Frit Forum - Social Democratic Students of Denmark (, or just ''Frit Forum'') is the student organization of the Danish Social Democrats. It was established in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Denmark as a means of reaching out to the growing number of

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

s in the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

. Since then, it has had a decisive impact on Danish politics, fostering many

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

s and influential

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

. Former PES- president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, former Danish frontrunner to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Dan Jørgensen, and former Minister of

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Mogens Lykketoft Mogens Lykketoft (; born 9 January 1946) is a Danish politician who served as Leader of the Social Democrats (Denmark), Social Democrats (''Socialdemokraterne'') from 2002 to 2005. He succeeded Poul Nyrup Rasmussen as party leader. After losing ...

began their paths in Frit Forum. It compares to the Labour Students in the UK. After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, it was struck by the radicalization of the political left among Danish students. As in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

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, several members left for radical movements on the left, but in contrast to the or the , Frit Forum survived, primarily as a result of being merged with the social democratic youth organization DSU in 1973. In 2003, this caused a conflict within the organization, as the DSU felt Frit Forum was not fulfilling its obligations at the universities. Instead, they threatened to launch a new social democratic Student network, called SSN. Following devastating internal disputes, it was saved by the president of the Danish Social Democrats,

, himself being former president of Frit Forum. Since then, the climate between the two organizations has bettered. Over the years, Frit Forum has held meetings and conferences with both the Labour Students (England) and S-studenter (Sweden).

External links

''Sources (in English):''
Forside , Frit Forum
Official homepage of Frit Forum in English.

Background information on Poul Nyrup.
Home
PES information about Frit Forum. ''Sources (in Danish):''
Frit Forum
Official homepage of Frit Forum in Danish
Fem stumper af manden, der var lige ved at vinde
Article on Mogens Lykketoft in Information.
Socialdemokratiske formænd og statsministre , Læs om partiets historie
Background information on Danish Social Democratic leaders. {{ECOSY member organisations Political parties established in 1943 Social Democrats (Denmark) Student political organizations Youth wings of social democratic parties Student wings of political parties in Denmark 1943 establishments in Denmark

See also

External links