All the times politicians have groped ‘Borgen’

Few series have been as groped by the political class as ‘Borgen’, the Danish production that became a phenomenon between 2010 and 2013. Pablo Iglesias, Pedro Sánchez, Mónica Oltra or Albert Rivera, among others, have mentioned it in their speeches and they have tried to appropriate it. Both wanted to see themselves reflected in the fiction created by Adam Price that narrated how the leader of the Moderate Party of Denmark managed to lead a coalition government with the Greens and the Labor Party, despite the fact that her formation had been third in terms of number of seats . For three seasons, viewers witnessed the juggling that the protagonist, Birgitte Nyborg, had to do to carry out her program, and the personal bills caused by her position.

The success was so resounding that the Danish chain DR and Netflix have teamed up to record a fourth batch of episodes, which is available in Spain from Thursday, June 2. Since the efforts in Christianborg moved the entire world -it was broadcast in 75 territories- nine years have passed, enough time for the leaders of our country to take advantage of everything that happened in each episode to incorporate it into their ideology or modus operandi. In fact, the series arrives just in time to breathe new plots into the politicians who are still active (there are few) and the new ones who have entered the ring.

Image of the new season of ‘Borgen’ /

NETFLIX

From Albert Rivera to Pedro Sánchez

It was Albert Rivera who most appealed to the ‘Borgen Pact’, when he was still in charge of Ciudadanos and Ciudadanos had a promising future ahead of him. With him he wanted to become President of the Government, since Pedro Sánchez did not have enough support to enter Moncloa, or a key figure in Andalusia, in the previous elections in which his formation won 21 seats for the Andalusian parliament. They talked about ‘Borgen Strategy’, something that didn’t catch on with their opponents. Fiction is fine as an example, but not so good if it has to be turned into reality. Nyborg’s oratory and negotiating skills were one of the most striking aspects of the series in its first seasons, in which the president had to deal with issues related to the armed forces, the economy or social rights. There were episodes devoted entirely to capturing the dialogues and concessions between rivals to achieve agreements.

Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias appealed to the ‘Borgen Candidate’ in the Catalan elections of 2017. Both claimed that their representatives, Miquel Iceta for the PSOE and Xavier Domènech for Catalunya en Comú, were the ideal ones to lead a coalition government between forces with affinity ideological With these campaign statements, the two recognized that they did not expect to win the elections (the moderates did not do so in the series) and clung to the wild card of the subsequent negotiation in the offices. This time there was no translation from the screen to the Catalan reality.

Nyborg’s exemplarity remained unblemished as the plots progressed to the point that she forced her husband not to accept a job that had been offered to him in case it was considered that she could have interceded. This conflict of interest has not prevented friends and acquaintances of political representatives from occupying positions of power in Spanish politics because of who they are. For all these reasons, ‘Borgen’ is considered by many to be a series of political fiction, since it is impossible to transfer its lessons to the real scene.

Mónica Oltra, leader of Compromís, after proclaiming herself vice president of the Valencian Community, recommended that her team see this title in order to inspire them. She was such a fan that even when choosing a color to paint the press room from where she was going to address the journalists, she thought of the Nyborg staging.

Birgitte and Katrine, together again. /

NETFLIX

Politicians and journalists relationship

Precisely another of the most relevant sections of ‘Borgen’ was the vision it offered of the press, committed to its work of monitoring power, and of the relationship established between politicians and journalists and how complicated it was sometimes not to cross certain lines to be honest each one with his profession.

Manuela Carmena, Esperanza Aguirre and even Queen Letizia have confessed that they felt represented by the main character. And she sees that the three respond to very different profiles. That is another of the successes of this production, which manages to arouse interest among people with totally opposite worldviews.

‘Borgen’ has been resurrected with eight episodes, available on Netflix, and most of those who once admired it will now watch it from their homes, far from the political front line, which has expelled them. Nyborg also left politics to return later in the third season with a new party. In these unpublished deliveries the protagonist is the Secretary of State and with Russia as the main threat to Denmark and Greenland. The writers have shown a good nose here again, anticipating what happened with the invasion of Ukraine.