2008-11-15/US ambassador Cain chides Danes over attitude to foreigners
By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen 15 November 2008
James P Cain, the US ambassador in Copenhagen, has hit out at the Danes over their negative attitude towards foreigners.
Speaking on ‘Aftenshowet’, an early evening news show on national broadcaster DR1, Cain said, “It’s a little hard for a stranger to feel welcome and accepted in Denmark. It’s a little tough to get comfortable in this society.”
The ambassador, who was appointed to the post personally by president George W Bush, added, “I came to understand that this society does feel a little insulated, a little bit under threat, and wants to keep the outside away. That creates some challenges in society and challenges for newcomers to feel at home here.”
Cain leaves Denmark in January, after three-and-a-half years in the country. He suggested that Denmark “looks at some of the USA’s hard-learned lessons in integration and diversity” when dealing with the challenges facing the country.
The US has made some mistakes over the past 50 years, “but we’ve also learnt that our society can be strong, true to our essential values and nature, and still be diversified,” US ambassador James P Cain said.
See: http://www.dr.dk/DR1/Aftenshowet/Klip+fra+Aftenshowet/20070129142128.htm