The Week That Was, February 18th – February 25th 2018

Politics/Economy:

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was criticised for circumventing normal diplomatic channels and interfering in internal U.S. affairs after he tweeted a message urging US President Trump to listen to young Americans’ demand for gun control.

Tabloid daily BT claimed the prime minister is ‘seriously considering’ a cabinet reshuffle to breathe new life into his ailing government and could be ready to make a move before Easter.

The Berlingske Barometer, the average of all leading polls over the past 31 days, showed the Social Democrats are enjoying their best poll results for seven years – the biggest opposition party would win 29.2% of the vote if an election was held right now, 3 percentage points up on the 2015 election, and re-win power with a comfortable 93-82 seat majority.

The government officially put a stop to all exploration and drilling for oil, gas and shale gas within Denmark and Danish waters due to a combination of ‘local concerns’ and ‘limited economic potential’.

A mysterious death list circulated on social media urged readers to attack or kill a number of named famous people, including top politicians – Speaker of the House Pia Kjærsgaard said she’s taking the threat very seriously.

Inger Støjberg apologised for failing to abide by the so-called Paposhvili ruling, in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Belgium could not deport a seriously ill man from Georgia, even though he was a serial criminal – she said the ministry ‘regretted’ what happened and has set up a new unit to ensure things are done correctly in the future.

Employment Minister Troels Lund Poulsen came under scrutiny for accepting 20 free tickets to rock concerts in Copenhagen with a market value of more than DKK20,000 ($3,300) in addition to the costs of VIP gratuities at the venue.

The latest Statistics Denmark figures showed the consumer confidence index rose to 8.5 in February from 8.2 in January, the highest since July last year when it was 10.5

EU/Foreign Affairs:

In a hard hitting-feature article in Berlingske, Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen accused Russia of ‘raising cyber activity to a previously unheard of level’ by using social media and methods ‘designed to create mistrust to our institutions and undermine our democracies’.

The Liberals and Social Democrats expressed concern that the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline will give Russia the opportunity to deploy greater surveillance of the Baltic region – the ruling party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Michael Aastrup Jensen, said it’s a ‘genuine risk’ seen in the light of Russia’s ‘increasingly aggressive’ behavior in the Baltic.

Denmark and Ukraine have joined together to host a major, international conference in Copenhagen this summer – during a meeting in Kiev, Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen and his Ukranian counterpart issued formal invitations to foreign Ministers from EU, NATO, and G7-countries as well as high-level representatives from international organisations. As part of his visit to Ukraine and Georgia Mr Samuelsen launched a new, DKK860m ($143m) ‘Neighbourhood Programme’ to help the two countries resist Russian aggression.

The Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen allegedly pressurised the Royal Danish Theatre (Kongelige Teater) last year not to let the Shen Yun dance troupe, seen by Beijing as the propaganda wing of the Falun Gong movement, perform.

Confidential documents obtained by Berlingske revealed how the Turkish government has illegally investigated political opponents who live in Denmark.

Denmark slipped to number 2 on the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International Index after sharing the top spot with New Zealand for five years.

The government is ready to hire private debt collection agencies to force foreign students who’ve left the country to pay back their loans – EU students owe the Danish state DKK155m (€20m) but EU rules prevent the authorities from collecting debt outside Denmark’s borders.

Denmark co-hosted a high-level conference in Brussels, Thursday, focussing on human rights and trust building between local communities and security forces in the G5 countries within the West African Sahel region.

Business leaders and economists warned the economy is in danger of overheating and the government could soon be faced with a situation in which it would need to tighten fiscal policy.

Social Affairs:

Prince Henrik, the late husband of Queen Margrethe, was laid to rest a Copenhagen chapel, Tuesday, in a small, private funeral attended by family and friends only – the Royal Family,  Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, France’s ambassador to Denmark and some 60 other guests were among those attending the simple ceremony at the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in the centre of Copenhagen.

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) said Denmark should hunt down and kill Danish citizens who are fighting for the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Middle East so they are never able to return to Denmark and carry out a terrorist attack.

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) was accused of stirring up a hate campaign against immigrants with a Facebook survey asking respondents whether they believe Somalian women are ‘beneficial to, or a burden on, society’, following a TV2 report showing how 11 Somali women in a local women’s group in Odense have become permanent fixtures on welfare and are unable to speak Danish after living here for up to 19 years.

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) proposed that any private school that provides teaching for Muslims in their native language should lose their its state subsidies – in most cases around 75% of their funding

A new report by the Integration Ministry showed at least 100 non-western children who’ve grown up in Denmark are sent abroad on lengthy ‘re-education trips’ every year.

Two studies published by the Finance Ministry yesterday shows non-western immigrants cost the state DKK36bn ($6bn) in 2015, but Finance Minister Kristian Jensen said he’s confident the figure will decrease as the economy improves.

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Business:

Grandi Lavori Fincosit (GLF), one of the companies in the consortium that won the tender to build the new Storstrøm Bridge is embroiled in a major construction scandal in Italy.

Environment & Food minister Esben Lunde Larsen embarked on a ’charm offensive’ in the United Arab emirates as the head of a large Danish delegation with the aim of promoting sustainable  solutions within food production and water tech

And That Was The Week That Was, February 18th – February 25th 2018     : To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).