Analysis: The new immigration policy value conflict could become explosive for the government.

**Analysis:** The new immigration policy value battle could become explosive for the government

What Danish values should be a requirement for obtaining Danish citizenship? That debate is a symbol of a new battleground in immigration policy, which could create cracks in the government.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also spoke about immigration policy on the program "Meet the Prime Minister" Tuesday evening. (Photo: © DR) Christine Cordsen ([email protected]) Political correspondent 29 minutes ago

"Social Democracy has killed immigration policy!"

That outcry was sent out by Morten Messerschmidt a few days ago on Facebook in an indignant post about the government's immigration policy.

Immigration policy is not quite dead. In fact, immigration policy leading up to and after the election in the spring has truly made a comeback on the political agenda.

Especially intense after Social Democracy entered government with the Socialist People's Party, the Moderates, and the Social Liberals, all of whom advocate for a softer line in immigration policy than the Social Democrats.

Social Democracy has for years held the analysis that government cooperation with the Social Liberals weakened the party on immigration policy. That analysis has now been taken over by the parties in the blue bloc, which have identified immigration policy as Social Democracy's weakest point.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democrats) repeats again and again – most recently on "Meet the Prime Minister" on DR Tuesday evening – that the strict immigration policy remains firm. Social Democracy will not give an inch.

It is also a fact that the Socialist People's Party and the Social Liberals have acknowledged that there is a very broad political and popular majority for strict immigration policy, and that they cannot change that. Especially not if they want to be in government with the Social Democrats.

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Social Democracy's new value battle

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That acknowledgment, however, applies especially to the part of immigration policy concerning asylum, immigration, family reunification, and criminals. For many years it was a heated debate; now there is broad agreement that the number of foreigners matters.

But immigration policy has moved into a new phase, which Social Democracy's value spokesperson Frederik Vad has called the "new value battle," and which Mette Frederiksen described on "Meet the Prime Minister" as a "confrontation with those who do not wish Denmark well" and those who "do not support the fundamental values in Denmark."

Right now, it specifically concerns the rules for who should be able to obtain Danish citizenship. The blue parties, like the Social Democrats, want to tighten the rules and create a method to screen applicants regarding their values and attitudes.

Mette Frederiksen described it on "Meet the Prime Minister" as a mechanism that should filter out applicants who "have attitudes that are very far from our fundamental democratic values."

The mechanism must be based on objective criteria, Mette Frederiksen stated. But what exactly those should be, the Prime Minister had more difficulty answering.

The model is not ready either. The government is awaiting a working group that will determine whether it is even possible to introduce such a screening.

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Mette Frederiksen: "It is difficult"

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Internally in the government, a compromise has been made. The Socialist People's Party, the Social Liberals, and the Moderates accept that a screening model should be developed. Social Democracy, in return, has agreed that applicants who were already approved under the current rules before the election will receive their citizenship, even if they cannot be screened.

That was what prompted Messerschmidt to accuse the Social Democrats of murdering immigration policy, and it will undoubtedly be a hot topic when the parties clash in the Folketing's opening debate on Thursday. Immigration policy is one of the issues that the blue bloc parties agree to target.

When the working group is ready later this year, we will see whether it is even possible to create a model for screening applicants, and whether the compromise within the government can hold when it becomes very concrete and the criteria for having the "right values" must be formulated.

Mette Frederiksen acknowledged on "Meet the Prime Minister" that "it is difficult" and full of dilemmas to figure out exactly what Danish values are, and how to determine whether a person subscribes to them.

She herself would only mention that there should be no citizenship for people who want a Muslim caliphate in Denmark or support terrorist organizations.

Social Democracy's new value battle or third acknowledgment also concerns honor culture, religious dominance, and social control, and that part will undoubtedly be much more difficult to formulate as objective criteria.

Sorting people by their attitudes and values is politically extremely sensitive. So the new immigration policy value battle could become far more explosive internally in the government.

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