Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says a forthcoming reform will prioritize public safety and victims by making it easier to expel foreign nationals sentenced for serious criminal offenses.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced plans for a sweeping reform of Denmark’s deportation system aimed at removing a greater number of foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes, signaling a tougher approach that she acknowledged may push the limits of international conventions.
Speaking during her New Year’s address, Frederiksen said the government would soon introduce legislation designed to expand the circumstances under which criminal foreigners can be expelled from the country. “The government will soon present a comprehensive deportation reform,” she said. “This will mean that even more criminal foreigners will have to be sent out of Denmark.”
Frederiksen drew a distinction between immigrants who integrate into Danish society and those who commit crimes. “You can be Danish even if your favorite dish isn’t meatballs or mackerel sandwiches, for that matter. We Danes don’t look the same. Nor should we. But we should love each other,” she said.
Her remarks grew more forceful when addressing criminal behavior and integration failures. “In Denmark, when democracy and religion collide, it is God who has the right of way,” Frederiksen said, before adding: “Therefore, to the people who have come here and are committing crimes: You shouldn’t be here. We don’t want your madness and culture of dominance. You are destroying the most beautiful country in the world, and you should not be allowed to do that.”
Frederiksen cited individual cases to illustrate what she described as shortcomings in the current system. “No one can understand why an Iraqi man convicted of brutally assaulting an innocent person with a golf club cannot be deported,” she said. “Nor why a previously convicted man from Kosovo, convicted of abusing his children and spouse for several years, can be allowed to stay here.”
Under the proposed reform, foreign nationals who commit serious crimes and receive a prison sentence of at least one year would be subject to deportation regardless of how long they have lived in Denmark or their personal and family ties to the country. “This makes it a very clear starting point,” Frederiksen said. “If you are convicted of, for example, rape, aggravated assault, or other serious crime, then your stay in Denmark is over.”
She said Denmark already deports a significant number of criminal foreigners under what she described as an immigration policy that operates “to the edge of conventions.” Frederiksen argued that the government could now go further following recent international coordination. She said Denmark and Italy succeeded before Christmas in securing backing from 27 countries for a new interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights. “Now, first and foremost, it must be the populations – and the victims – who are protected. And not the perpetrator,” she said. “Instead of waiting several years for it to take effect in court practice, we are taking the lead and implementing legislation before the summer.”
Data released by the Ministry of Justice has been used by the government to support the case for tougher measures. An October government report found that nearly three-quarters of those convicted under Denmark’s so-called gang clause have immigrant backgrounds from non-Western countries. Between 2018 and 2025, 213 people were convicted under Section 81a of the Criminal Code, which allows courts to double sentences for crimes likely to provoke gang violence. Of those convicted, 54 were of Danish origin, 36 were immigrants from non-Western countries, and 117 were descendants of non-Western immigrants, meaning 72 percent had non-Western roots. Conservative immigration spokesman Frederik Bloch Münster described the figure as “remarkably high.”
Denmark has already taken steps to tighten deportation rules. In December 2024, the government announced plans to abolish the so-called ladder system, which limits deportation based on the seriousness of a crime and the offender’s length of stay. The change would allow deportation of any foreign national sentenced to an unconditional prison term, unless doing so would violate Denmark’s international obligations.
At the time, Immigration and Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said foreigners are disproportionately represented in serious crime statistics. “Unfortunately, foreigners in Denmark are overrepresented in the crime statistics and too often commit serious crimes — such as those related to gang activity. We don’t have to deal with that. The hammer must fall even harder,” he said. “Therefore, we want to tighten the rules so that we can get even more criminal aliens deported. Every criminal alien who is deported by Denmark is a victory for the legal community and a victory for our country.”
The deportation initiative forms part of a broader tightening of Denmark’s immigration and national identity policies. Since Jan. 1, 2025, it has been illegal to raise foreign flags without special permission, following legislation passed by the Folketing after the Supreme Court struck down a 1915 ban. The new law reinstated restrictions while allowing exemptions for Nordic flags, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and specific situations such as sporting events, demonstrations, or permits issued by police or the justice minister.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard defended the measure last December, saying, “The Dannebrog is the most important national symbol we have in Denmark. A symbol that binds the Danes together as a people, and which should enjoy a very special status in Denmark.”
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