The Week That Was, March 13th – 19th 2023
Politics/Economy:
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dropped from 5th to a lowly 18th in a new survey of voters’ choice for ‘most popular minister’, mirroring recent opinion polls showing her Social Democrat party has lost a third of its support since the November election.
The fast-sinking anti-migrant New Right party will lose DKK289,000 per month in public funding, around DKK3.5m a year, following ex-leader Lars Boje Mathiesen’s sudden departure last week which left the party with only 3 MPs.
Liberal Alliance party leader Alex Vanopslagh may face criminal charges after a citizen filed a police report accusing him of cheating on his housing allowance from parliament between 2020-2022.
Finance ministry calculations showed the government’s plan to lower income tax on high earners will increase the gender wage gap – collectively, men will benefit more than women.
Annual inflation fell for the 4th consecutive month in February – although consumer prices were 7.6 percent higher than February 2022, it’s a slight reduction compared to January.
Denmark’s balance of payments surplus declined to a seasonally adjusted DKK 20.9bn in January 2023 as exports fell more than imports - the total surplus in 2022 was measured at DKK367bn, or 13.2% of GDP, higher than most other EU countries – the overall average in the EU was 0.4%.
According to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery, Denmark gives insufficient priority to preventing, detecting and sanctioning foreign bribery.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
The government and a cross-party majority reached agreement on a new Ukraine defence fund that will provide DKK7bn ($1.01 bn) for military, civilian and business aid to the war-torn country this year.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark could follow in Poland’s footsteps and send fighter jets to Ukraine, after Acting Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen confirmed that the first batch of refurbished Leopard 1 tanks will be delivered to Ukraine in May. The PM warned warned that Moldova could be next on Vladimir Putin’s wish list if his invasion of Ukraine is successful.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Denmark will continue to deny Russia permission to participate in the ongoing investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 & 2 pipelines off the coast of Bornholm - Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year's blasts on the pipelines had been carried out on a 'state level', dismissing the idea that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible as "complete nonsense".
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned of a ‘battle for influence’ on the African continent following a long meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the first day of her visit to Egypt, Monday.
The government announced plans to resume arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE that were suspended five years ago following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi and UAE-led war on Yemen - Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen defended the turnaround in policy as ‘adapting to the real world’ but the far-left Red/Green Alliance called the move ‘disgraceful’ and a breach of the accepted practice that Denmark doesn’t sell weapons to ‘problematic regimes’.
Immigration and Integration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said Europe’s future involves more barbed wire and fences due to an 'ongoing migration problem' the EU has failed to fix.
Hundreds of international government ministers and leaders will arrive in Denmark this week for the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, a forerunner of the COP28 Climate Summit scheduled for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December.
Social Affairs:
Human rights organisations warned Denmark to refrain from playing into the Syrian regime’s hand by declaring more regions in the war-torn country ’safe’ for returning refugees.
The Swedish authorities launched an investigation into Danish anti-Islamist Rasmus Paludan, who’s carried out a number of Koran-burning stunts in the country.
Business:
The National Bank forecast 4% inflation this year, more than half the level seen in 2022 and expects the economy to grow by 0.9% this year and by 1.2% in 2024 - the Bank raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to bring the deposit rate to 2.75%, falling in line with the European Central Bank (ECB).
U.S. President Joe Biden praised Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk for its decision to lower insulin prices in the US by up to 75% for individuals living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes - the British pharmaceutical industry suspended Novo’s license to trade in the country for two years for failing to disclose that it paid and created courses for British healthcare professionals promoting its weight loss drug Saxenda.
27% of the 11,597 new vehicle registrations in January were electric driven as sales of gasoline, diesel, and hybrid vehicles continue to decline.
Carlsberg dismissed allegations that a Chinese subsidiary uses forced labour.
Fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) acquired the majority share of Mulilo Energy Holdings (Mulilo), a leading South African renewable energy developer based in Cape Town that holds an 8% market share in the South African renewable sector.
And That was the Week That Was, March 13th – 19th 2023: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dropped from 5th to a lowly 18th in a new survey of voters’ choice for ‘most popular minister’, mirroring recent opinion polls showing her Social Democrat party has lost a third of its support since the November election.
The fast-sinking anti-migrant New Right party will lose DKK289,000 per month in public funding, around DKK3.5m a year, following ex-leader Lars Boje Mathiesen’s sudden departure last week which left the party with only 3 MPs.
Liberal Alliance party leader Alex Vanopslagh may face criminal charges after a citizen filed a police report accusing him of cheating on his housing allowance from parliament between 2020-2022.
Finance ministry calculations showed the government’s plan to lower income tax on high earners will increase the gender wage gap – collectively, men will benefit more than women.
Annual inflation fell for the 4th consecutive month in February – although consumer prices were 7.6 percent higher than February 2022, it’s a slight reduction compared to January.
Denmark’s balance of payments surplus declined to a seasonally adjusted DKK 20.9bn in January 2023 as exports fell more than imports - the total surplus in 2022 was measured at DKK367bn, or 13.2% of GDP, higher than most other EU countries – the overall average in the EU was 0.4%.
According to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery, Denmark gives insufficient priority to preventing, detecting and sanctioning foreign bribery.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
The government and a cross-party majority reached agreement on a new Ukraine defence fund that will provide DKK7bn ($1.01 bn) for military, civilian and business aid to the war-torn country this year.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark could follow in Poland’s footsteps and send fighter jets to Ukraine, after Acting Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen confirmed that the first batch of refurbished Leopard 1 tanks will be delivered to Ukraine in May. The PM warned warned that Moldova could be next on Vladimir Putin’s wish list if his invasion of Ukraine is successful.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Denmark will continue to deny Russia permission to participate in the ongoing investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 & 2 pipelines off the coast of Bornholm - Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year's blasts on the pipelines had been carried out on a 'state level', dismissing the idea that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible as "complete nonsense".
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned of a ‘battle for influence’ on the African continent following a long meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the first day of her visit to Egypt, Monday.
The government announced plans to resume arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE that were suspended five years ago following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi and UAE-led war on Yemen - Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen defended the turnaround in policy as ‘adapting to the real world’ but the far-left Red/Green Alliance called the move ‘disgraceful’ and a breach of the accepted practice that Denmark doesn’t sell weapons to ‘problematic regimes’.
Immigration and Integration minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said Europe’s future involves more barbed wire and fences due to an 'ongoing migration problem' the EU has failed to fix.
Hundreds of international government ministers and leaders will arrive in Denmark this week for the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, a forerunner of the COP28 Climate Summit scheduled for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December.
Social Affairs:
Human rights organisations warned Denmark to refrain from playing into the Syrian regime’s hand by declaring more regions in the war-torn country ’safe’ for returning refugees.
The Swedish authorities launched an investigation into Danish anti-Islamist Rasmus Paludan, who’s carried out a number of Koran-burning stunts in the country.
Business:
The National Bank forecast 4% inflation this year, more than half the level seen in 2022 and expects the economy to grow by 0.9% this year and by 1.2% in 2024 - the Bank raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to bring the deposit rate to 2.75%, falling in line with the European Central Bank (ECB).
U.S. President Joe Biden praised Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk for its decision to lower insulin prices in the US by up to 75% for individuals living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes - the British pharmaceutical industry suspended Novo’s license to trade in the country for two years for failing to disclose that it paid and created courses for British healthcare professionals promoting its weight loss drug Saxenda.
27% of the 11,597 new vehicle registrations in January were electric driven as sales of gasoline, diesel, and hybrid vehicles continue to decline.
Carlsberg dismissed allegations that a Chinese subsidiary uses forced labour.
Fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) acquired the majority share of Mulilo Energy Holdings (Mulilo), a leading South African renewable energy developer based in Cape Town that holds an 8% market share in the South African renewable sector.
And That was the Week That Was, March 13th – 19th 2023: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).
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