Denmark: what to make of cocaine confession?
Shortly before the parliamentary elections in Denmark on 24 March, the leader of the centre-right Liberal Alliance, Alex Vanopslagh (34), has caused a stir by confessing that he has used cocaine at parties. He added, however, that his life was different now and that the Danish people should judge him on that basis. Commentators are nonetheless critical.
A liability in the fight against drugs
Jyllands-Posten is dismayed:
“This does not make the struggle any easier for young people who want to say no. ... Whether sincere or not, it does not make the struggle any easier for police officers, teachers and parents who are trying every day to keep young people away from drugs. Thanks for the 'help', Vanopslagh. ... The fact that the case is unlikely to shake support within his own ranks gives pause for thought. At a Liberal Alliance rally in Aarhus on Sunday evening, the confession was met with laughter and half-hearted applause. That says a lot about the level of acceptance - both of the party leader and of cocaine.”
Failure all down the line
Politicians see hypocrisy at work:
“Vanopslagh has failed on several levels, but above all as a political leader. It is the height of hypocrisy that, on the one hand, the Liberal Alliance under his leadership willingly votes for ever-tougher measures against gang crime and repeatedly calls for the deportation of criminal foreigners, while on the other hand, through his own cocaine use, he has demonstrably helped fund one of the worst and most brutal aspects of gang crime in Denmark. At the same time, Alex Vanopslagh is also letting down the young people to whom he has so successfully presented himself as a role model.”