The Week That Was, March 5th – March 11th 2018    

Politics/Economy:

Integration Minister Inger Støjberg dismissed a human rights committee report claiming refugees at one of the country’s biggest refugee repatriation centres are being unjustly detained and forced to live under ‘torture-like’ conditions.

Prominent local mayors throughout the country condemned the government’s ghetto plan as a ‘violation of the accepted rules of democracy’ – according to a Jyllands-Posten review the far-reaching proposals in the plan, aimed specifically at non-western immigrants, will adversely affect around 50,000 Danes.

Minister for the Interior Simon Emil Ammitzbøll-Bille admitted parliament has been misled about the ownership structure of the company that has supplied the software for a new voting system in Denmark.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Kim Kielsen called parliamentary elections for next month – according to Poul Krause, editor of the local Sermitsiaq, the election will focus on two main issues: fishing and the country’s relationship to Denmark.

The unemployment rate held steady in January, after falling in the previous month, figures from Statistics Denmark showed Friday.

EU/Foreign Affairs:

Russia’s Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Valentinovich Vanin hit back at Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen’s ‘russophobic’ comments and ‘baseless accusations

The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) urged the EU to call Donald Trump’s bluff and remove all trade restrictions after the US President signed controversial orders imposing heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum.

After an EU meeting in Brussels, Thursday, Integration Minister Inger Støjberg said Denmark and five other countries in the Schengen document-free travel area are preparing to extend border controls by at least another six months.

Development Aid Minister Ulla Tørnæs (V) arrived in Kenya, Tuesday, armed with a DKK 50m ($8m) grant to help south Sudanese refugees.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Anders Samulesen arrived in Algiers, Monday, to take part in an official ceremony to mark the reopening of Denmark’s embassy in the North African country and as the head of a large Danish trade delegation.

Social Affairs:

The state responded firmly to the threat of a teachers’ strike by warning it will ‘lock out’ 440,000 public sector workers from April 10th.

Peter Madsen, the alleged ‘Submarine slayer’, was described by the prosecution as an intelligent man ‘with psychopathic tendencies and no empathy or feelings of guilt’ when his murder trial opened Thursday – journalists from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, England, France, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Israel, USA, and China were present to cover the most macabre murder case in Denmark’s history.

Copenhagen will host the EuroGames in 2021, the biggest sporting event for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community in the world – the games will be held in conjunction with the World Pride diversity festival in one mega-event, ‘Copenhagen 21’.

Richard Nekkaz, a French-Algerian businessman, offered to pay all fines imposed on women wearing a full-face veil in Denmark if parliament passes the proposed ‘burka ban’.

The High Court upheld a lower court decision and allowed Danish-Pakistani Shuaib Khan, leader of the immigrant gang Loyal To Familia (LTF) to remain in Denmark.

Jakob Scharf, former head of Danish Intelligence (PET), was charged with a breach of professional secrecy.

While smoking is on the decline in most civilised countries a new Board of Health report showed the number of smokers between the ages of 16-24 in Denmark has risen by 16% for males and 15% for females over the past four years.

To read all the above articles in full see:  http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)

Business:

Industrial production increased in January after falling in the previous month.

Denmark’s biggest company, Maersk, received Danish regulatory approval for the sale of its oil business to Total, paving the way for completion of the previously announced $4.95 billion deal.

A Russian whistleblower who mysteriously died in the UK six years ago was linked to the Danske Bank money laundering scandal.

Business Minister Brian Mikkelsen stressed the importance of free trade for the Danish economy during a meeting with his U.S counterpart Wilbur Ross, in Washington DC, Monday – he lobbied strongly for Vestas, whose American operations could be hard-hit by President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum.

And That Was The Week That Was, March 5th – March 11th 2018 2018: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).