Seven eastern European workers killed in Denmark since 2023

Seven eastern European workers have been killed in Denmark since 2023, with isolation, alcohol and poor housing cited as recurring factors, according to an investigation by Danish broadcaster DR.

Six of the victims were Polish and one was Romanian. DR found no connection between the cases, but in five of the seven the killing took place in the victim’s home in Denmark. The location is unknown in the other two cases. Alcohol or drugs were reported in several cases, and many of those convicted or charged are also from eastern Europe.

Former senior police officer Bent Isager-Nielsen said eastern Europeans appear disproportionately in Denmark’s homicide statistics, while cautioning that seven cases are too few to draw firm conclusions. He said the cases often involve men living close together, with drinking sessions that can lead to arguments and violence.

One victim was 37-year-old Kamil Kaluzynski, who was stabbed 25 times, including in the chest and lung, at a workshop in Holbæk where he lived and worked. A Lithuanian man who visited the workshop was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the killing. He denied guilt, and the case has been appealed to the High Court.

Polish interpreter and 3F union organiser Katarzyna Szczygiel said she has often met Polish workers living together in old houses or farm buildings rented to them by employers. They can be far from other people, she said, and their leisure time may involve alcohol and conflicts that escalate into violence.

Jens Arnholtz, a University of Copenhagen lecturer who researches foreign workers, said some eastern European workers live in isolation in rural areas and have little contact with people who could alert them if their living or working conditions are unacceptable. He said employers share responsibility for workers’ living conditions, while individuals also have responsibility for their own situation.

Criminologist and police researcher David Sausdal of Lund University said the number of killings should prompt an investigation. DR said the National Special Crime Unit declined to be interviewed and referred questions to local police districts. The National Police also declined an interview, saying it takes all killings seriously but that the small number of cases makes it impossible to identify trends or common characteristics with certainty.