The Week That Was, October 3rd – October 9th 2016

Politics/Economy

Parliament’s traditional opening debate, Thursday, lasted nearly 14 hours – in his concluding remarks, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen noted that despite widespread agreement on the challenges facing Denmark, parties are divided on the solutions. Four right-leaning MPs were asked to leave parliament ahead of the debate for wearing t-shirts with the slogan ‘Aleppo is bleeding – Save Syria’. Ahead of the debate, Liberal Alliance leader Anders Samuelsen said he should have taken the opportunity to topple the PM on August 30th when the government released its 2025, long-term economic plan.

A new Voxmeter survey for Ritzau indicated the centre-left opposition would return to power with a 52.2 – 47.8% majority if an election was held right now, while a Gallup survey showed a majority of voters believe opposition leader Mette Frederiksen to be better qualified to lead the country than Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

A bill that would require Danish mobile operators to log details about users’ locations, e-mails, text messages and internet use, which was withdrawn in March after fierce criticism, will now be put before parliament in January according to the legislative programme for the coming parliamentary session.

Opposition politicians called for a reduction in the police presence at the Danish border after a dramatic decrease in the number of asylum seekers – the police have spent over 600,000 man hours on border patrol since January, the equivalent of 450 full-time officers, at the expense of fighting crime in local districts throughout the country.

The overall tax burden in this country continues to rise and will hit 47.6% of GDP this year, costing the average family around DKK18,000, new Danish Chamber of Commerce (DCC) figures showed.

Foreign Affairs/EU

Politiken reported the government has given up hope that Denmark can continue as a full member of Europol and will now seek a ‘Europol light’ deal, which will hopefully allow the Danish police ‘full operational access’ to Europol data after Denmark is forced to leave on May 1st.

In an interview with Danish TV2, President Bashar al-Assad said he doesn’t see Denmark as an enemy of Syria but there’s a big difference between the views of the Danish people and the policies of the government ‘that has blindly followed’ the USA – the interview came a day after Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen told Berlingske it’s difficult to characterise the widespread use of bunker-busting and incendiary bombs on civilians and hospitals in rebel-held eastern Aleppo as anything but a war crime.

At the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan, Wednesday, Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen pledged a further DKK1.7bn (€230m) between 2017-2020 ‘to help Afghanistan create security, stability, reforms and a better future for the Afghan population’.

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) said the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada, among the options being touted as a possible template for the UK’s future affiliation with the union, could also be a model for Denmark if the country ever leaves the EU.

One of Denmark’s leading military analysts, Professor Peter Viggo Jakobsen of the Royal Danish Defence College, said increasing concern throughout Scandinavia of a Russian attack is ‘unfounded’ and dismissed reports that the Russian threat has driven Sweden and Finland closer to NATO.

DTU (Denmark’s Technical University) launched an ambitious collaboration project with China that will increase the proportion of green energy in the electricity grid and ensure that surplus wind power can be transformed into gas and heating.

British politicians called for a ban on the import of Danish pigs, in response to a report by the Guardian newspaper they could be infected with the multi-resistant MRSA bacteria.

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Social Affairs

Danish People’s Party (DPP) MP Cheanne Bo Nielsen, who was reported to the police last month for racism, has avoided prosecution – in a fiery speech at the party’s annual conference she had said ‘immigrants come here, they create trouble, they lie, they cheat, they rape, and they murder.’ At the same time, the leader of the nationalist, anti-immigrant Danes Party was charged with racism for handing out ‘anti-refugee spray’ to young girls to deter potential rapists.

An increasing number of Syrian refugees have enquired about the repatriation scheme, under which anyone who voluntarily leaves the country can claim DKK130,000.

A Syrian woman who sued the Ministry of Immigration was granted the right to family reunification in a ruling that could have far-reaching repercussions for Danish asylum and refugee legislation.

The government threatened to stop social benefits for immigrant parents who refuse to place their children in integrated daycare centres.

Business

Bloomberg News reported how Copenhagen has become an attractive destination for some of this year’s biggest stock market listings – Dong Energy’s June initial public offering (IPO) was the largest in Europe since 2013.

US giant IBM announced plans to open a full-fledged innovation centre in Copenhagen that will create 250 jobs for IT professionals, while Facebook is considering a multi-billion investment in Denmark’s 3rd city, Odense.

Maersk Supply Service warned it will reduce its onshore organisation by up to 25%, in response to market conditions and the company’s vessel divestment plans.

New cars sales reached an all-time monthly high in September – nearly 170,000 private cars have been sold so far this year.

Six Danish companies and organisations were hit by a data-hack attack so advanced that, according to the Centre for Cyber Security (CFCS), part of Military Intelligence, it must have been carried out by a foreign state.

 And That Was The Week That Was, October 3rd – October 9th 2016; To read all the above articles in full see:http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)