Why do governments across Europe want to copy Denmark's immigration policies?

"As far-right parties across Europe have grown in strength and come increasingly close to taking power in recent years, the Social Democrats have appeared to retain a relatively stable position as the dominant force in Danish politics. With Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen having won two elections, keeping the Social Democrats in power since 2019, Denmark is increasingly being looked to for political inspiration by parties on both the left and right -- most recently, Britain's Labour government."

"To understand the success of the Social Democrats, however, it is crucial to look at the similarities between them and the far right. After Denmark's far-right Danish People's Party took over a fifth of the votes in the 2015 parliamentary election which also saw the Social Democrats removed from power the latter party, a longstanding leader of the Danish left, significantly changed its immigration platform."

"Until this point, the Social Democrats largely espoused conventional centre left viewpoints, for example through a humanitarian approach to asylum and pro-integration stance towards refugees. This changed drastically under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen from 2015 onwards, culminating in it joining the then-centre right government and Danish People's Party (DF) in a so-called a paradigm shift on immigration in 2019."

Denmark's Social Democrats have maintained a relatively stable dominant position while far-right parties gained ground across Europe. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen won two elections and has kept the party in power since 2019. After the Danish People's Party took over a fifth of the votes in 2015 and removed the Social Democrats from power, the Social Democrats significantly changed their immigration platform. The party shifted from conventional centre left humanitarian and pro-integration positions to treating refugees as temporary and prioritizing return when home countries are deemed safe. The 2019 paradigm shift aligned the Social Democrats with the far right on asylum and immigration legislation, producing controversial status removals for some Syrians.

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