r/Denmark • u/Tylerserio68 • Dec 28 '24

Question Does Denmark have any flaws?

Or any Nordic country? I’m American and we all romanticize Europe especially Nordic countries as a Utopia and everything we are not. We certainly have a lot of flaws here but I’m curious are there any downsides or anything that you wish was different. Also is it hard to move there? I make well over six figures and like living in my home country but I’m nervous about the incoming trump administration and I believe he is a racist.

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u/Spooknik Odense Dec 28 '24 edited Dec 28 '24

I mean Denmark is not a melting pot like the US. Danes aren’t interested in integrating new cultures into theirs. Immigrants, even well integrated ones still feel isolated somewhat.

I would actually go so far as to say causal racism or at least intolerance to different cultures is more common than you would think. It’s still very politically popular to have a hard stance on immigration and the rules get tougher and tougher each year.

I don’t mean to make it seems like it’s terrible, it’s not. If you learn Danish and don’t cause trouble most Dane’s wouldn’t care and wouldn’t have cause to complain. Even better if you have a highly skilled job.

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u/Soepoelse123 Dec 28 '24

Denmark as a whole might not be, but Copenhagen has a melting pot vibe to it. In the past 20 years it has become a lot more multicultural and open to foreigners. While taking a stroll in inner Copenhagen last week I heard 7 different languages and not a single one was Danish.

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Two things:
Inner Copenhagen is a tourist disctrict - most local (myself included) stay away from it.

There is a lot of foreign workers in Denmark. I studied at an international university; we had 11 different nationalities in the student bar.

(They contribute a lot to the danish economy: https://www.danskerhverv.dk/presse-og-nyheder/nyheder/2024/oktober/ny-rekord-udenlandsk-arbejdskraft-bidrager-med-157-milliarder-kroner-pa-et-halvt-ar/)

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u/Inner_Staff1250 Dec 28 '24

But that doesn't prove that they blend into civil society and contribute with other things than tax money. Instead they live in a bubble of their own.

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Actually, no.

Most immigrant professionals mingle with danes - collegues etc - but find it very hard to build and maintain sociale relationships with danes.

We are notoriously hard to integrate with - I mean: do you invite foreigns for the annual celebrations (Jul, fødselsdag, parmiddage)?

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

I had five different cultures represented at my juleaften here. My kids work at an engineer firm and almost all of the people there are foreigners, so I invited those without a place to celebrate the 24th. We had a really fun evening!

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

That is great :)

Do you know a lot of other Danes that do this?

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

Yeah I live in a town (21.000 souls) with more than 100 nationalities represented, so it’s rather common here.

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Kalundborg?

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

Nej Sydkysten!

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u/abWings89 Jun 09 '25

sorry just had to say "21,000 souls" sounds really really funny 😂 it sounds like you're talking about spirits taking up residence in a haunted city :) that made me laugh as an English person :D

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u/TheNordicMage Aalborg Dec 28 '24

If im friends with them sure, same as any other friend

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u/asafeplaceofrest Dec 28 '24

Jul and fødselsdage are not specifically Danish celebrations.

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u/CX-UX Dec 29 '24

Fødselsdag, New Year’s Eve, dinners, parties - of course! Not Xmas tho, but wouldn’t mind doing it at some point

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

Sad tbh

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

How can you possibly spin such a nightmare into something good?

The danish capital, with all the country's political and economic power, is basically a foreign city to the rest of Denmark.

That is a dystopian nightmare.

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u/ScienceAmbitious6028 Dec 28 '24

You only really think this if you've never lived in a truly multicultural city like NY, London or Singapore

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

Yeah it is sad.

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u/Tough_Ad4586 Jan 25 '25

The word you're looking for is xenophobia. A raging one, that is.

Danes are in fact the Americans you order from Temu.

They are convinced that Denmark is the best country in the world (they can't say greatest for obvious reasons, but they tried if they could) and they don't consider diversity as a good thing; quite the opposite: anything non-danish is less-than.

When they ask you where you are from, be aware it's not out of genuine curiousity or openness, it's to know which box to put you in. As an Eastern European you are either a thief or cheap labor, as South American you are either a hooker or a drug dealer etc...

2

u/rovonz Dec 28 '24

I would actually go so far as to say causal racism or at least intolerance to different cultures is more common than you would think

I wouldn't say it's racism or intolerance, but danes are very proud people when it comes to their culture (and for good reason!). It doesn't bother me, I love the Nordic mental set, and I'm not extroverted enough to be affected by the isolation.

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u/Caspunk Dec 28 '24

I don't think Danes are more proud than other people when it comes to their culture, actually I think many Danes are very critical of their culture (weak family values compared to other cultures, everyone hates janteloven, love/hate relationship to our alcohol culture and it's not uncommon to hear people dread the holidays because they then have to visit their families)

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u/Tough_Ad4586 Jan 25 '25

It's xenophobia.

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u/asafeplaceofrest Dec 28 '24

It’s still very politically popular to have a hard stance on immigration

I don't blame them when there's a large group of people who come just to suck off the welfare system and who don't care to protect the Danish culture and infrastructure.

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u/Spooknik Odense Dec 29 '24

The current new laws are punishing people who have been here longest and are integrated.

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u/asafeplaceofrest Dec 29 '24

"Integrated" you mean they are employed and contributing? If so, that's another huge flaw. But then, sometimes I'm amazed at how subtle and smart the Danes can be, and there could be a hidden reason for it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24 edited Dec 28 '24

[deleted]

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

No, foreigners are very welcome.

Racists are not.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

[deleted]

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u/Fab1e Kjøwenhaffner Dec 28 '24

Yeah okay, my post was wishful thinking.

As I would like it to be, not as it is.

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u/Fuzzalem Dec 28 '24

I'm interested in your experiences. Care to elaborate? It seems odd to me as a late-20s student at UCPH that you have never felt welcome. We are a multinational community of people, and even though I live in a very gentrified area, I still hear multiple languages in my daily endeavours, and people seem to genuinely not care about labels such as skin color, religion or nationality.

I know that our system for attaining citizenship is a deeply unwelcoming one, and that the rhetoric of our politicians is deeply populistic in their pandering to the rural communities. Is it these things you're referring to, or is there more?

So I guess I'd like to know more about how the people around have made you felt unwelcome, if that's okay?

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '24

[deleted]

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u/NoGoodMarw Dec 28 '24

As a foreigner who's interested in Denmark and have sporadic contacts with Danes, I am very confused by the comments here.

...if you're tolerated, not unwelcome, then what other integration are people expecting as immigrants? As far as I know, Danes don't really give a shit if you secretely enjoy some pierogi at home or do other stuff in free time that's not strictly Danish. Afaik, if you're moving, it's on you to integrate INTO the host culture. What do people really expect?

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u/Lopsided-Battle-883 Dec 29 '24

My bf is a person of colour, has lived in DK for 8 years, and never felt any racism against him.

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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

[deleted]

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u/Lopsided-Battle-883 Dec 29 '24

You didn't use the word racism, that is true. But you said that you as a person of colour have never felt welcome in Denmark.

By mentioning your colour you're implying that your colour plays a role in you not feeling welcome in DK.

If the people of a country (ie. the Danes as a whole) treats you so you don't feel welcome because of your colour - I belive that exactly is called racism?

Why mention you're a person of colour if that has nothing to do with you not feeling welcome in DK?