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LIVING IN DENMARK

Is it really impossible for foreigners in Denmark to become friends with Danes?

Danes are the hardest people in the world to befriend, according to an international survey ranking the quality of life for expats.

People and dogs walk along Lakolk beach in Rømø
Lakolk beach in Rømø. Polling data suggest Danes may be among the most difficult nationalities to befriend. Photo by André on Unsplash

Danes are the hardest people in the world to befriend, according to a 2016 international survey ranking the quality of life for foreign nationals.

In the survey the Nordic countries all ranked in the bottom ten when expatriates, which is the term used in the study, revealed how easy they had found it to settle in.

Denmark was dead last when it comes to the ease of making friends, 64th for being made to feel welcome and 60th for the perceived friendliness of the locals. 
 
According to InterNations, “an astounding 68 percent” of foreigners in Denmark reported difficulty in making local friends. 
 
So is it true? What advice do you have for foreign nationals hoping to build social links with locals in Denmark?  Please take a minute to fill out the questionnaire.

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BUSINESS

The 14 struggling Danish towns given a break from regulation

Deserted town centres and struggling businesses are common traits in 14 Danish towns which will now be exempted from a number of regulations to give them a better chance of revival.

The 14 struggling Danish towns given a break from regulation

The 14 towns will be “set free” from certain rules and regulations in a trial scheme aimed at reviving them after years of decline.

The launch of the scheme was announced by the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs on Friday, and means that, for example, towns will be permitted to give extra subsidies to business owners who want to rent currently-empty town centre units.

They will also be allowed to cut down protected forest if it has taken the form of scrub and stops the town from feeling congruous; and to rent out empty commercial premises as housing in town centres.

The towns included in the trial are: Assens, Faaborg, Grindsted, Hornslet, Ikast, Nordborg, Nykøbing Sjælland, Odder, Otterup, Rødekro, Rønne, Sakskøbing, Støvring and Vamdrup, after their applications to the trial scheme were accepted.

A political agreement from 2021 paved the way for the new deregulation scheme the towns will hope to benefit from. The scheme is reported to cost the government 130 million kroner.

“I’m very much looking forward to seeing the result. I hope that this will be a part of what puts more life into the centre of medium-sized Danish towns,” the minister for rural districts Louise Schack Elholm said in a statement.

“This is a number of different initiatives, nine in total, that we are making as legal exemptions,” Elholm said.

Some 32 towns initially applied for the scheme.

“It’s incredibly good to see how many municipalities are interested in getting more life into their town centres. The plan was for 10 towns to be selected but there were so many good projects that we agreed on 14 towns,” she said.

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