A group of Jutland mayors met Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bødskov in Copenhagen on Monday, offering to receive more displaced Ukrainians from capital-area municipalities that say they are running out of space.
According to reporting by DR, the mayors traveled to the capital to discuss a new distribution of displaced Ukrainians with Bødskov, of the Social Democrats. Their message was that rural municipalities have room, while several municipalities around Copenhagen do not.
Besides Vesthimmerland, the municipalities of Skive, Lemvig, Hjørring, Frederikshavn and Brønderslev are ready to take in more Ukrainians. Mayor Per Bach Laursen of Vesthimmerland, of Venstre, said the Ukrainians bring life to his municipality and provide badly needed labor. He also pointed to Ukrainians who settled there before the war and have helped receive new arrivals.
Copenhagen is among the municipalities struggling to find housing. Andreas Keil, the city’s mayor for employment, integration and business, told DR that Copenhagen receives around 30 displaced Ukrainians per week. He said the city will have no more capacity by May next year, and that he has personally written to the Jutland mayors to thank them for the offer.
Keil said Copenhagen stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, but faces challenges, and that a new distribution agreement would be a significant help. Municipalities in the capital region have difficulty finding both work and housing for the Ukrainians they are assigned.
Municipalities want funding to follow
Per Bach Laursen stressed that a new distribution must come with economic compensation. He said the refugees arriving now have lived harder lives than those who came at the start of the war. That could mean they face various challenges, so funding must follow them, he said.
Bødskov said after the meeting that the financial side must be settled before any new distribution is arranged. Per the minister, municipalities need a helping hand to report in whether they can take more Ukrainians, and those reports depend on cost.
The offer from the Jutland municipalities does not change the government’s plan to tighten the rules. Bødskov said there are problems handling the influx of Ukrainians, especially in the large cities and around the capital, which is why the special law on Ukrainians’ residence in Denmark is being changed. Last month the government announced it will no longer grant residence permits to people from parts of Ukraine less affected by the war against Russia.
The public offer preceded Monday’s meeting. As reported by Nordjyske Stiftstidende, mayors from Hjørring, Lemvig, Vesthimmerland, Skive and Brønderslev stated in late August 2026 that they were ready to receive more Ukrainian refugees. They cited available housing, labor shortages and positive integration experiences.
After four and a half years of war, just under 48,000 displaced Ukrainians live in Denmark, according to DR.
