The Week That Was, April 16th – April 22nd 2018
Politics/Economy:
After a marathon 19 hours of negotiations that ended without a deal the official labour dispute arbitrator, Mette Christensen, gave unions, communal employers, and the state a final 14 day-period to try and reach a collective bargaining agreement, thereby postponing threatened strike action that could have paralysed Denmark this week.
The government is assured of a majority for the ‘ban the burka’ bill that received its first reading in parliament, Thursday, but the Danish People’s Party’s (DPP) integration spokesman, Martin Henriksen, said time to go a step further and ban all forms of religious headwear in schools, for both pupils and teachers. Justice Minister gave a guarantee that the police won’t forcibly remove burkas from Muslim women on the street when the bill is finally passed by parliament.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s threat to cut subsidies to Greenland if it secedes from the Danish commonwealth has become a major issue in that country’s election campaign – ahead of this week’s vote, Vittus Qujaukitsoq, founder of the newly-formed Nunatta Qitornai (NQ) party, said it ‘isn’t fitting’ for the Danish PM to threaten Greenland’s move towards total independence.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen held informal talks, Thursday, with ex-US President Bill Clinton, who was in Copenhagen as the keynote speaker at the Presidents Institute for 3,000 business leaders.
EU/Foreign Affairs:
After talks with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, at the India-Nordic summit in Stockholm, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the India-Denmark Joint Commission that’s been on standby since 2010 is to be re-started – after the bilateral meeting documents were exchanged between the two sides in areas of animal husbandry, dairying and urban development. Denmark will also open a cultural institute at the Danish Embassy in New Delhi this autumn to promote cultural exchanges. Niels Holck, the arms smuggler who caused a major rift in Denmark-India relations could soon be extradited to face trial – Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the Director General of prosecution is ‘looking into it’.
Ahead of the Stockholm meeting Delhi High Court upheld the sentence of life imprisonment till death given to five convicts for gangraping a 52-year-old Danish woman here in 2014.
The government declared its full support for the decision by the US, the United Kingdom and France to bomb targets in Syria over the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons.
Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen called for more military training for Home Guard volunteers to counter Russian aggression.
Ahead of his trip to Washington DC, Wednesday, to attend the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, Finance Minister Kristian Jensen again expressed concern about President Trump’s tariffs and trade restrictions.
Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said Denmark is ready to consider imposing more sanctions on Russia – he was later ridiculed for posting a video of himself on Facebook doing a workout, in a suit and tie, while boasting about the Liberal Alliance’s achievements.
Denmark called for a joint EU plan of action to combat and eradicate African swine fever, which has been found in six member states so far – Esben Lunde Larsen said Denmark is building a 70 kilometre fence along the border with Germany border to keep out wild pigs that can carry the deadly infection and other countries should do the same.
Copenhagen Police agreed to pay financial compensation of DKK20,000 ($3,200) each to eight demonstrators in the ‘Tibetgate’ affair after Chief of police Anne Tønnes formally acknowledged they were denied their democratic rights during a state visit in 2012 by China’s president at the time, Hu Jintao.
Social Affairs:
Integration Minister Inger Støjberg said she wants to see gay imams preaching in Denmark, following a TV documentary, ‘The Hell of being a Muslim Homo’, in which two imams stated it’s a major sin to be homosexual and homosexuality is a sickness.
Five cabinet ministers met behind closed doors. Friday, to discuss the implications of a citizens’ bill that would ban non-medical circumcision for boys -.the Conservatives’ Syrian-born foreign affairs spokesman, Naser Khader, warned it could be an ‘explosive issue’ for Denmark as there are 55 Muslim countries who would protest, alongside Israel.
Over half of all foreign fighters who left Denmark to join militant Islamic groups received Danish social benefits while ‘fighting for the enemy’ – an estimated 150 young Muslims have travelled to Syria or Iraq to fight for the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2012 and, according to new Employment Ministry figures, 84 continued to receive Danish welfare handouts while they were away.
Four terrorists found guilty of planning a violent attack on Jyllands-Posten nine years ago could soon be released from the Swedish prison where they are being held – documents from Sweden’s Prison Authority obtained by news radio 24/7 showed all four are eligible for parole this year.
3.4m taxpayers were given tax refunds totalling DKK16.7bn but 360,000 will never see any money – the taxman seized their payouts, around DKK1bn, to cover unpaid parking tickets, the TV license fee, or other debt to the state.
To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)
Business:
A new Statistics Denmark report revealed Denmark had the lowest rate of self employed in the EU in the final quarter (Q4) of 2017 – 7.5 percent, far below neighbouring countries.
Denmark was one of 13 countries identified as an ‘innovative champion’ in a new global ranking from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).
Nykredit and Sydbank, two of Denmark’s biggest mortgage lenders, were found guilty in Spain of cheating British property owners.
The Danish Gambling Authority’s annual report showed revenue from gambling continues to grow, to DKK9.2bn ($1.5bn) last year, mainly due to the popularity of state-run lotteries.
And That Was The Week That Was, April 16th – April 22nd 2018: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).