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Europe'sMainstream Left Debates Stricter Immigration Rules

Jamie Dettmer

   The election victory last week by Denmark's Social Democrats has
   prompted a debate among fellow European left-wing parties: Should they,
   too, adopt anti-migrant rhetoric, imitate their Danish counterparts and
   campaign for stricter immigration rules?
   Because of a surge in support in the final weeks leading up to the June
   5 parliamentary poll, the country's Social Democrat-led bloc grabbed 91
   of the 179 seats in the legislature, setting up the circumstances for
   Mette Frederiksen, 41, to become Denmark's youngest prime minister. The
   Social Democrats won 48 seats and are now the largest party in the
   Danish parliament.
   The victory is being credited largely to the Social Democrats' U-turn
   on immigration and their embrace of much tougher anti-migrant policies
   more in keeping with those of their far-right rivals, including
   opposition to accepting refugees resettled by the United Nations; a
   focus on coaxing and cajoling migrants to return to their countries of
   origin; and harsher punishment for migrants, living in migrant-majority
   areas, who are found guilty of offenses.