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During the last months an ongoing battle has made quite a stir in Copenhagen, the otherwise peaceful and orderly capital of Denmark. Since 1982 a group of young activists have been using an abandoned house, called "Ungdomshuset", as club house, living quarters and underground music venue. Now the house has been sold by the local authorities to a religious organisation, and the organisation who legally owns the house has asked the police to throw the current occupants out. This action has in return caused the house residents and international activists to both peaceful and violent protests in the streets. Right now the situation is like a silence before the storm: The police are waiting for the right moment to evict the youngsters, and the activists are barricading themselves inside their beloved hideout.
Supporters of the activists in the "Ungdomshuset" have been lobbying actively in order to make the local authorities do something about the situation, since the authorities were the ones to start the locomotion by selling the building without finding a suitable solution for its occupants. As of now the city council is suggesting the youth to move into an old school which has already been promised as the base of a group of physically disabled people. Neither the neighbours of the school nor the activists themselves are happy about this idea, although the latter claims to be willing to leave their current home freely if the city council acknowledges their rights to a residence and offer them a suitable house for a symbolic amount of money.
In the end the situation is prone to come to violent battle between police forces and the young activists as the city council looks determined to stand by their current suggestion.
