniversity

ofCopenhagen.A lawtwoyearslaterstipu­

latedthatonlypeoplewhospokeDanish

andwore Danishclothes could become

Danes.Itisstilldifficult.mipex, anindex

thatrankscountriesaccordingtohowwell

policies promote integration of immi­

grants,scorestheaccessDenmarkgivesto

citizenshipasa“halfwayfavourable” 41,

comparedwithSweden’s“favourable”83.

Inthe1960sand1970sDenmarkrecruit­

ed“guestworkers”;refugeesfromVietnam

andIrancameinthe1970sand1980s.The

welcomewanedinthe1990swiththearriv­

alofrefugeesfromthewarinwhathad

beenYugoslavia.The nationalistDanish

People’sParty(df), foundedin1995,agitat­

edto shutthedooronthem.In 2001 it

backeda conservative­liberalgovernment,

whichdevisedtoday’stwo­prongedstrat­

egyofrepellingwould­bemigrantsandre­

mouldingthosewhosettle.

Itspoliciesincludedlengtheningim­

migrants’ wait for permanent residency

from three years to seven and ending

schools’ obligation to teach in pupils’

mothertongues.TobolsterDanishnessit

introduced “canons” of culture, history

anddemocracy into theschool curricu­

lum.Withoutsuchsteps“itwouldhave

beenreallycatastrophic”,saysPeterSkaa­

rup,thedf’s parliamentaryleader.

InSweden,suchsentimentsarespread­

ing;inDenmarktheyarenowconvention­

alwisdom.“Thesocialdemocraticwelfare

statecanonlysurviveif wehavemigration

undercontrol,”saysMrTesfaye,whosefa­

therwasa refugeefromEthiopia.Denmark

maybetheworld’ssecond­happiestcoun­

try,accordingto arecentsurvey,butits

happinessfeelsfragile.

Denmark’sdefenceofitswelfarestateis

ruthlessand,saycritics,racist.InOctober

thefinanceministry,initsannualreport

ontheissue,estimatedthatin 2018 immi­

grants from non­Western countries and

theirdescendantsdrainedfrompublicfi­

nancesanet31bnkroner($4.9bn),some

1.4% of gdp. Immigrants from Western

countries, bycontrast,contributedanet

7bnkroner(seechart).Dataonimmigra­

tion’sfiscaleffectswerewhat“changedthe

SocialDemocrats’pointofview”,saysTor­

benTranaesoftheDanishCentreforSocial

ScienceResearch.

Muslimsareatthecore oftheissue.

Thisyearwasthefirsttimetheministryre­

portedseparatelyonthecontributionsby

peoplefrom 24 Muslimcountries.Theyac­

countfor50%ofthenon­Westerners,but

77%ofthedrain.Alongsidethatworryare

fearsthatMuslimsbringnotionsaboutde­

mocracyandtheroleofwomenthatDanes

find threatening.Muslims are welcome,

saysMrTesfaye,but,“Wecan’tmeetinthe

middle.It’snothalf shariaandhalfthe

Danishconstitution.”

ToMuslimearsthatsoundslikebias.A

lawpassedin2018,aimedatconservative

Muslims,obliges new citizens to shake

handswitha municipalofficialinnatural­

isationceremonies.Politicians“makeyou

feellikeyouhavetonotcelebrateRamadan

orEidoranything”,saysAgobYacoub,a

Syrianrefugee.Othergroupsarenotsub­

jecttosuchpressure.Chineseimmigrants

havenotbecomeculturallyDanishbutare

It’s complicated

Denmark, average net contribution

to public finances, by age, 2018, DKr’000

Source:Danish

FinanceMinistry

*Andtheirdescendants †Middle East

andnorthAfrica,Pakistan and Turkey

200

100

0

-100

-200

-300

1 50 90

Other non-Western immigrants*

MENAPT†

immigrants*

Other Western

immigrants*

Danish origin

Age, years