The Week That Was, March 12th – March 18th 2018

Politics/Economy:

The National Bank said the economy is performing well but there are danger signals ahead – the Bank forecast GDP growth of 1.9% this year but slightly less in 2019/20. But according to mortgage lender Nykredit, GDP growth will be a modest 1.3% this year, the lowest since 2013.

The Social Democrats accused the Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of ‘deceiving the Danish public’ for vowing to halt the ‘parallel society’ but at the same time increasing funding for 23 Muslim free schools.

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will be grilled about his charitable ‘Løkke Foundation’ during parliamentary question time on March 28th, after doubts were raised about his previous claim there’s a clear dividing line between his public and private duties.

The trade union movement in northern Jutland told Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiken she isn’t welcome to attend a May 1st event after she refused to distance herself from the government’s lockout threat to 440,000 public sector employees – Nordea warned that a public sector strike could seriously damage economic growth.

A new global study by accountancy firm UHY International showed Denmark has the heaviest burden of taxation as a percentage of the economy.

The Red/Greens summoned Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen to appear before a parliamentary committee to explain why potentially incriminating e-mails were deleted from five top police chiefs’ computers before members of the Tibet Commission had the possibility to examine them.

Inflation decreased slightly for the fifth straight month in February – the consumer price index rose 0.6 percent year-over-year, just below January’s 0.7 percent climb.

EU/Foreign Affairs:

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Denmark stands fully behind Great Britain after his UK counterpart, Therese May, concluded it was ‘highly likely’ that Russia tried to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with nerve gas – lawmakers from parliament’s three biggest parties condemned the attack and declared themselves ready to punish Russia.

Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen expressed his ‘deepest concern’ about reports that three residents of Denmark have been charged under the espionage act with aiding a foreign intelligence service by informing on Danish-Turkish opponents of the Ergodan government.

Finance Minister Kristian Jensen urged the EU to do everything it can to avoid a trade war with the USA – after an EU finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Mr Jensen said there are no winners in trade wars, only losers.

Members of parliament’s foreign policy committee claimed they were put under pressure by China to accept the communist regime’s policies during a visit to Beijing last year.

Two military personnel, one current and one former employee of the Danish Embassy in Abu Dhabi, were charged with ‘gross negligence’ by violating section 27 of the Military Criminal Code and face fines or even imprisonment.

The former head of the Danish battalion in Iraq told the High Court he saw no signs of ‘exaggerated force’ or torture during the controversial “Operation Green Desert” operation in 2004.

Denmark, alongside Finland, and Sweden, signed an agreement with Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) to cooperate in various fields, including oil and renewable energies.

Three men suspected of attempting to murder a Danish national four years ago have went on trial in Saudi-Arabia.

Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen held talks with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Copenhagen, Wednesday, when they discussed ‘steps to further strengthen and deepen relations between Armenia and Denmark and joint projects of bilateral interest.’

Copenhagen was ranked as the world’s 8th most expensive city by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living Index 2018, while Denmark came in 3rd on the 2018 World Happiness Report – Finland is now the happiest place to live.

Social Affairs:

A new report revealed that although more young Copenhagen residents of non-western origin are getting jobs, performing better in schools and higher education, and committing less crime, they continue to reject Danish values.

Female imam Sherin Khankan sued three centre-right politicians – the Conservatives’ Naser Khader, the DPP’s Martin Henriksen and the Liberals’ Marcus Knuth – for defamation of character.

207 patients in Denmark have so far been prescribed medicinal cannabis or marijuana under the 4-year trial scheme initiated on January 1st.

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Business:

Danish exports have fallen since the start of the year especially to key markets Germany and Great Britain – the latest figures showed overall exports fell by 0.3% in January, continuing the negative trend from the final quarter of 2017.

New Statistics Denmark figures showed Danish companies employ 1.4 million people in subsidiaries abroad – between 2010-2016 the number of industrial workers employed by Danish companies abroad increased by 70,000, but fell by 3,000 in this country.

Denmark’s largest energy company, Ørsted, (formerly DONG) announced an official green energy partnership with one of the biggest names in US baseball, the Boston Red Sox.

Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is no longer the richest man in Denmark – Forbes’ latest global ‘Billionaires List’ showed the LEGO heir has now been outstripped by Anders Holch Povlsen, head of the Bestseller clothing empire.

Chairman of the Board at Danske Bank, Ole Andersen, acknowledged the bank was too slow in reacting to financial law violations in Estonia.

And That Was The Week That Was, March 12th – March 18th 2018: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).