The Week That Was, March 6th – 12th 2023

Politics/Economy:

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made a minor cabinet reshuffle in the wake of Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen’s continued absence – Deputy Liberal Party leader Stephanie Lose is the new Minister for the Economy, temporarily replacing Troels Lund Poulsen who’s also become Acting Defence Minister since Mr Ellemann-Jensen took sick leave one month ago.

Although Parliament has already agreed to significantly increase defence spending the PM warned that much more will be needed.

The left-wing Socialist People’s Party (SPP) has benefited most from widespread voter dissatisfaction with the removal of the Great Prayer Day public holiday – while the three coalition partners have experienced a backlash in recent polls, the SPP has risen to 14.4%, nearly double its election result.

State-owned DR TV & Radio joined the rush to ban Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, following parliament, ministries, and business organisations.

The anti-migrant New Right Party is on the verge of collapse after newly-elected leader Lars Boje Mathiesen was fired with immediate effect and excluded from the party – three of the six MPs elected in November have now left the party.

The Moderates’ under-pressure culture spokesperson, Jon Stephensen, offered an ‘unreserved apology’ to more than 30 of his former colleagues who accused him of manipulation, threats, and an abuse of power during his time as the manager of two theatres in Copenhagen – Moderates leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen declined to speculate about the possible consequences for Mr Stephensen’s political future but acknowledged that ‘things aren’t looking too good’.

Ahead of the delivery of the first consignment of the Danish Air Force’s new fleet of F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters this autumn five of the same model arrived at the Skrydstrup Air Force Southern Jutland this week for a ‘dummy run’.

Crown Prince Frederik pushed the button on a ‘world first’ in Esjberg, Wednesday when he officially inaugurated an ambitious project that aims to bury vast amounts of planet-heating carbon dioxide gas beneath the North Sea floor.

12 local municipalities, including Copenhagen, are considering whether to introduce a new public holiday to replace Great Prayer Day that was scrapped by parliament last week.

Foreign Affairs/EU:

Danish experts expressed serious doubts about U.S. and German claims that Ukraine could be responsible for the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines in Danish territorial waters last year – U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack, and German investigators have identified a boat they claim was used to carry divers and explosives to the site of the explosions in the Baltic Sea. U.S. officials told The New York Times there’s no evidence Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top officials were involved in the September 2022 surprise attack.

Residents of Christiansø in the Baltic Sea, 18 km northeast of Bornholm, confirmed that Danish investigators visited the tiny island last September and made enquiries about a ‘foreign vessel’. TV2 reported how a Greek tanker drifted around the site of the Nord Stream pipelines for seven days at the start of September last year shortly before they were damaged by unexplained explosions.

200 local Home Guard soldiers took part in a training exercise on the island of Bornholm aimed at defending the tiny Baltic island in the event of a Russian invasion.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen discussed the increasing number of migrants and refugees trying to reach the EU in talks with her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rami, and Croatia’s Andrej Plenkovic, during a short trip to the two Balkan countries.

Development Minister Dan Jørgensen lashed out at rich countries for failing to raise a promised $100 billion a year target to help poor countries battle climate change.

After less than a year in Washington DC, Denmark’s ambassador to the USA, Christina Markus Lassen, is moving to New York from September 1st, where as Ambassador to the UN she will lead Denmark’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council 2025-26.

In a new report by MoneyNerd, which ranked 25 of the biggest cities around the globe on factors including cost of living, average salary, number of job opportunities, and more, Copenhagen came out number one, ahead of Amsterdam, New York, Oslo, and Zurich.

Social Affairs:

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was summoned to appear before parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee to explain why the Danish Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen) is trying to deport more Syrian refugees.

The government issued an official apology to children and adults who were forcibly placed in mental care between 1933-1961 after being diagnosed as ‘morally weak-minded’ or ‘sexually promiscuous’.

A new report showed the majority of people in this country believe criminality committed by young, non-western immigrants is rising at a fast rate.

The Coop Bank, owned by one of Denmark’s biggest supermarket chains, was accused of racism after denying an account to a foreign resident who doesn’t speak Danish.

A new report by the Danish Health Authority showed nearly 16,000 people die in Denmark every year from a smoking-related disease – in addition to the high death rate, smoking costs society billions of kroner every year and is the biggest single risk to a person’s health.

A new report by the insurance industry showed life expectancy in this country fell for the second year in a row in 2022 after increasing for around 40 years prior to 2021.

Denmark has risen to 7th in the 2022 World Index of Healthcare Innovation, up from 11th in 2021 and 14th in 2020.

The number of home foreclosures is the highest for two years and, according to leading economists, there are many more on the way.

Business:

Carlsberg CEO Cees’t Hart announced his retirement – the Dutch national said he would step down in September after guiding the brewing giant through the sale of its Russian business.

Toy giant Lego celebrated its 90th anniversary by reporting record earnings for 2022 despite pulling out of Russia.

Danish insulation giant Rockwool pushed back on allegations that it’s in violation of EU sanctions on Russia – the company is under investigation following reports that its Russian business partners have on 21 separate occasions supplied orders to shipyards working on behalf of Russia’s Ministry of Defence.

Partially state-owned clean energy giant Ørsted joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) to support the faster deployment of offshore wind.

Investment fund Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners entered into a framework agreement with Indian developer Viviid Renewables to develop more renewable energy projects in India with a primary focus on onshore wind projects.

And That Was the Week That Was, March 6th – 12th 2023: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).