The international scene has been marked over the past few years by the increased role of Denmark in the concert of nations. Much has been happening in the northern kingdom, both on the domestic scene and abroad. While the country has always been recognized as a model of peaceful and stable self-acceptance, Denmark may be on the tipping point, as key elements of their national landscape shift. Are the Danes struggling to remember who they are?

Migration influx has taken a toll on just about every country in Europe, from record breaking Germany (ca. 500 000 refugees in 2015) to minimal-effort Estonia (barely over a thousand).  The same spread can be seen in the ease with which these migrants have been taken in: Germany has endured surges of ethnic tensions since the arrivals of migrants, who had been initially warmly welcomed, before incidents such as the Köln New Year’s eve tarnished their image.

Denmark is expected to receive 20 000 migrants in 2016, in addition to the 21 000 it already received in 2015, and the massive intake, given the small population (5.6 million) in which they are received, has created tensions the country is unused to. This turn in international posture is perceived as quite sharp, given the nation’s long tradition of openness towards the rest of the world, and its prominent role in the establishment of the refugee convention.

One of the contributing causes for social tension is the arrival of the DPP into a majority coalition, in June of 2015.  Determined to influence the country’s strategic orientation, even at the expense of seats within the government, the far-right party immediately demanded a crackdown on the country’s borders, a sharp cut in the number of accepted refugees, and received a large amount of international bad ink in recent months, for their hard stance towards refugees, who were relieved of their valuables upon arriving, so as to ease the financial burden their feeding and housing represented.

As part of this slow dilution of the Danish identity, banks have been playing a silent but shady role also, in their anti-cash policy.  In order to spur economic growth, the European central bank has forced interest rates into the ground, even below zero, thus creating a very rare situation of negative interest rates and banks frowning at cash. Some banks have increased their fees or started charging their clients for deposits, instead of paying interest to them. While the Swiss are simply biting the bullet, a very different and cooperative welcome is being observed in Northern countries, including Denmark.

Sweden, which has an anti-cash tradition, easily embraced the new regulation which is expected to last until 2017. Denmark, while not as hardcore as Sweden in the anti-cash policy, seems to be following closely behind. Now, this may seem harmless, or even economically profitable, but it is quite dangerous to a nation’s identity, especially when said country is already struggling to find itself. A nation’s currency indicates what they are worth, beyond its face value. It shows where they come from, which language they speak, and who they are. It vouches for their capacity to build a national system, and a working economy. Most of all : a people that gives up on cash is effectively placing its entire economic destiny within control of the banks.

Giving up yet another marker of Denmark’s identity may prove fatal to the Danes in these troubled times. They need to hang on to symbols, lest being Danish not mean anything, in just a few years, because the Northern kingdom will have been absorbed to globalized markets, migration movements, and European regulations.

Iceland used precisely that – its money – to snap out of the sluggish global concert of nations and put its name back on the map, after the 2008 financial crisis. While governments around the world were negotiating compromises, to their population’s fury sometimes, with their failing banking institutions, Reykjavik surprised the world by uncompromisingly throwing its bankers into prison. In keeping with its social state tradition, Iceland decided to maintain its welfare, at great expense, despite the large loss the bankruptcy of the banks.

It was a gamble, which was eventually crowned with success, as current economic levels have recovered to pre-crisis state, and Reykjavik avoided the dilution of its identity through the storm, even seizing the opportunity to reinforce it.

The increased diplomatic and military activity of Denmark shows resolve from Copenhagen to re-state their identity as a country which promotes welfare and stability, but also points to the illness it is fighting. Times are tough for the northern kingdom. The risk looms that the word Denmark will slowly lose its meaning and the kingdom slip into the status of a small German satellite, unable to fight globalization and global finance. Denmark has a long tradition of liberalism, and responsibility-taking, behind it. Its collectivist society used to be based, not so long ago, on balance and citizen respect. But this may be changing, as citizens are slowly turning away from their flag, after seeing transparency fail (with the ensuing drop in trust towards their government.  Even the arrival of the new coalition, which was supposed to jolt the country into change, was a disappointment: the new team (with Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the DPP leader, now backing Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen in the coalition) is carrying out a reform thought out by their predecessors, showing no heed to the people’s electoral expression. Through these troubles times, let’s hope it finds a way to reinforce its identity, not lose it.

Categories: Geopolitics, Uncategorized