The Week That Was, May 27th – June 2nd 2019

Politics/Economy:

Election 2019:

The latest YouGov poll for tabloid daily BT projected the centre-left parties are on course to win more than 100 seats in this week’s election, the biggest win for the ‘red bloc’ since 1971. The far-left Red/Greens party could become Copenhagen’s biggest left-wing party.

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was hit by another ‘favours from friends’ scandal – tabloid daily Ekstra Bladet revealed how the PM asked the owner of the up-market Dragholm Castle, north west of Copenhagen, for a favourable price for a luxury weekend dining stay.

The ruling Liberals presented 17 new initiatives aimed at improving conditions for the private sector, including a DKK300m kitty to ease  business duties and measures to attract skilled foreign workers.

Liberal Alliance leader Anders Samulesen echoed Danish People’s Party (DPP) leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl by warning that the the ‘blue bloc’ alliance of centre right parties could be ‘dead and buried’ forever if, as the opinion polls indicate, they lose the election – but at the same time he blamed the DPP for the demise.

Mr Thulesen Dahl admitted that his party hasn’t been very good at discussing climate affairs during the election campaign, following criticism from 37 local constituency chairmen who said the party is losing voters because it doesn’t have a green agenda.

Conservative leader Søren Pape Poulsen warned he will quit if the party fails to win more than its current six seats at next week’s election.

It isn’t only the extremist Stram Kurs party that wants to deport all Muslims – in a YouTube video from 2016 the New Conservatives’ leading candidate in Copenhagen, Jeppe Juhl, called for all members of Muslim religious communities who fail to renounce their Islamic beliefs to be sent home.

The Alternatives are willing to limit freedom of speech by making it easier for the general public to report incidents of racism.

Economy:

The economy grew by only 0.2% in the year’s first quarter, falling short of analysts’ projections, but according to Nordea the Danish economy is still well positioned to maintain solid growth this year.

Danske Bank Research predicted that an expected increase in cigarette prices could push up inflation next year.

EU/Foreign Affairs:

The Liberals (Venstre) emerged as the big winner in Sunday’s EU election, winning four of Denmark’s 13 seats in the new European parliament (Denmark will get a 14th when the UK leaves).

66% of the Danish electorate – 2.797.761 people – voted, a new record, but only the 4th-biggest turnout in Europe. Belgium led the way with 88,5%, followed by Luxembourg (89,6%) and Malta (72.2%).

The Danish People’s Party’s (DPP) resounding defeat was down to its failure to address the climate issue, according to environment spokeswoman Pia Adelsteen after the populist party failed to win more than one seat, compared to four in 2014.

The Liberal Alliance’s (LA) Culture and Ecclesiastical Affairs Minister Mette Bock is quitting politics after failing to win a seat at the European Parliament – LA won only won 2.2% of the vote, not enough to send Ms Bock, sister of party leader Anders Samuelsen, to Brussels

Denmark’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager remains firmly in contention as a successor to Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission following an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels – French President Emmanuel Macron named three possible candidates: Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is French, Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager and Dutch centre-left candidate Frans Timmermans.

Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen called the Danish opt-out on military cooperation a ’millstone around Denmark’s neck’ and repeated the call for a new referendum after the upcoming election.

Re-imposing border controls in January 2016 has cost the state nearly DKK1bn (€130m), four times as much as previously admitted.

Danske Bank played a central role in a major European VAT scandal – new information revealed how at least DKK 1.2bn cheated from illegal dealing with CO2 quotas in Italy, Germany, and Spain was funnelled through an account at Denmark’s biggest bank.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a DKK 1.5bn loan (€200m) for improved rail links to the future Fehmarnbelt railway connection between southern Denmark and Hamburg in Germany.

The Economist reported how a plan by Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s chief strategist at the 2016 election, to launch an alt-right academy in an Italian monastery is at risk after evidence emerged that a key document, issued by Denmark’s Jyske Bank and used to secure tenancy of the property, was forged.

To read all articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)

Social Affairs:

Integration Ministry Inger Støjberg told TV2 she supports the authorities’ deportation order on a 72-year-old Afghanistan asylum seeker with advanced dementia – despite repeated requests from her family for humanitarian asylum the immigration authorities have ordered the frail woman to report to a deportation centre by June 4th.

The Red/Greens rejected the ruling Liberals’ claim that jobless immigrants will receive DKK10,000 more very month in social handouts if the opposition regains power this week – titular head of the far-left party, Pernille Skipper, said the Liberals make it appear that all refugee families will get an immediate DKK10,000 bonus but the figures are ‘grossly manipulated’.

The public’s collective debt to the state and local authorities has risen to an all-time high of DKK117bn (€15.6bn) – the latest Statistics Denmark figures showed the debt mountain, in the form of unpaid taxes, VAT, student loans, police fines, TV licence fees, parking tickets, etc. rose by DKK 9.bn between 2017-18.

Business:

Denmark slipped two places, from 6th to 8th, on the World Competitiveness Centre’s latest global rankings.

After posting a first-quarter loss, A.P. Møller-Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, warned that the trade war between the U.S. and China could cut container growth by up to a third this year.

The National Bank urged Danish banks to add to their capital reserves as an economic slowdown could hit earnings.

The 6-day pilot strike earlier this month, which led to the cancellation of 4,000 flights and affected more than 370,000 passengers cost Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) an estimated DKK460m ($68m) – the airline reported a DKK830m ($125m) Q2 loss.

SAS and Airbus signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding to establish the requirements for the next generation of sustainable aircraft.

And That Was The Week That Was, May 27th – June 2nd 2019: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).