The Week That Was, June 24th – 30th 2019:

Posted on 30. Jun, 2019 in: TWTW

Politics/Economy:

Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen became Denmark’s youngest-ever prime minister after finalising terms for a one-party minority government with her left-wing allies.

After Denmark became the third Nordic country this year to form a leftist government, Lars Løkke Rasmussen handed over the ‘office keys’ to his successor at an informal ministry of state ceremony, Thursday, but vowed to return – the departing prime minister used the occasion to repeat his campaign message that ‘Denmark is a fantastic country in top form’ with high growth, high employment, and control of immigration, but also said he’s confident Ms Frederiksen will make an excellent prime minister.

Ms Frederiksen named a youthful cabinet with an average age of 41.8 – Nicolai Wammen, minister for Europe and defence minister in the previous Social Democrat-led government, is the new finance minister, while Jeppe Kofod, a prominent member of the European Parliament, was named foreign minister.

Foreign Affairs/EU:

45-year-old Jeppe Kofod was named Denmark’s new Foreign Minister – as an MEP in Brussels, chair of parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee, and foreign affairs spokesman for the Social Democrats Mr Kofod is experienced in international affairs but his political career was temporarily derailed in 2008 when, aged 34, he admitted to a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl at a youth-wing seminar in 2008.

New prime minister Mette Frederiksen said she would nominate Margrethe Vestager to continue as a European Commissioner for another five years – Donald Trump took a sideswipe at Ms Vestager without specifically mentioning her by name when he told his favourite TV network, Fox News: “You have a woman in Europe, I won’t mention her name…she hates the United States perhaps worse than any person I’ve ever met.”

Ex prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is ready to become an EU Commissioner – if asked. After initially dismissing speculation he was in the running for one of the top jobs he said, Thursday: “If they (EU) suddenly feel they need a pragmatic, middle-aged, cold-blooded, liberal Scandinavian they’re welcome to give me a call.”

The latest Statistics Denmark figures showed Danish companies’ labour expenditure – wages, pension payments, and social costs – rose by 1.7% during the year’s first quarter (Q1) compared to 2.5% in the EU area.

Social Affairs:

A Syrian asylum seeker will be deported after being found guilty of throwing stones at anti-Islamist Rasmus Paludan.

Danish police arrested 31 people in a series of coordinated raids across the Zeeland region, part of an international investigation into an organised criminal network with roots in Albania suspected of smuggling drugs and weapons.

It was reported how two tent camps built in 2015 to provide shelter for hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants, but which were never used due to the dramatic drop in refugees, have cost the Danish state nearly DKK60m (€8m).

Human rights organisations welcomed the new government’s commitment to introduce consent-based rape legislation.

The prosecutorial authorities in Morocco demanded the death penalty for three men charged with slaying Danish backpacker Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland in December.

Business:

Previously unseen documents revealed Danske Bank closed down a probe into suspicious money laundering activities at its Estonia branch five years ago – Denmark’s biggest bank’s reputation suffered another blow after it was revealed thousands of customers were overcharged for an investment scheme . The Socialist People’s Party (SPP) called for a thorough review of all Danske Bank’s business operations following the latest scandal.

The chief executive officer and seven board members of Amagerbanken, a Danish lender that collapsed in 2011, were ordered to pay DKK 225m ($34m) in reparations for their role in the banks’ dubious lending activity.

The US state of New Jersey picked Denmark’s energy giant Orsted to develop a 1,100-megawatt wind project off the coast of Atlantic City, the largest ever offshore wind procurement by a U.S. state.

International biotech company Genmab, noted for developing the blood cancer drug Darzalex with Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit, is preparing for a $500 million initial public offering (IPO) in the USA.

LATAM Cargo Chile, a cargo airline based in Santiago announced the launch of a new freighter service between Copenhagen and Latin America – the first airline to offer direct service between Scandinavia and South America.

And That Was the Week That Was, June 24th – 30th 2019: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).