The Danish prime minister has said the country’s controversial crackdown on immigration could be a model for European nations combating a rise of extremism.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, elected at the head of a centre-right coalition in November, said Copenhagen's tightening of immigration and welfare were already working by cutting the numbers of illegal immigrants.
"I think there is a growing concern in other countries regarding these problems so I wouldn't be surprised if the Danish legislation could give inspiration to these other countries", he told reporters during a meeting of Nordic in Norway.
Denmark, fearing it was being swamped by asylum seekers and welfare scroungers, is seeking to restrict entry and claims to be trying to integrate those already in the Nordic country. It takes on the six-month rotating EU presidency from Spain in July.
Under the new rules, permanent residence permits would be given after seven years instead of the current three, for instance. And full entitlement to generous Nordic welfare benefits would be denied to new arrivals for the same period to encourage them to find jobs.
Immigrant and human rights groups have criticised the changes as running against Nordic traditions of tolerance.
Denmark accepts a higher proportion of asylum seekers than any other country except Canada, Turkey and Estonia, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees show. In 2001 just over 6,200 asylum seekers were awarded residence permits in Denmark, a nation of 5.3 million.