International

If you are sentenced to more than 18 months in prison in the Faroe Islands, you will suffer the additional penalty of being sent to Denmark to serve your sentence. Because there are no prisons in the Faroe Islands.

Immigration to OECD countries fell by 30% in 2020 to 3.7 million people. That is the lowest level since 2003. Denmark, Finland and Norway received fewer asylum seekers per capita than the OECD average, while Iceland and Sweden took in considerably more.

Åland is marking 100 years of autonomy from Finland with year-long celebrations. Not everyone wanted the autonomy solution at first, but it has turned out to be a winning ticket allowing Ålanders to create a prosperous island society. Yet Åland with its shipping and tourism industries has been hard hit by the pandemic.

Australian Mathias Cormann is the OECD’s new Secretary-General after beating Swedish candidate Cecilia Malmström. It has been 14 years since a new leader was elected for the organisation, which is made up of 37 industrialised countries.

The Corona pandemic has shown the importance of making quick decisions – but these also need public support. That is why social dialogue is so important. Global Deal, launched by Sweden together with the OECD and the ILO, is one of the few initiatives looking at social dialogue from an international perspective.

Denmark’s government has presented legislation that represents a first step towards realising a controversial election promise to set up reception centres in countries outside the EU. Refugees would stay there while their asylum applications are processed in Denmark. Critics doubt the proposed legislation is realistic.

2020 saw a tenfold increase in the number of citizens from other Nordic countries gaining Norwegian citizenship. From 1 January that year, it became possible to hold dual citizenships in Norway. 1,905 people applied to become Norwegian citizens while keeping their old citizenship.