The Week That Was, April 3rd – April 10th 2017
Politics/Economy:
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called the Stockholm attack, Friday, a ‘cowardly attempt to intimidate us and our peaceful way of life in Scandinavia’.
Immigration was the key to victory for the centre-right alliance victory at the last general election – a new study revealed how the ‘red’ bloc led the way when the debate centered on welfare, health, and hospitals, but the pendulum swung as soon as the Liberals promised an immediate crackdown on refugees.
The Danish People’s Party (DPP) said the authorities should have the power to shut down any business that employs foreigners without valid work permits after it was revealed that 117 Danish companies were collectively fined more than DKK 5.5m (€670,000) for employing illegal manpower last year – the party also came to the rescue of under fire Environment & Food Minister Esben Lunde Larsen yesterday after he apologised for misleading parliament about fishing quotas.
Ahead of reform negotiatons the DPP laid out 20 new growth initiatives, with a price tag of DKK1.047bn, aimed at giving the business sector a much-needed boost.
A new study by right-leaning think-tank CEPOS showed 15 years of tax reforms by successive governments have increased employment in this country by 39,000 people and boosted GNP by DKK32bn (€4.2bn).
Denmark’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to DKK 464.1bn ($66.48bn) in March from DKK 466.6bn at the end of February – analysts had expected the reserves to increase to DKK 470bn by end-March.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose to 4.3 percent in February from 4.2 percent in January.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
The government offered unconditional support for the U.S. bombing raid on Syria – Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said it’s good to see an American president ‘back words with action’, while Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said he was ‘100%’ behind the American attack and Denmark would be ‘responsive’ to any request from President Trump to step up its military mission in Syria. He condemned Wednesday’s chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Syria’s Idlib province as ‘utterly horrific’ and President Bashir al-Assad should be excluded from any long-term political settlement.
On the first day of his state visit, Ukraine President Petro Porosjenko said Denmark isn’t a small country but a great nation which understands very clearly that a secure Ukraine means a secure Europe – prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen responded by saying Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine are ‘unacceptable’ and Denmark refuses to accept the aggressive and illegal annexation of Crimea.’
After 11 meetings with key EU officials in Brussels, Tuesday, Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen expressed confidence that Danish police will still have access to Europol’s database after May 1st when the cross-border police agency becomes a supranational body.
Danish Intelligence (PET) is to investigate allegations that Danish-Turks have been reported to the authorities in Turkey via an ‘informant hotline’ – according to confidential documents obtained by Politiken, journalists, schools, and organisations in Denmark with an alleged ‘anti President Erdogan agenda’ are being spied on.
The government rejected an offer from Chinese mining company General Nice Group China last year to buy an abandoned naval base on Greenland due to security concerns as politicians didn’t want to jeopardise the close relationship with the United States.
The Social Democrats joined the growing opposition to allowing the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to pass through Danish territorial waters.
The government pledged an extra DKK250m (€33.33m) for humanitarian assistance to Syria and border regions, made an extra contribution of DKK40m ($6m) to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)and also granted a further DKK30m (€4m) to help Bangladesh combat the ravages of climate change.
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Social Affairs:
New figures from the Police Centre for Foreign Nationals revealed Denmark has spent DKK87m (nearly $13m) on the repatriation of failed asylum seekers since 2011 at a cost of DKK36,000 per deportation – 490 failed asylum seekers were forcibly placed on aircraft and sent home last year.
Denmark’s biggest retailer, Co-op, urged parliament to pass legislation that would require all retail outlets to conceal cigarettes under the counter so children and youths aren’t tempted.
The High Court stripped a pizzeria owner of his Danish citizenship for joining Islamic State militants in Syria.
A 40-year-old Copenhagen man was arrested, Thursday, on suspicion of human trafficking and ‘living off immoral earnings’ after a police raid on a brothel in the Amager district revealed seven trafficked Thai women.
Business:
In connection with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko’s state visit to Denmark, engineering company BIIR announced plans to expand its Odessa office by 300% over the next two years.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, accompanied by President Enrique Peña Nieto, officially inaugurated A.P. Moeller-Maersk’s new state of the art terminal at Lázaro Cárdenas on Mexico’s west coast, Tuesday.
Controversial Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman emerged as one of the frontrunners for North Sea oil and gas assets put up for sale by partially state-owned DONG Energy.
168 companies filed for bancruptcy in March, 10% up on the previous month, although the grand total for the first three months was 3% down on Q1 2016.
The Danish authorities were were tipped off by a top British firm of lawyers four years ago that Denmark’s two biggest banks, Danske and Nordea, were implicated in a vast money-laundering scheme through their branches in Estonia and Moldova but failed to act on the information.
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