The Week That Was, May 11th – 17th 2020:
Coronavirus/ What happened last week:
Ahead of the holiday weekend Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that Denmark’s entire retail sector will be allowed to resume normal business on May 11, with cafes, restaurants and schools for older children set to open the following week – however, the borders won’t be reopened within the near future even though the lockdown is gradually being lifted and Germany is preparing to ease border restrictions with Denmark from mid-May.
The National Serum Institute said even after a major part of the retail sector reopens there can still be full control of corona infections.
Constitutional experts claimed that Health Minister Magnus Heunicke has been granted excessive powers during the corona crisis and called for a bipartisan epidemy commission to give elected lawmakers more influence on the decision-making process.
Business Minister Simon Kollerup acknowledged that the multi-billion emergency aid scheme aimed at helping businesses survive the corona crisis could have been exploited by fraudsters.
A cross-party majority called on the National Serum Insitute to publish the methodology it uses to help the government decide its corona containment policy after two of Denmark’s top virus specialists accused the health authorities of concealing decisive data.
A Danish Health Authority (DHA) 2012 plan to purchase and stockpile Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in case of a pandemic was shelved by the Health Ministry due to a lack of funding.
Politics/ Economy:
The government finally put together a majority for its local government social equality bill that transfers money from prosperous local authorities to struggling municipalities.
The government dismissed calls to review the controversial public information law despite claims by the Freedom of Information Commission that it impedes citizens and journalists’ insight.
Former prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt was appointed co-chair of a new Facebook oversight panel that will make decisions on issues such as whether Facebook or Instagram posts constitute hate speech
Foreign Affairs/EU:
Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen projected a public sector deficit of up to DKK190bn ($26.5bn) this year in Denmark’s latest convergence programme for the EU Commission.
Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod claimed he was unaware that ventilators Denmark offered to Italy last month, declined by rome, were out of date and couldn’t be used to treat covoid-19 patients.
Denmark pledged DKK370m (€50m) to the European Commission’s efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine.
Social Affairs:
For the first time in a decade more refugees are leaving Denmark than arriving – new data from the Immigration Ministry showed a net positive difference of 730 last year, compared to 2015 when there were 16,000 more arrivals than departures.
Danish People’s Party (DPP) founder Pia Kjærsgaard said corona-epidemic advisories in Arabic are a sign of successive governments’ failed integration policy, after it was revealed that the integration ministry had allowed multi-language posters to be hung in socially vulnerable housing areas advising residents how to protect themselves against the virus.
A 23-year-old man arrested on suspicion of plotting an extremist attack was remanded in custody until May 28 by Copenhagen District Court while police continue their investigations.
A court heard how a 40-year-old Norwegian-Iranian accused of preparing to murder an Iranian exile was kept under close surveillance by Danish Intelligence (PET) when he made a reconnaissance trip to Ringsted in September 2018.
On the first day of his abuse of power trial at Viborg District Court, Major Hans-Christian Mathiesen admitted to having asked military staff to print and design invitations and place cards for his wedding.
Business:
Jyske Bank, Denmark’s third-largest lender, reported its first quarterly loss since 2014 after setting aside a precautionary DKK1.6bn ($234 million) as a buffer against bad loans during the coronavirus crisis.
Vestas, the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturer, posted a DKK400m ($59m) Q1 loss compared with a 95 million-euro profit forecast by analysts – the clean energy giant’s image has suffered a dip in its previously admired image after firing four hundred workers during the corona crisis.
Danish auto sales suffered a huge loss in March and things could get worse according to the Danish Association of Car Importers – only 15,184 new vehicles were registered in March as the corona virus sent the country into lockdown
Scandinavia’s struggling flagship airline, SAS, signed a DKK2.3bn ($336 million) three-year revolving credit facility agreement, 90% guaranteed by the Danish and Swedish governments – rival Norwegian Air, one of the biggest airlines at Copenhagen Airport, said it would continue to invest heavily in Denmark but there would be no more long-distance routes to places such as New York and Bangkok.
And That Was the Week That Was, May 11th – 17th 2020: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).