Royal Danish Embassy – Washington, D.C.

Danish Youth Falling Behind in Education
A report on education “Education at a Glance 2002” from OECD presented in London on October 29 finds that Danish youth is less likely to get a higher education than youth in the surrounding countries that Denmark usually compares itself with. The main conclusion drawn in the report is that Denmark is falling behind, and the figures show that Denmark comes in last of the 17 surveyed countries. This development may be dangerous for the Danish economy because businesses will usually locate themselves where they can find qualified labor and where tax conditions are good. “This development may be seen as a warning sign”, says Bjarne Lundager Jensen from the Confederation of Danish Industries. The Danish Minister for Education Ulla Tørnæs says that the situation may be related to the low unemployment rate. Young people would rather get out of school, get a job, and earn money, and getting a job is easy at the moment.

Muslim Convicted for Threats against Jews
A Danish court has sentenced the spokesperson for the Muslim extremist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Fadi Ahmad Abdullatif, to 60 days’ suspended imprisonment for his statements about Jews. This spring Hizb-ut-Tahrir sent flyers out trying to reach as many Muslims as possible accusing Jews for among other things lying and killing innocents. The flyer also implied that the Muslims should “kill them, wherever you find them” which was a quote from the Koran. The Danish court decided that it was a violation of the so-called “racial paragraph” in the penal code. Abdullatif immediately appealed. The Danish Attorney General, Henning Fode, said in a press release after the trial that he would await the outcome of this case before deciding whether to try to dissolve the group through a court decision, which is possible according to the Danish constitution.

The Danish film “Open Hearts” Recommended for Oscar-nomination
A committee appointed by The Danish Film Institute and The Danish Film Academy announced on Tuesday, October 29 that it has selected Susanne Bier’s “Elsker dig for evigt” (“Open Hearts” in English) for the 2003 Oscar Awards. Every year each nation is given the opportunity to recommend a film for nomination in the category Best Foreign Language Film. Whether or not the film eventually gets nominated is up to a committee from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Elsker dig for evigt” has received very good reviews for instance in Variety and in the Internet magazine ScreenDaily.com. The final 5 nominees will be announced on February 11th and the Oscar show is on March 23rd.

Bicycling on the Rise in Denmark
New figures from the Danish Road Directorate show that more and more of the already energetic Danes use the bicycle. According to the figures, 8.3 percent more people used the bicycle in the second quarter of this year as compared to the second quarter last year. The Danish Bicycle Union is of course pleased with the increase, although they do not have an explanation for it. Information Officer Ib Roslund of the Danish Bicycle Union suggests to the daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende that the good weather this year may be the reason, and especially as far as the capital Copenhagen is concerned, the increase may be caused by practical reasons as conditions for motorists are getting more difficult in the city. Statistics from Copenhagen Municipality show an increase in cyclists of 31 percent during the period 1995-2001.

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Royal Danish Embassy – Washington, D.C.

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Popular destinations

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Billund (Syddanmark)

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