What did we learn this week?
More people working, wages rising faster than prices, and we’re spending more.
Homeschooling has increased 6x+ in a decade, from ~400 children in 2016 to 2,500 in 2026.
“Welcome September” events for internationals have started.
Letter from the editor
On Thursday morning I got a very interesting call that I want to share with you.
A former local political candidate with an international background reached out after reading last week’s letter. He wanted to know why the Danish parties changed their tune so severely between the last local elections and now. If during the local elections they showered internationals with attention, the entire endeavor died after election day. He also shared with me his thoughts of internationals having their own party.
As someone active in Danish politics for more than a decade, I had opinions.
My answer to him was that politics in Denmark have two main traits: pragmatism and transactionalism. Being deeply rooted in participatory democracy, the agenda and who gets elected have always been determined by the people who show up.
People who show up at the General Assembly. People who show up on election day. People who conjure up projects or interventions and get the ball rolling. People who show up.
Unfortunately, despite the many campaigns targeting internationals, a revolution hasn’t yet happened, and the parties noticed. We didn’t show up as expected, and they understood the message. Why bother fighting to gain us as voters or fear losing us? They realized they can make laws about us without worrying about us.
This became very clear to me when I saw a TV interview with one of the politicians from the main governing party, the Social Democrats. She didn’t even bother to give a real explanation of why they froze citizenship until… (no deadline for the foreseeable future). You could see it in her expression that her party, although co-founded by internationals and a political home for many of us for decades, has moved on.
So is this the end? Absolutely not. It just means we need to do more than complain. (I know, I know, complaining is a clear sign of integration.) The Danish system’s biggest strength is that it will allow anyone who organizes to gain influence. No discrimination there.
So is creating a party for internationals the solution? Honestly, there is no one solution, but rather a mix of initiatives to get the ball rolling. Join the Our Voice movement, join a Danish political party, or start a new party or movement. All are valid. The key is for more internationals to take responsibility and participate.
No Danish? No problem. No time? You can find time. No ideas for the future? Live in the present and maybe leave the place better for the next generations. Look, I know it can be exhausting to get involved, but believe me: you can create wonders with a bit of volunteer time.
And perhaps there is a bigger question here. How often have you heard an international say: “In the end, it’s their country, their rules”? I have heard it countless times. But if the goal of integration is eventually to make you see this country as yours too, then something hasn’t quite worked. At what point does Denmark stop being “their country” and become “our country”?
Because integration cannot only mean learning Danish, finding a job, understanding the rules, and adapting ourselves to Denmark. At some point, integration must also mean believing that we have the right (and perhaps even the responsibility) to help shape what Denmark becomes.
Sometimes I wonder what happened to our pioneer spirit that got us here in the first place. Could the many years spent here dull that sense in us? I mean, all internationals are primed to lead, build, and take initiative. It’s in our blood. Somehow, we found the courage to build a life in another country. Surely some of that courage can also be used to help shape the country we now live in.
I obviously don’t have THE solution to our shared societal challenge. Maybe nobody does. But I am increasingly convinced that waiting for someone else to solve it isn’t the answer.
Not everyone needs to become a politician. Not everyone needs to start a movement. One person can join a party. Another can volunteer in an association. Someone can attend a general assembly. Someone can write. Someone can organize. Someone can simply remember to vote.
So let’s start by rediscovering the strength that allowed us to come here. The burden is not on one of us, but on all of us. And, whether our actions are big or small, we can all DO SOMETHING about it.
Thank you for reading and sharing Last Week in Denmark!
Narcis George Matache, Executive Editor, LWID
Our long-form articles this week…
AI is Coming for the Half of the Middle Manager’s Job They Do Best, by Florin Lungu
The Cultural Explorer’s Diary: Bring a Brick, Not a Cathedral – What Improv Can Teach You Outside the Classroom, by Paulina Stachnik
Why Denmark Became Europe’s Go-To Wedding Destination by Anna Gáll
Want to dig deeper into the latest news? Check out the Last Week in Denmark podcast. New episodes drop on all podcast apps and YouTube every Wednesday. Follow now so you don’t miss it.
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Image(s) of the Week
📸A rare-looking white fallow deer has been spotted wandering through a Danish plantation.
📸Denmark woke up to a copper-coloured Moon this week.
Danish Politics HQ
New laws
🌀 Greenlandic women subjected to contraception without their consent can now receive 300,000 DKK in compensation from the Danish state. Parliament has adopted a compensation scheme covering women who were subjected to IUDs or other contraception without consent in Greenland or Denmark between 1960 and 1991. Around 4,500 women could be eligible, with applications handled by Patienterstatningen until September 2028. The scheme follows Denmark’s acknowledgement of the Spiral Case, in which thousands of Greenlandic women and girls were given contraception without informed consent.
Law proposals
🌊 A major dispute is growing over Denmark’s new rules to reduce nitrogen pollution from agriculture. Farmers argue the 2027 rules are being rushed through before they know how individual farms will be affected, while environmental groups warn that delays will worsen conditions in Danish fjords and coastal waters. The issue is also dividing Venstre (Liberals), which helped negotiate the historic Green tripartite agreement while it was still in government. Nearly 3,000 farmers are gathering for an emergency meeting in Odense on Monday, while the government is standing firm and has set aside 1.23 billion DKK to compensate farmers for losses.
Political scene
🌹 SF leader Pia Olsen Dyhr is facing her first major political crisis after 12 years of mostly steady success. Since taking over the SF (Green Left), she has rebuilt it from crisis into Denmark’s second-largest party and finally brought it back into government. But the decision to hire an adviser who had previously left the party over inappropriate behavior triggered heavy criticism and questions about her judgment and crisis management. A new poll shows a sharp fall in how trustworthy voters consider her.
⛪ After two months, Parliament will not get its own resident priest after all. The original idea was that MPs should have access to a priest connected more directly to Christiansborg. Critics argued that this blurred the line between church and democracy and gave Christianity a special position inside Parliament. The compromise is much smaller: MPs will receive a phone number they can call if they want to speak with a priest, and the conversation can then be arranged elsewhere.
🇩🇰 Venstre (Liberals) considered tougher citizenship rules than those it presented to the public. An internal draft accidentally sent to DR shows that the party discussed requiring citizenship applicants to provide “character witnesses” who could vouch for their commitment. It also considered limiting citizenship for people from non-Western countries to around 250 per year. Both proposals were removed four days before Venstre presented its citizenship plan, and the party says it has no plans to introduce them. Denmark is currently not granting new citizenships because there is no longer a parliamentary majority behind the existing citizenship agreement, leaving more than 16,000 applicants waiting.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
🥚 Eggs in Denmark can often be eaten well past the date on the carton. Fødevarestyrelsen says refrigerated eggs can easily last up to two months, potentially longer. The EU-wide date also accounts for countries where eggs are not refrigerated, while Denmark keeps them cold throughout the supply chain.
♻️ Not everything that looks like plastic belongs in the plastic container. Soft PVC products such as inflatable pools, rubber boots, shower curtains, and air mattresses cannot be recycled or safely incinerated and should instead go to landfill. Aarhus waste company Kredsløb is even renaming the category “things for burial” to make this clearer.
⏰ The classic 8-to-16-day may not suit everyone. An expert in chronobiology says schools and workplaces should take people’s biological rhythms more seriously instead of assuming everyone performs best early in the morning. Teenagers naturally tend to fall asleep and wake up later, which is why Ølgod Efterskole has introduced a later start on Tuesdays. The wider point is that flexible meeting times and fewer assumptions about “morning people” could improve both well-being and productivity.
🤝 117 children in North Denmark are waiting for a volunteer adult friend. The organization Børns Voksenvenner is looking for more adults who can spend time with children who may be missing another stable person in their lives. Someone to go to the playground with, bake a cake, watch a film, or simply talk to. The organization says the relationship can make a big difference for children, while volunteers often find it equally meaningful.
🏠 Homeschooling has increased more than sixfold in Denmark in a decade, from around 400 children in 2015/16 to 2,500 in 2025/26. Politicians now want Denmark to investigate how homeschooled children fare later in education and life. Meanwhile, another debate concerns national school tests after a mother received permission for her children not to participate; parents do not normally have an automatic right to opt their children out.
🍻 Young people are drinking less than before, but alcohol still plays a very big role in student life. A new survey from the Cancer Society and TrygFonden shows that Denmark remains among the European countries where young people drink the most. Nearly one in four students in upper-secondary education and more than one in four in higher education say alcohol takes up too much space in their school or study life, while more than half report having felt pressured to drink more than they wanted. Some schools are now experimenting with alcohol-free spaces at parties.
⛪ A young priest wants feminist theology to play a bigger role in the National Church. Mia Schmidt-Mikkelsen, known for reaching younger audiences on TikTok, says she regularly receives comments arguing that women should remain silent or that Christianity only supports traditional gender roles. She argues that confirmation classes should do more to show young people that the Bible has been interpreted in many different ways, including from feminist and queer perspectives.
🏝️ A young family has swapped their old life for a new one on an island with 100 residents. Lærke and Matias had never even visited Lyø before deciding to move there, take over the local grocery shop, and start again with a new home and a new kindergarten for their son. For the islanders, the shop is much more than a place to buy food: it is essential for daily life and keeping the island attractive to new residents. Until the couple arrived, locals had even been taking turns running the shop themselves to prevent it from closing.
🚢 Could cruise ships become temporary student housing in Copenhagen? A local politician proposes using ships for around three months after the start of the academic year, when demand for student housing is at its highest. His idea is that cabins could provide a short-term bridge until dorm rooms become available on land. A ship engineer says the proposal could be extremely expensive once charter costs and port fees are included, estimating rents as high as 15,000–20,000 DKK per month for a small cabin.
Danish Economics HQ
Our money
💰 More people are working, wages are rising faster than prices, and we are spending more. Denmark added 3,600 wage earners in June, bringing the total to around 3.09 million, while wages were 3.2% higher in Q2 than a year earlier. With inflation at 1.7% in July, average wages are currently growing faster than prices. That improving purchasing power may also be showing up in the shops: retail sales increased 1.3% from June to July, marking the third consecutive monthly rise.
🔥 A 1.5 billion DKK gas pipeline to Lolland-Falster is becoming a warning about expensive infrastructure. The pipeline opened in 2024 and was intended to support local industry and reduce emissions, but its biggest customer, the sugar factory in Nakskov, will stop production in 2027. With Danish gas consumption expected to decline, the economics now look even weaker. The cost will not simply disappear: gas infrastructure is financed through charges paid by gas users across Denmark, so fewer customers could mean a heavier burden on the remaining large consumers.
🚗 Carpooling is becoming a serious alternative to buses for young people in rural areas. Public transport outside the larger cities has declined significantly: scheduled service hours in rural areas are down 13.4% since 2016, while around 180,000 people live more than 2.8 km from their nearest stop. A two-year trial in the Central Denmark Region subsidized drivers with 10 DKK per passenger for journeys over 10 km and was considered successful. The government has already allocated 100 million DKK for improving rural public transport.
🏘️ A mayor on Mors wants us to rethink how money follows people when young adults move away. Morsø Municipality is facing around 50 million DKK in cuts, while its tax base is shrinking and the share of elderly residents is growing. The mayor has floated a “football model:” when a young person leaves a smaller municipality for a bigger city, some money should follow back to the municipality that paid for much of their education. He admits the idea is deliberately provocative but argues that our current municipal equalization system does not sufficiently account for aging and depopulation.
State of the markets
🍔 The competition watchdog wants to take Wolt to court for abusing its dominant market position. The Danish Competition Council says Wolt broke the competition law in three ways between 2022 and 2024. Among other things, restaurants were not allowed to offer lower prices through their own sales channels, while Wolt could give discounts without informing them and could compensate unhappy customers by up to 400 DKK at the restaurant’s expense. The Council argues these terms harmed competition and shifted too much risk onto restaurants. Wolt disputes the decision.
🧱 LEGO has broken another sales record, growing much faster than the global toy market. The company sold 41.9 billion DKK worth of products in the first half of 2026. Sales grew by 21%. LEGO credits the result to a constant stream of new products and major partnerships, including Formula 1, the FIFA World Cup, and Pokémon. Adults are also becoming an increasingly important customer group: around 20% of LEGO’s products are now aimed at adults.
🚕 Uber must sell off a significant part of Dantaxi after the competition authority intervened over fears of higher taxi prices. The Competition Council has approved Uber’s acquisition of Dantaxi only on the condition that Uber sells one of Dantaxi’s two dispatch operations. The authority concluded that without intervention, the merger could reduce competition, lead to higher prices for passengers, worsen conditions for taxi operators, and make it harder for new competitors to enter the market.
Entrepreneurship
💻 Small and medium businesses (SMV) can soon apply for up to 50,000 DKK for cybersecurity and digitalization advice. The next SMV:Digital funding round opens 28 September and covers 50% of the cost of external consultancy. Cybersecurity projects will be prioritized, including risk assessments and action plans, although other digitalization projects can also qualify.
International Community HQ
🇺🇦 Denmark is tightening the special residence scheme for Ukrainians in two ways. Ukrainian men aged 23–60 covered by mobilization rules will generally need to document an exemption from military service to qualify, while the government also wants to exclude future applicants coming from 14 Ukrainian regions considered less affected by the war. The latter proposal is partly intended to reduce pressure on municipalities, which currently host around 47,000 Ukrainians. The proposed regional restriction will not affect Ukrainians already living in Denmark under the special scheme.
Community Noticeboard
ParentLab Salon 📍25Hours Hotel Copenhagen | 🗓 Wednesday, September 2, 11:00–12:30 (and more) | Baby-friendly, parent-focused conversations in English. 🔗 Sign up
Pathways to Find a (Student) Job 📍 CREATE, Aalborg | 🗓 Monday, August 31 | Advice for new international students on finding student jobs in Denmark, based on experiences and best practices from former students. 🔗 More information
Newcomer Café 📍 Hjørring Library | 🗓 Wednesday, September 2 | Meet other newcomers over coffee, practice Danish, and build your local network in an informal setting. 🔗 More information
Newcomers’ Info Webinar 📍 Online / Aarhus | 🗓 Thursday, September 3, 10:00–12:00 | A practical introduction for internationals who recently moved or are preparing to move to Aarhus. 🔗 Sign up
Diversity Evening 📍 Aalborg Zoo | 🗓 Thursday, September 3 | Aalborg Zoo, the municipality’s Integration Council and International House North Denmark invite international residents and residents with other ethnic backgrounds to an evening at the zoo. 🔗 More information
Newcomer Café: The Living Room 📍 International House Esbjerg | 🗓 Thursday, September 3, 17:00–19:00 | A relaxed meetup for newcomers, established internationals, and Danes to meet people, ask questions, and build a local network.
Lyngby Day / International Welcome Day 📍 Lyngby-Taarbæk City Hall | 🗓 Friday, September 4 | Meet local ambassadors, learn how associations and clubs can help you connect with Danes, and discover opportunities for getting involved in the local community. 🔗 Sign up
Chat in Danish – Sculpture Park Walk 📍 Hollufgaard Skulpturpark, Odense | 🗓 Sunday, September 6, 14:00–16:00 | Practice Danish while walking and talking among the sculptures at Hollufgaard. The free event is organized by International House Odense and is open for registration.
Global Festival 2026 📍Axeltorv, Nakskov | 🗓 September 18-19 | Global Festival brings two days of music, dance, food, culture, community building, and cross-cultural exchange. 🔗 More information here.
➕ Hosting something relevant to internationals in Denmark? Send it to us at noticeboard@lwid.dk
Denmark in Global Headlines
⚖️ Denmark backs International Criminal Court after new US sanctions - Anadolu
💄 Danish PM hits back at unsolicited cosmetic surgery advice - The Guardian
🗣️ Danish PM warns Europe of an “enemy growing from within” over migration - News24 Australia
🇵🇸 Denmark joins international declaration opposing Israeli West Bank settlement plan - Anadolu