Furor in Denmark: Plan for anti-refugee ads scolded by MPs, companies, activists - Aug 1, 2015

Migrants try to get onboard an overloaded train at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece, on their transit route to Europe

The government’s plans to run an ad campaign to deglamorize the EU in the eye of would-be migrants have touched Denmark to the quick: the private sector fears it would damage the country’s reputation, while activists have launched a pro-refugee campaign.

Several major businesses officially oppose the government’s initiative to publish advertisements in foreign newspapers to deter refugees from coming to Denmark. In their view, such a measure would be perceived as unfriendly not only by refugees but all foreigners. This would make recruiting employees from abroad more difficult, they claim.

The heads of several major companies doing business in Denmark chimed in on the issue.

“The government is going ahead with full-page advertisements where we tell people that we would

“Essentially it just serves as an example of how harsh the tone has become in relation to foreigners, and it could be worrying what consequences it will have to economic growth in Denmark,” Carsten Hoeck, head of Norisol, said, as quoted by The Local.

“They should drop the campaign,” insists Charlotte Mark, administrative director at the Microsoft Development Center in Copenhagen.
rather not see them. That won’t make us any richer, just poorer. So we at Grundfos recommend calling off this initiative,” Kim Nøhr Skibsted, communications director at the Grundfos pump manufacturer, told Jyllands-Posten.

Read more: http://www.rt.com/news/311354-denmark-refugee-ads-protest/