The Week That Was September 28th – October 4th 2020:
Coronavirus/ What happened last week:
Opposition parties called on Prime Minister to explain why hundreds of e-mails concerning the government’s handling of the corona crisis have been wiped out.
The number of new corona cases dipped to under 400 again, Thursday, the second-lowest daily figure over the past two weeks but still four times higher than at the start of September. At the same time the number of hospitalisations topped 100.
Despite the past few weeks’ rise in corona cases the so-called ‘R’ rate, which reflects the average number of infections one person with the virus causes, has fallen from 1.3 from 1.1.
One of Denmark’s leading virus specialists questioned the need for a 10pm curfew on bars and restaurants – Dr. Torben Mogensen, chairman of the Danish Lung Association, said he didn’t believe that leaving a restaurant at 10 or 11 has any effect on the virus numbers.
The government ordered the mass slaughter of all mink herds with the corona infection – infected mink have been found on 41 farms in north Jutland and a further 20 are under suspicion.
Politics/Economy:
A new poll showed the Conservatives are at their highest level of popularity for 10 years – 10.6% of the electorate would vote for the party if an election was held today, making them parliament’s 3rd-biggest – their success is attributed to popular leader Søren Pape Poulsen, seem by many as having ‘prime minister potential’.
The government promised that its ambitious climate target of a 70% reduction in Co2 emissions within a decade won’t be funded by cutbacks in Denmark’s cherished welfare state.
Former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen accused the government of acting not only ‘stupidly’ but also ‘dangerously’ by compromising Military Intelligence (FE) – the ex-PM wrote in a blog that there are two overriding rules in international intelligence cooperation: Never reveal your sources and never reveal your methods.
Newly revised Statistics Denmark figures showed Danish GDP dived by 6.8% in the year’s second quarter (Q2), reflecting the impact of Covid-19 and the measures implemented to contain it – despite being the steepest contraction since the start of the 1990s it was less than the 7.4% projected in August.
The public sector deficit is at a 5-year-high as a result of major spending on Covid-19 aid programs coupled with lower tax income – the latest Statistics Denmark figures showed the deficit rose to DKK18.8bn ($2.9bn) in the second quarter (Q2) as the government spent DKK 16 bn ($2.4bn) on various forms of aid for businesses and employees, while tax revenue was down 19.6bn ($3bn) compared with the same period last year before.
The jobless rate improved marginally in August – the gross unemployment rate fell by 9,700 to 137,800 in August from 147,500 in the preceding month.
179 MPs will attend the state opening of parliament on Tuesday, October 6th, despite the ban on gatherings of more than 50 people.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
On arrival at the EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was important that the EU isn’t ‘taken hostage’ by Cyprus, which has blocked EU sanctions on Belarus until there are sanctions against Turkey.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her India counterpart, Narendra Modi, agreed on a ‘Green Strategic Partnership’, Monday that will hopefully provide Danish companies with smoother access to the lucrative Indian market. The ‘Niels Holck affair’, which caused a diplomatic rift between Denmark and India eight years ago, was raised again during the virtual bilateral summit – Mr Holck has successfully avoided deportation from this country since the High Court upheld a lower court ruling in 2011 not to hand him over to the Indian authorities to face charges of dropping four tons of weapons down to a rebel group in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1995.
A new ’state of democracy’ report by the EU Commission expressed concerns about IT problems in the Danish legal system and the lack of rules at parliament.
Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod welcomed the peace accord between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel during talks with his UAE counterpart, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash – Mr Kofod discussed trade and the corona crisis in a phone call to Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, Mary Ng, Wednesday.
The Danish Energy Agency (Energistyrelsen) granted final approval for the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 consortium permission to operate its Baltic Sea natural gas pipeline in Danish waters.
Uganda appointed a new accounting officer at its Copenhagen embassy where a cash scam was revealed last month.
As the first major pension fund in Denmark AkademikerPension pulled $54 million worth of investments from China, citing human rights violations.
Lithuania’s central bank is cooperating with Denmark’s law enforcement in an investigation into potential money laundering at Danske Bank’s branch in the country.
Student grants to foreign EU nationals topped DKK500m (€66m) last year despite a cross-party political agreement from 2013 that capped expenditure at DKK442m (€59m).
Social Affairs:
As part of new measures to combat ‘social control’ Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said the government is ready to seize the passport of any minor suspected of travelling abroad to enter into a religious marriage.
Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod’s precarious situation got even worse after his affair with a 15-year-old girl twelve years ago and the growing MeToo movement in Denmark were highlighted by the British BBC.
The man who sparked off anti-Denmark riots throughout the Middle East 15 years ago published a new illustrated Koran book for children – with new Mohammed cartoons.
Business:
Denmark has risen to 3rd place on the ‘World Digital Competitiveness’ ranking compiled by the Lausanne-based IMD business school – the U.S. and Singapore lead the way with Sweden and Hong Kong rounding out the top-5.
The latest leak of documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) showed how Nordea’s Danish wing was heavily involved in suspect financial activities.
And That Was the Week That Was, September 28th – October 4th 2020: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).