Defending Denmark’s borders and its international reputation: Mutually exclusive messages in two languages

Kenn Nakata Steffensen The Danish government’s recent decision to impose border controls in possible violation of its Schengen Treaty obligations has caused concern among the country’s EU partners, its immediate neighbours Sweden and Germany in particular. The apparent intention to permanently reintroduce border controls (unlike France’s temporary closure earlier this year) has cast the EU’s [...]

Cop-enhagen: Memories of the Danish police

Kenn Nakata Steffensen Recent media reports of Danish police brutality brought back memories of my student days in “wonderful Cop-enhagen”. Some days ago, the police there arrested almost a thousand mostly peaceful and law-abiding marchers and were only able to charge a dozen with any offences. All had their hands tied and were held for [...]

Is existentialism nationalism?

Kenn Nakata Steffensen Is existentialism nationalism? The “turbulent priest” and Danish People’s Party parliamentarian Søren Krarup argues that it is. The following is a translation of an article he published in Politiken on 10th November 2009. He draws on Kierkegaard to argue that a change of system has taken place in Denmark, and that the [...]

The Danish People’s Party and mosques in Denmark

Kenn Nakata Steffensen Today’s Guardian reported about a lawsuit by the teacher’s union NASUWT, which may bar members of the BNP from becoming school governors in England.[1] It seems that while the barbarians are at the gates in the UK, on the other side of the North Sea xenophobic radical nationalism has been mainstream politics [...]

We have won some kind of award

Kenn Nakata Steffensen I am pleased but mystified that somebody has placed us among the top 100 blogs on Denmark. How did that happen? The Internet does move in mysterious ways. I have no idea how these choices are made, nor what it means. It may not mean much, but thanks to The Daily Reviewer [...]