Introduction

On the 9th and 10th of April 2025 several members of the Palestine Solidarity Network DTU attended the DSE Job Fair at DTU. While there, members proceeded to hand out flyers in the courtyard outside the fair to fellow students. The flyers stated that Terma supplies critical parts for the Israeli F-35 jets bombing Gaza which have killed thousands of civilians [1,2], and that Maersk is directly involved in shipping military cargo that facilitates Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people [3,4]. Another flyer was also circulated regarding DTU's complicity; including the university’s investments, collaborations with Israeli universities, and partnerships with weapons, construction, and technology companies that support the Israeli apartheid as documented in the report to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories which we also provided to DTU management. The purpose of this action was to inform students and workers attending the fair with information we believe is of ethical relevance to our peers and fellow students and to foster dialogue on the matter.

Our members never forced or pressured anyone into taking a flyer, nor did they block the entranceways or prevent the movement of people, or disrupt the career fair in any way. Despite this, on both days our members were confronted with hostility by DTU staff from the communications and security departments and prevented from continuing to hand out flyers. They attempted to intimidate the members by demanding identification and threatened to call the police. In some instances, security/administration personnel physically attempted to remove flyers from students, taking photos of their faces and threatening them that they have their photos, while also attempting to make physical contact with members of our group. It is very clear that it was security and administration staff, not members of our group, who created a scene and engaged in harassing behavior. 

Although the behavior of the PSN DTU members did not conflict with any part of DTU's code of conduct [5], they were told that it was not possible to distribute flyers under the pretext that DTU does not allow political statements. This is despite DTU itself hosting political events (for example the Danish ambassador to the United States was invited to give a talk in the DTU Library, where he discussed NATO and US politics [6]).

DTU is still a public institution, where freedom of expression is a protected right under the constitution but also a foundational academic principle. There is no policy that we are aware of which forbids distributing information in this way, nor can such policy override our basic civil rights and liberties. 

The following text is a transcript from a video of our interaction with DTU staff:

At some point during the interaction one of our members asked the DTU representative to identify himself. He denied to do so, stating: "Yeah, but I'm not going to answer you. I am the head of security for DTU. You can find me on the internet if you want." So we did search for him and identified him as Søren Fugleberg.

(Part of the interaction can be seen in the video posted below)

Who is Søren Fugleberg?

Mr. Fugleberg in addition to being DTU's head of security has also recently begun his own political endeavors as a candidate for the Borgernes party [7], an offshoot of the far-right xenophobic Nye Borgerlige party. Mr. Fugleberg's Borgernes party is openly hostile towards immigrants and marginalized communities. The party equates refugees with security threats, questions the right of Muslims to live according to their faith in Denmark, and promotes mass deportations as if it's a matter of common sense [8]. On April 27th, Mr. Fugleberg publicly claimed that immigration from MENAPT (Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, Turkey) countries has resulted in "parallel societies" that threaten the Danish democracy:

"Vi må i den forbindelse ærligt erkende, at en væsentlig del af terrortruslen udspringer af en mangeårig, dybt fejlslagen integrationsindsats, hvor store forskydninger i den demografiske sammensætning i Europa, igennem massiv indvandring og migration, fra især MENAPT-landene, har resulteret i etablering af parallelsamfund præget af normer og værdier, der står i skærende kontrast til det vestlige og danske demokratis grundlæggende idealer. - translation: In this regard, we must honestly acknowledge that a significant part of the terror threat stems from a long-standing, deeply failed integration effort, in which major shifts in the demographic composition of Europe, through massive immigration and migration, from especially the MENAPT countries, have resulted in the establishment of parallel societies characterized by norms and values that stand in sharp contrast to the basic ideals of western and Danish democracy." [9]

This is not the only time Mr. Fugleberg has expressed his disdain for people with roots abroad, particularly those from majority muslim countries. He has cast immigrants as freeloaders who do not contribute to society, but only drain the welfare state: "Vi lever i et land, hvor lysten til at bidrage, for nogle, ikke modsvarer følelsen af pligt til at give tilbage. Hvor forventningen om gensidighed, selve grundpillen i ethvert, levedygtigt fællesskab, er blevet ophævet. Mange kommer ikke til Danmark for at blive en del af gensidigheden og fællesskabet, men for at modtage. - translation: We live in a country where the desire to contribute, for some, does not correspond to the feeling of duty to give back. Where the expectation of reciprocity, the very foundation of any viable community, has been abolished. Many do not come to Denmark to become part of the reciprocity and community, but to receive." [10]  When discussing a fatal car accident in which the driver had foreign roots, Mr. Fugleberg attributed the tragedy to immigration: "Vi høster, lige nu, frugten af 30 års fejlslagen integrationspolitik. Og stemmer vi som vi plejer, så får vi mere af det samme... - translation: We are currently reaping the fruits of 30 years of failed integration policies. And if we vote as we usually do, we will get more of the same." [11] And he has also engaged in scaremongering over the idea of Islamic Law being imposed on Danes [12].

Upon announcing his candidature Mr. Fugleberg was heartily endorsed by party leader Lars Boje Mathiesen [13], who made explicit mention of Mr. Fugleberg's employment at DTU. Mr. Mathiesen has a long history of extremist, sexist, and racist statements. He has compared Muslim women wearing headscarves to Nazi helmets [14], claimed that Islam and migration from Muslim-majority countries represents the largest threat to Denmark [11], suggested that asylum seekers from these countries should be immediately deported [15], and has cheerled Israel's assault on Gaza [16]. Mr. Mathiesen doesn't reserve his deplorable views for only Muslim members of Denmark's population but also demonstrated his contempt for women and poor understanding of biology by comparing women's menstruation to defecating in one's own pants during a debate over providing sanitary products in public restrooms [17]. 

Mr. Fugleberg's statements align closely with those of his and Mr. Mathiesen's party. Below we have included some excerpts from the party's official stances on immigration [18]:

We would like to ask how Mr. Fugleberg, with the views he possesses and the company he keeps, is capable of serving DTU's highly diverse population and fairly treating students and workers on campus. The rhetoric from him and his party directly targets a significant portion of the university community, where one third of the student body are foreign nationals and many of the Danish students have roots abroad.  The fact that someone who holds these views has the role of overseeing student and staff safety is not only inappropriate, it is alarming. We are deeply concerned about bias, misuse of authority, as well as the safety of students on campus.