The Danish government has decided that from now on, migrants in Denmark will have to work to get financial support. In order to receive the social transfers, immigrants will have to do at least 37 hours of public work a week, the government announced on Tuesday. Given that this is a Social Democratic government, one would expect the parties with a similar worldview within the European Union to be supportive. However, this is not the case; namely, the president of the SD party and MEP Tanja Fajon has decided to continue to firmly defend her pro-migrant position and has made it clear that she does not agree with such policies.
The Danish government, which has set itself the goal of zero asylum applications, said that the plan was set up to facilitate the assimilation of migrants into society. “We want to introduce a new work logic where people are obliged to contribute and be useful, but if they cannot find a regular job, they have to work for the social support they are receiving,” the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen explained to the journalists. “We have been doing a disservice to many people for far too many years, as we have not demanded anything from them,” she added regarding the plan, which has yet to be approved by the legislature.
When one of the Twitter users asked the SD President Tanja Fajon if she supports the Danish measures and would be willing to transfer such methods to our country as well, she replied that the approach of the Danish Social Democratic government is not something that is close to her and that she is worried. “I have already pointed this problem out in internal discussions and also supported both the efforts of the Representation of the European Commission in Slovenia, which is examining whether the Danish measures are in line with the EU law, as well as the written question of the colleagues of the European Parliament in Slovenia on this topic,” she added.
A wave of criticism followed
As the MEP made it clear in her statement that she does not agree with the idea of having to work for money, a wave of criticism followed, similar to the following post: “I envy the Danes, … They have the Social Democrats who think and act in the same manner as the mayor of Ilirska Bistrica, Rojc, who was excluded from the Slovenian Social Democrats party… In Slovenia, however…!”; “Tanja is worried. Because living at the expense of Danish taxpayers is surely a right that exists somewhere.”; “The Danish Minister of Justice even said that Orban was right in 2015 and that Hungary is an example that the EU should follow in terms of dealing with migrants. Tanja will perish from worry.”; “Our Social Democrats want to take the EU money from the Danish Social Democrats. Namely, the Danish SD’s leadership of the government is not to the liking of members of our SD party. If this does not happen, some people might even come up with the idea that Janez Janša is not as bad, as he is leading our government in a manner that is similar to that of the Danish SD, and that cannot happen.”
The goal of the Danish government is to integrate 20 thousand people
Initially, these rules will apply to those who have been receiving the social transfers for three to four years and have not reached a certain level of schooling and fluency in the Danish language. According to the Danish government, six out of ten women from the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey do not participate in the Danish labour market. The goal of the government’s plan is to integrate 20 thousand people by finding them some form of work through local government offices. “It could be working on the beach, picking up cigarette butts or plastic… Or it could be helping with various tasks within a company,” said the Danish Employment Minister Peter Hummelgaard. “For us, the most important thing is for people to leave their homes,” he added.
Frederiksen’s government, which has been in power since 2019, has set itself a goal: no asylum applications, which, however, is not yet close to being realised. Namely, they received as many as 851 asylum applications between the 1st of January and the 31st of July this year alone. According to official statistics, 11 percent of Denmark’s 5.8 million people are immigrants, and 58 percent of them are citizens of a country that Copenhagen classifies as “non-Western.”
When former Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and Development Žiga Turk asked the president of the SD party if he understood her point correctly, so if she is worried because the migrants have to work in order to get help, Fajon replied with: “No Žiga. You did not understand my point correctly.” This response by the president of the SD party only further confused people, as most understood her critical comment in the sense that she is concerned that migrants will have to do something in order to receive the money. Given that it is more than clear that the failed integration of migrants from culturally different backgrounds has brought a whole host of problems to countries with large migrant populations, it is only logical that Denmark wants the trend to reverse and that the person who migrates to a certain country, has to adapt to the majority population if he or she is living at their expense.
But apparently, the Slovenian Social Democrats support a different practice. Given that it is common for parties with similar worldviews in the EU to support each other, this move is undoubtedly unusual. Anyhow, apparently, from now on, we will witness not only conflicts between the centre-right and the left parties on the European floor but also the internal struggles between similar parties. Will the European Union finally form a common migrant policy, or will we continue to listen to a bunch of separate statements that contribute to the undermining of the influence and reputation of the European Union?!
Sara Kovač
