The Week That Was, February 26th – March 4th 2018    

Politics/Economy:

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen presented the government’s 22-point plan, Thursday – ‘One Denmark, No Parallel Societies: Eradicate Ghettos by 2030’  – aimed specifically at stopping the growth of the parallel society and encouraging non-western immigrants to contribute more to society. Leading political watchers saw the move as a sign the PM is preparing for an election campaign. The Danish People’s Party (DPP) welcomed the plan but said there’s only one way to stop the growth of the parallel society – send refugees and asylum seekers back to their native country.

The government offered local authorities a DKK1bn incentive to get non-western immigrants into a job or some form of training.

Opposition leader Mette Frederiksen said the Danish People’s Party’s (DPP) suggestion of an ‘immigration alliance’ alongside the Social Democrats, excluding the government, is ‘understandable’ but ‘unfeasible’.

Politicians reacted angrily to Berlingske’s disclosure that Danske Bank, Denmark’s biggest bank, shut down Russian accounts that were allegedly being used to launder money by members of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s family and the FSB intelligence agency.

Speaker of the House Pia Kjærsgaard denounced four left-wing MPs who allowed two Muslim women wearing the face-covering niqab to enter parliament buildings in January without a security check.

The Danish economy is gaining speed and heading for the strongest growth since 2006, despite financial market uncertainty and private sector warnings of a lack of manpower – Berlingske Business’s latest ‘Econimeter’, based on 11 key indicators, showed the economy is in top form, boosted by rising private consumption, employment and exports. The economy bounced back in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 after contracting in Q2 and Q3, growing by 1%.

EU/Foreign Affairs:

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen dismissed European Commission plans to expand EU spending after Brexit and insisted the EU has to accept budget cuts just like all other EU members.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samuelsen urged Russia to ‘live up to its responsibility’ in Syria where the situation has worsened drastically.

The Danish People’s Party’s (DPP) defence spokeswoman, Marie Krarup, said the west needs to get used to the fact that Russia wants to become a superpower, after President Putin warned in a speech that his country has developed a new array of nuclear weapons that are ‘invincible’.

Denmark contributed DKK99m to fight terrorism, organised crime, and irregular migration in the Sahel, West Africa, region.

Former prime minister and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen defended his role as advisor to Riga-based Nordvik Bank, heavily implicated in an international money laundering and corruption scandal.

Denmark is joint 3rd on the latest ‘powerful passport’ index that ranks nations based on the number of countries their citizens can travel to without a visa.

Social Affairs:

Bloomberg News reported how the property boom, coupled with negative interest rates, has created untold wealth in this country – rising property values have left the average family with net assets of DKK 1.9m ($314,000).

Employment Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) said reducing social handouts definitely encourages people to look for work, following a new study showing 600 welfare recipients have found full-time employment since the Lib/Con/LA coalition capped benefits.

Local Government Denmark threatened to impose a nationwide lockout that will leave parents with no-one to look after their kids and the elderly with no care, after collective wage bargaining negotiations for public sector employees broke down.

Hindholm STX, Denmark’s first Muslim high school, could be forced to close down due to poor finances and links to Islamic organisations.

Minister for Social Affairs Mai Mercado called for a ban on pro-forma marriages similar to laws in other EU countries, in response to figures showing there were 13,000 weddings performed in Denmark in 2016 for couples who didn’t officially reside here.

Queen Margrethe continues to enjoy majority public support – a new poll taken following Prince Henrik’s funeral shows nearly 50% of the electorate believe she should continue on the throne

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Business:

Danske Bank lost up to DKK10bn (($1.6 billion) in value, Wednesday, after Berlingske reported how President Putin’s cousin and members of Russia’s intelligence agency may have used the bank’s branch in Estonia to launder money.

Estonia’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) launched an investigation into Danske Bank following the report.

Danish clean energy giant Vestas maintained its position as the world’s largest supplier of wind turbines on FTI Intelligence’s preliminary rankings for the world’s top five manufacturers.

The state-owned China Railway Tunnel Group (CRTG) is reportedly preparing to submit a tender to build the proposed ‘HH’ tunnel between Helsingborg in Sweden and Helsingør in Denmark.

A Politiken check on 45 publicly owned electricity, water, and heating companies’ travel expenses revealed employees spent taxpayers’ money on expensive restaurants, five-star hotels, and even visits to strip clubs while on business trips abroad.

Carlsberg will end its 22-year sponsorship of the England football team following this summer’s World Cup in Russia.

For the seventh year in a row Copenhagen Airport broke its own passenger record – just under 29.2 million passed through the airport in 2017.

Berlingske Media announced it will stop publishing free daily MetroXpress as part of an in-house company streamlining that will cut 93 jobs, around 10% of total staff.

12 companies have been approved by the Danish Medicines Agency to grow legal cannabis following the legalisation of medicinal cannabis in this country under a new trial scheme that got underway on January 1st.

And That Was The Week That Was, February 26th – March 4th 2018: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).