The Week That Was, July 3rd – July 9th 2017       

Politics/Economy

Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen urged Donald Trump to ‘straighten himself out, focus on the issues, and respect the dignity of his office’ after the US President tweeted a short video clip of himself wrestling a person with the CNN logo for a head – the Danish People’s Party (DPP) condemned the strong language as ‘undiplomatic, unwise, and potentially damaging to Denmark’. Acting US ambassador Laura Lochman said the close relationship between Denmark and the USA won’t be affected by the ‘tweet’ dispute as ‘straight talk’  between allies is the sign of a healthy relationship.

Ex-defence minister Svend Aage Jensby accused Liberal Party whip Søren Gade, of ‘stabbing the government in the back’ for claiming that the coalition is conducting ‘socialist policy’ by proposing state loans for social housing instead of private mortgages.

Ahead of the government’s presentation of a new North Sea strategy, Energy Minister Lars Christian Lilleholt said Denmark still has the potential to earn billions of kroner from oil and gas

New Statistics Denmark figures showed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) climbed 0.6 percent sequentially in the first quarter, the same rate of growth as in Q4/16 – at the same time, the consumer confidence index is at the highest it’s been in over a year, reflected in increasing household spending.

EU/Foreign Affairs

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen welcomed the free-trade deal tentatively agreed between the European Union and Japan, Thursday, as an ‘important signal’ to send at a time when more and more countries are touting protectionism – Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, arrives in Denmark on July 10th for talks, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Mr Løkke Rasmussen condemned North Korea’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

At the  EU migration ministers informal meeting in Tallin, Thursday, Integration Minister Inger Støjberg said she’s determined to stop the ‘unholy alliance’ between humanitarian organisations’ rescue ships off the coast of Libya and human traffickers – she also praised the new EU migration plan aimed at easing the pressure on Italy.

Business Minister Brian Mikkelsen said the government is close to making a decision about Denmark’s participation in the EU’s proposed banking union – the Danish People’s Party (DPP) warned they would be demanding a new referendum if the government goes ahead .

Spokespersons for coalition partners, the Liberals and Conservatives, urged the government to lead the way at the EU in condemning a Saudi-led campaign to close down the Al-Jazeera news network.

In an interview with political news site Altinget, Germany’s ambassador to Denmark, Claus Robert Krumrei, said the EU has the economic and military potential to look after itself, but member nations need to show greater cooperation and accept more responsibility,

The European Competition Commission, led by Denmark’s Margethe Vestager, formally charged General Electric (GE) with provided ‘misleading or incorrect’ information in its submissions ahead of the acquisition of Danish energy company, LM Wind Power.

Lawmakers called for immediate border control to tackle ‘foreign fighters’ returning from Iraq and Syria.

Another Danish citizen suspected of providing financial support for the Islamic State (IS) was arrested in Spain.

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Social Affairs:

A young refugee couple who fell foul of Integration Minister Inger Støjberg’s ‘child-bride’ ruling last year and are now suing the immigration authorities were labelled ‘ungrateful’ and ‘disrespectful’ by the Danish People’s Party (DPP) – the ruling Liberals’ human rights spokesman Jan E. Jørgensen acknowledged that Integration Minister Inger Støjberg made mistakes but denied allegations his party disregards the law.

The Social Democrats called for a stop on state funding for Muslim free schools.

Danish imam Daniel Rezaei of the Shia Ali mosque in Vibevej accused Danish Intelligence (PE) of failing to take the terror threat against Muslims seriously.

A new report by the National Prison Service showed 3 out of 10 prisoners in this country are foreign nationals – the ruling Liberals’ justice spokesman, Preben Bang Henriksen, called the figures ‘alarming’ and evidence that Denmark has become a haven for foreign criminals

Business:

Copenhagen Airport (CPH) was again ranked the most efficient airport in Europe, for the twelfth time in fourteen years, by the Air Transport Research Society – airlines at the airport could soon be enjoying lower taxes and duties, part of a new national aviation strategy presented by the government, Monday.

Global insulation company Rockwool is building a new manufacturing facility in West Virginia, USA.

Velux, the world’s leading manufacturer of roof windows and skylights, was hit by a murky case of industrial espionage – a former top executive is suspected of trying to sell business secrets to a rival Polish company, Fakro.

Carlsberg strengthened its move into craft beers by acquiring London Fields Brewery in the UK, in a joint venture with Brooklyn Brewery from New York.

Visa and Mastercard are both in the race to buy Danish card payment services company Nets.

A.P. Moller-Maersk said it had restored its IT systems after being hit by a major cyber attack last week.

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) said a Maersk Oil report concerning the company’s illegal dumping of chemicals in the North Sea is ‘seriously lacking’ and demanded supplementary information.

The Danish fishing industry is heading for its best year ever – 449,000 tons of fish were caught during the first five months of 2015, twice as many as during the same period last year.

And That Was The Week That Was, July 3rd – July 9th 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)