The Week That Was, January 30th – February 5th 2017
Politics/Economy
The government laid out its political goals for 2017 including a new anti-gang strategy and a helping hand to homeowners, but Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen acknowledged that the tight parliamentary situation could make it difficult to pass legislation. Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen said he’s determined to rush through new, anti-gang laws before the summer recess that will, amongst other things, double the prison sentence for shootings and gun possession.
President Trump’s immigration ban dominated prime minister’s question time in parliament, Tuesday – Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the USA remains Denmark’s closest ally but admitted ‘certain things’ are happening right now that are completely different to ‘anything we’ve experienced before’.
While most of the world reacted strongly to Donald Trump’s immigration ban, Denmark’s right-wing parties praised the US president – the Danish People’s Party (DPP) said it’s up to each individual country to decide who they allow in, while the anti-immigrant New Conservatives praised Mr Trump for practicing ‘due diligence’. Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen called the ban ‘unwise’ and ‘political symbolism’ that will have far-reaching consequences.
Former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s son, Henrik, has been offered a top-level job in the Trump administration and, according to Politiken, is close to accepting, despite stating last year that although he’s a republican he couldn’t bring himself to vote for the reality TV star.
Integration Minister Inger Støjberg said the government will in future concentrate more on integration than imposing new immigration restrictions, in response to new figures showing only 6,235 people sought asylum in Denmark last year compared to 21,000 in 2015.
A new study by the right-leaning think-tank CEPOS showed the Danish state’s dominance of the media industry in this country continues to grow – nearly half of all news journalists are employed in the public sector, compared to 26% in Sweden and 37% in Norway.
Foreign Affairs/EU
Denmark commenced operations as head of the EU’s anti-corruption program in Ukraine.
Business Minister Brian Mikkelsen urged the European Union to roll back some financial regulations that, he claimed, hits big and small banks indiscriminately.Poland’s ambassador to Denmark criticised Copenhagen University’s decision to drop its degree programme in Polish studies – in an open letter HE Henryka Mościcka-Dendys expressed concern about the stereotypical view of Poles in this country and the lack of knowledge about Poland.
Denmark has ‘cracked the code’ for balancing water conservation and energy use and the rest of Europe should ‘follow our lead’, according to Katrine Rafn, Director of Water Resources at the Danish Environment Ministry.
A long list of immigration restrictions imposed by the government, which have led to more than 800 Somalis facing deportation, were based on a report by the Danish Immigration Service (DIS) – however, when DIS officials travelled to Somalia in 2015 to conduct research for the report they never left the airport as it was ‘too dangerous’. Two Somali nationals were forcibly deported last September in an under-cover operation – the two men were put on a plane on September 28th and sent back to their native country in an operation held secret by the government and police.
The Turkish authorities have reportedly detained a Danish national who fought alongside the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
A former top advisor to Queen Margrethe is to be grilled by the Tibet Commission about the Royal House’s role in the police’s clampdown on demonstrators during a 2012 state visit by China’s president at the time, Hu Jintao.
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Social Affairs
6,235 people sought asylum in Denmark in 2016 – 1,641 arrived during the first few weeks of the year but the figures fell dramatically after border control was introduced at the start of January.
The number of jobless increased by 1300 people from November to December, the third consecutive month on month increase, as more refugees and migrants entered the workforce.
The number of foreigners reviewing Danish citizenship has markedly declined since the year 2000 – at the turn of the century 19,323 citizenships were granted by parliament to ‘new Danes’ compared to only 4064 last year.
The government’s cap on social benefits hasn’t led to more people being evicted from their homes, as predicted by the opposition when new rules for welfare entitlement were imposed four months ago.
Integration Minister Inger Støjberg declined to get involved in the debate about Muslims and segregated swimming – she said there’s no need for legislation, just the courage to say to Muslims: ‘This is Denmark and you need to respect our way of living.’
A new pan-Nordic study of diet, physical activity, obesity and ‘lifestyle choices’ showed Denmark holds the unfortunate record of having the highest rate of smoking and drinking in the Nordic region – and, subsequently, the lowest life expectancy.
Business
Finance Minister Kristian Jensen said the government has no plans to sell its stake in DONG after Goldman Sachs announced it was selling its own 22.7 million shares in the partially state-owned energy company – Dong CEO Henrik Poulsen said the company is aiming to become the first major European energy company to commit to becoming entirely coal-free within the immediate future.
Despite earning billions in 2016, Novo Nordisk, Denmark’s biggest company by market capitalisation, downwardly adjusted its sales forecast for 2017 – the company’s new chief executive officer, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, warned that Novo operates in an ‘increasingly volatile’ environment. Novo is one of three global makers of diabetes treatments being sued in the USA for operating a cartel – a patients’ group filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts claiming Novo, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly have simultaneously increased the price of insulin by over 150 percent during the past five years.
Following Novo Nordisk’s announcement of a DKK1bn investment ($145m) in a new research centre in Oxford, toy giant Lego announced plans to expand its London base – Lego was named the most powerful brand in the world, knocking entertainment king Disney off the top spot.
Struggling airline SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) announced plans to register planes in Ireland and set up bases in London and Spain to compete with low-cost carriers Norwegian Air and Ryanair – the Socialist People’s Party (SPP) denounced the move as the ‘sick face of capitalism’
German electronics conglomerate Siemens, one of Europe’s 20 largest companies, appointed 51 year old Dane Jim Hagemann Snabe as group chairman – Siemens has an annual revenue of over DKK 779 billion, roughly one third of Denmark’s GDP.
Fast food giant McDonald’s has sold off all its Nordic operations to British equity firm Terra Firma, who will become the main franchiser for Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
Shares in Denmark’s biggest bank, Danske, soared after management reported an after-tax profit of DKK19.9bn ($6bn) for 2016, a 12% increase on the previous year.
Norwegian billionaire Petter Stordalen is set to assume control of the 5-star Copenhagen Airport Hilton hotel.
The Week That Was, January 30th – February 5th 2017 – to read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)