The Danish Prime Minister, the Ceuta crisis and a futuristic novel
“Very little in Kalla Eriksen’s life and career had prepared her for the role for which she was eventually chosen. A human rights activist and, for a brief period, a trade unionist, she was elected to Parliament and became leader of the Social Democratic Party. As Prime Minister during the Covid pandemic, she managed the situation so brilliantly that Denmark became the country with the lowest number of deaths and cases.”
Thus begins the portrait that Daniel Silva, one of the most famous authors of spy novels and creator of the character Gabriel Allon, the charismatic head of the Mossad, dedicates to Mette Frederiksen, the current Prime Minister of Denmark. For there is no doubt that Kalla Eriksen, from Silva’s latest novel *Ransom* (which has just been released and has not yet been published in Italia by HarperCollins), is none other than the Danish Prime Minister herself.
“That” Mette Frederiksen, who, together with Giorgia Meloni, has recently launched an initiative to curb immigration in Europe – a cross-party alliance of twenty-two countries that also includes Chancellor Merz’s Germany but notPedro Sánchez’s Spain and Emmanuel Macron’s France.
The good relationship between a Danish Social Democrat and an Italian Conservative is making headlines, but what should really be making headlines is the fact that two female prime ministers are leading a project as ambitious as it is challenging – one that seeks to strike a balance between solidarity and responsibility on the issue of immigration. The emergency meeting called for by Italia and Denmark following the events in Ceuta is a significant development that Daniel Silva could never have imagined. Perhaps – who knows – it will feature in the novel he has yet to write.
