Nordic liberals take harder line on migrants to win votes

World

Nordic liberals take harder line on migrants to win votes

The Associated Press

June 26, 2019 08:09 AM

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Leaders of left-wing parties in Denmark say they will back the center-left Social Democrats, with left to right, Pia Olsen Dyhr of the The Socialist People’s Party, Pernille Skipper of The Red-Green Alliance, Mette Frederiksen of The Danish Social Democrats and Morten Oestergaard of The Social Liberal Party address the media after finalizing the government negotiations shortly after midnight at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark, early Wednesday June 26, 2019. Frederiksen announced that The Danish Social Democrats will form a minority government backed by three other left-wing parties.


Ritzau Scanpix via AP

Mads Claus Rasmussen


COPENHAGEN, Denmark

In Scandinavia, there’s a new type of socially conscious liberal — one that wants tighter restrictions on immigration.

Left-wing parties in Denmark and Sweden that historically defended humanitarian values and generous welfare systems have shifted positions since the latest wave of mass migration to Europe peaked in 2015. The transformation is serving them well.

Denmark’s Social Democratic Party won a June 5 election after embracing restrictive immigration policies, a pragmatic tactic that involved moving away from two decades of relatively liberal policies and returning to its anti-migrant roots..

Karina Kosiara-Pedersen, an associate professor at Copenhagen University, said “the Social Democrats have basically placed themselves where they see the majority of voters.”

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Now, the political scientist says people far beyond Denmark are asking if that is “the cure that other Social Democratic parties can turn to?”

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