A newcomer shaping local Denmark
- The International
- Nov 16
- 5 min read
Representing Socialdemokratiet (Social Democratic Party), Alina Racila is standing as a candidate for Tønder Municipality and the Southern Denmark Region.
Photographs: Alina Racila
Text: Ali Lewis
Alina Racila never intended to go into politics, or even live in Denmark! But life can take us in unexpected directions. Originally from Moldova’s capital city, Chișinău, she came here on honeymoon back in 2014, really liked the country and decided to look for work here. However, with a Bachelor’s degree in Pedagogy and Psychology, she knew she wouldn’t be able to work in her field until she’d mastered Danish.
Undaunted, Alina and her husband moved to North Jutland, near Aalborg, and found jobs on a farm while attending Language School in the evening. A year later, with a baby on the way, they decided to move south to Tønder Municipality, where they still live, so they could have a house. It was “one extreme of Jutland to another,” she says. There are still very few internationals in her area so learning Danish and making an effort to integrate were not optional.
Alina’s journey in Denmark is one of hard work, determination and looking outwards. Having found her first maternity leave isolating, with her second child she did things differently. “It doesn’t matter that you’re an international - you have the same difficulties as a Danish new parent,” she says. “I joined everything I could physically get to! Danish language for free? Yes! Clubs for free for newborn babies? Yes! Local associations? Yes! Opportunities to eat together with Danes? Yes, let’s do it! You have a lot of possibilities in Denmark as an international. You just have to be interested in participating. Instead of asking why you should do things, ask, why not?”
“Why not?” feels like it’s her life’s motto, Alina laughs. It’s an attitude that has led her to become fluent in Danish, embark on an undergraduate degree in nursing and establish a career as a health and social care assistant. She has also worked as a translator - she speaks English, Russian and Romanian as well as Danish - driving across Denmark to assist internationals here. “It’s never going to be perfect or easy. It’s going to be hard. I sent over a hundred CVs to different employers without any success,” Alina remembers. “I knew that without the Danish language I was never going to get a job that allowed me to use my degree from Moldova, and that was my dream.” At one point she juggled four hours of independent Danish study each day with working on a farm in the morning and evening and looking after her young child.
Entering politics
“I never imagined I’d be in politics,” Alina says. “But the more I’ve participated and learned, I realised that politics is a really big part of our lives. Politics determines the conditions of our daily lives in so many ways. Life here is so influenced by local and regional politics.”
In 2018, Alina heard Mette Frederiksen, then the opposition leader, on the news saying that Denmark needed nurses and felt inspired. “Mette was my first real engagement with politics. I felt she was speaking to me as an international, not just to Danes,” Alina remembers. “I realised the country needed the skills and qualifications I had.” By then she had passed her Studieprøven, the test that provides entry to Danish university education, and was accepted to study nursing. “I was the only international on my course who had come here as an adult,” she says.
Soon after that, Alina wrote to her local branch of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet) asking how she could become a member of the party. “I started going to meetings, participating and asking questions,” Alina says. “I was the only international there - I still am - but I really liked what was happening around me.”
Alina stood for election to her local council in 2021 but didn’t win. By then, she was heavily pregnant with her third child. As the votes were being counted, she was in labor! “It was probably for the best that I didn’t win back then,” she laughs.
Alina’s campaign
Several years ago, Alina’s party asked her if she would stand again. Of course, she said, “Why not?” This time, she’s standing not only as a local candidate in Tønder but also for the Region of Southern Denmark.
Alina’s campaign is particularly focused on healthcare, children and families. She wants to ensure children, the elderly and immigrants have their needs met so they can thrive here as she has done. “My life experience, professional experience and studies make me believe I could be very helpful as a parent, specialist and international,” she says. “I see situations from another angle that others might not see.”
Some might argue Alina has integrated to the extent that she no longer has an international perspective. “I feel like I’m in the middle,” she says. “If we imagine a bridge between two places, I’m on that bridge. I’m neither in an international bubble nor immersed in Danish society. I’m going back and forth on that bridge all the time in my work and daily life. I understand the challenges both Danes and internationals are dealing with.”
In her daily life, Alina somehow finds time to volunteer with the Association of Moldovans in Denmark, and she is a board member of FOA Sønderjylland, which is responsible for the region’s SOSU (Social og Sundhed) assistants. Besides everything else, Alina still works day to day as a SOSU. It all keeps her closely connected to the needs and concerns of a range of people across the country.
Alina feels the new regional health councils (Sundhedsråd), which will include elected representatives from the municipalities and will be tasked with implementing government initiatives, will allow her to make a significant contribution with her professional training. “They will allow different agencies to work together to ensure no one falls through the cracks,” she says.
People working together is very much Alina’s vision. “Danish society - and by that I mean everyone living here - must learn we don’t achieve anything by separating ourselves from each other,” she says. “We must look for what we have in common because there’s so much more than we think. Everyone can and must contribute to society. We should raise each other up so we all become stronger and better.”
Final thoughts
“I’m someone who cannot shut up, but in a good way!” Alina laughs. Her determination to advocate for society’s most vulnerable and make a difference is clear. “Politics is not about power, it’s about opening up possibilities for other people,” she says. “And getting internationals into local and regional politics is vital in order to make that happen. We need more of us to stand as candidates, and hopefully that will happen!”
