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Danish far-right party accused of antisemitism over elderly care remarks

Far-right Danish party Nye Borgerlige (New Right) was criticised on Monday after one of its lawmakers suggested it is acceptable to refuse help from home carers if they are Jewish or gay. The party denied it supports discrimination in the care sector.

Published: 18 October 2022 11:45 CEST
Danish far-right party accused of antisemitism over elderly care remarks
Member of parliament with the Nye Borgerligeparty, Mette Thiesen. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

One of Nye Borgerlige’s (“New Right” in English) four MPs, Mette Thiesen, responded to a question on a radio programme by saying it was okay for an elderly person to refuse care from anyone they did not want in their home, even if the refusal was based on that person being Jewish or gay.

Speaking to DR’s P1 Morgen programme, Thiesen was asked whether it would be acceptable to for people who receive home care to refuse a carer if that person was, for example, Jewish or gay.

In response, she said that “very generally, as an elderly person you must have the option to say ‘no’ to people who are entering your home”.

Pelle Dragsted, a former member of parliament with the left wing Red Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) party, tweeted the radio clip, writing “it is very, very concerning that there is a party that thinks antisemitic views should be a legitimate reason to refuse carers”.

In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen wrote that “Nye Borgelige apparently think that you should be able to refuse elderly care staff – including based on homosexuality, or if they are Jewish”.

“That is a proposal which is destructive for all societies, including the Danish one,” she wrote, adding that staff should be “judged on their qualifications. Nothing else.”

Nye Borgerlige leader Pernille Vermund subsequently said the far-right party “has not proposed Jewish and homosexual people should be kept out of home social care”, but that elderly people should always be able to decide who they allow into their home.

“The rules today are already such that it’s the elderly person alone who decides who they want to let into their home”, she added.

“We think that Jews, Muslims and homosexuals can be just as good carers as anyone else and there is no objective reason to reject a carer because of religion or sexual orientation alone,” she wrote in a blog post.

She added that elderly persons should be allowed to decide who they allow into their homes but that they cannot expect local authorities to provide an alternative carer should they turn someone away.

The Nye Borgerlige party wants to tighten Denmark’s immigration laws and hold a referendum on EU membership. It entered the Danish parliament at the 2019 election, establishing itself as part of the ‘blue bloc’ of allied parties on the right of Danish politics.

The party is projected to gain around four seats at the election according to current polling.

READ ALSO: ‘Bloc politics’: A guide to understanding parliamentary elections in Denmark

Thiesen’s comment is linked to an earlier discussion during Denmark’s election build-up, in which a similar question was posed in relation to carers who wear the Muslim head scarf, hijab.

After another far-right party, the Danish People’s Party, said it would support new rules allowing elderly people to refuse care from staff who wear the hijab, other conservative parties said they did not share that stance.

At the time, Vermund said that her party did not want a change in the rules, as existing rules already allowed for free choice in the area.

“There’s nothing new in this. The rules are already such that it’s the free choice of the individual, firstly whether they want home care, and secondly who they want to provide that care,” party leader Pernille Vermund said.

“This isn’t something we’re proposing,” Vermund said, calling the issue a “strange discussion” and “something that came up based on a question from a journalist”.

READ ALSO: Do Danish conservative parties support refusal of carers who wear the hijab?

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SOCIAL DEMOCRATS

EXPLAINED: How immigration speech has split Denmark’s Social Democrats

A speech about immigration and integration, given by a member of Denmark’s ruling Social Democrats in parliament, has caused an uproar among local party representatives but the party leadership, including Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, is sticking to its guns.

Published: 25 April 2024 17:03 CEST
EXPLAINED: How immigration speech has split Denmark’s Social Democrats

Internal dispute within Denmark’s Social Democrats has gained pace and drawn comments from Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, after one of the party’s MPs recently made a divisive speech in parliament.

Frederik Vad, who is the immigration spokesperson with the party, the senior partner in the coalition government, said earlier this month during a speech in parliament that Denmark’s immigration debate had to make an “admission”.

“That is an admission that work, education, a house, participation in associations and a clean criminal record are not enough on their own if you are also using your position to undermine Danish society from within,” Vad said.

“A parallel society is no longer a housing area in [underprivileged area] Ishøj. A could alos be a table at the canteen in a state agency or a pharmacy in [affluent] North Zealand,” he said, using the term used to refer to areas of the country subject to special integration laws.

To qualify as ‘parallel societies’, housing areas must have a population of more than 1,000 people, of which more than half are of “non-Western” origin, and must fulfil two of four criteria. For areas with fewer than 50 percent ‘non-Western’ populations, another term – ‘vulnerable area’ – is used instead.

The comments have received criticism from local Social Democratic politicians, initially more junior politicians such as town councillors and later gaining momentum with some city mayors speaking out against Vad, as reported by broadcaster DR.

“Frederik Vad is stigmatising a large part of the population that consists of well-educated, well-integrated and active citizens who contribute to Denmark every single day,” Musa Kekec, a Social Democratic member of the municipal council in Ballerup, told DR.

“We do not appreciate it. It is creating a new myth that integration has failed and that it’s no longer good enough to get an education, speak Danish, contribute to society and have a job – more is required,” he said.

Kekec is one of 18 elected local Social Democratic officials to have sent a letter to the party leadership earlier this week, objecting to Vad’s position.

“It’s important for us to show that we disagree with the rhetoric and suspicion being spread on the part of Frederik Vad,” Kekec said.

The internal conflict over the issue between parliamentary and local Social Democratic politicians is unusual in a party known for a culture in which all members loyally stick to the course set out by party leadership.

Merete Amdisen, the mayor of Ishøj – the municipality singled out by Vad in his comments – was the first mayor to publicly reject them, but several others have since added their voices to the dissent.

“I think you should think very carefully when you speak about people who go to work every single day, look after their children, integrate themselves in society and take part in our associations, in fact do everything we want them to, and who we also happen to need on our labour market,” Gladsaxe mayor Trine Græse told DR.

“I was actually offended – not personally, because I’m not in the target group. But when I heard what he said, I thought ‘that’s not a nice thing for him to say’,” she said.

“Christiansborg politicians should use their powerful voices with consideration and respect for others. Generalisations and pointing the finger at citizens with a different ethnic background as potentially dangerous are the wrong way to go,” the mayor of Furesø, Ole Bondo Christensen said.

In comments earlier this week, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said there was “full support” for Vad from the party leadership.

“There is an ongoing immigration debate within the Social Democrats and in Denmark, but the Social Democrats stand firm on the immigration policy that is currently being pursued in Denmark,” the PM told DR.

“I do not see any stigmatising comments from Frederik. I think he does a good job of pointing out that — of course — you cannot speak generally about everyone. On the contrary, many [immigrants] are doing very well. But those who, for example, commit crime, violence, or are members of [Islamist organisation] Hizb ut-Tahrir, are against our democracy. That is a lack of integration and we must then be able to discuss it,” she said.

Vad has not presented any data to support the claim that people of non-Western immigrant backgrounds with high levels of education and employment are involved in activities of the kind described by Frederiksen.

The junior Social Democratic MP defended his comments by saying they were not a deviation from the existing party line.

“That line is that we have a few problems in some pockets of our society with some people who are educated, have a job and a clean criminal record, yet bring some values ​​with them to work which are problematic,” he said to DR.

“It makes me sad if there are people in the party who think I said something wrong. Personally, I don’t think I have. I made a nuanced statement,” he said.

“People who make an effort, work their socks off, and integrate [into society] with their children should receive nothing but respect and equality,” he said.

“But the people who insist on bringing a culture of honour to work, or who don’t think you need to subscribe to women’s freedom and equality to be part of this society, should see nothing but a hammer falling,” he said.

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