The Week That Was, September 10th – 17th 2017          

Politics/Economy

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called for top-level political action to stop the growth of Muslim parallel societies throughout Denmark – at the government’s two-day seminar in Esbjerg he said the asylum seeker problem is under control and the government has managed to get more refugees into the labour market but there are still major, major problems surrounding integration.

Minister of Immigration Inger Støjberg announced that Denmark won’t accept any refugees under the UN’s quota system this year and will in the future seek greater flexibility in determining how many may resettle in the future – she also commissioned a study to chart the extent of kids being sent on ‘re-schooling’ trips to their Muslim parents’ native country. Out of 308 criminal immigrants awaiting deportation, 202 have disappeared according to the latest police figures.

DPP leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl said his party is ready to form a government after the next election but as an equal partner of the Liberals and without the Conservatives and Liberal Alliance (LA) – the latest Greens poll for financial daily Børsen indicated the five parties on the left would win 54% of the vote if an election was held today, compared with only 46% for the three coalition partners and their parliamentary backer, the DPP.

In its latest Outlook for the Danish Economy, published Wednesday, the National Bank noted a ‘solid upswing with increased labour market pressure’ but warned there’s a definite possibility of overheating.

The rate of inflation is the highest for five years – the consumer price index rose at a stable rate of 1.5 percent year-over-year in August, the the fastest since December 2012.

EU/Foreign Affairs

Danish Defence dispatched a surveillance plane and a frigate to the Baltic where Russia is carrying out one of its biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War – or ‘flexing its muscles’ according to Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Politiken reported how Russian news media spread a fake news story claiming Denmark is preparing to legalise brothels where people can legally have sex with animals.

Denmark joined forces with Germany, France, Austria, and Norway to demand changes to the Schengen agreement – despite the move to extend border control the latest figures from the EU’s statistical agency, Eurostat, showed that relative to population size, 16 countries accepted more asylum seekers during the first six months of this year,

Danish People Party (DPP) leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl said when Britain finally leaves the EU it should be allowed full access to the inner market without being forced to accept free movement of labour – an agreement that could form a precedent for Denmark’s future membership of the EU.

During a visit to Estonia Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen discussed corruption in Ukraine, the EU Eastern Partnership initiative, and the contribution of Danish soldiers to the increased presence of the allies in Estonia.

Two Danish politicians made an official visit to Myanmar yet failed to speak out about the thousands of displaced Rohingya Muslims fleeing from the country’s Rakhine state.

Just as the government is preparing to send troops and money to combat human traffickers and terrorists in Africa, a new study revealed the actions of local regimes have led to even more terrorism.

Google lodged an appeal against the €2.4bn fine it was ordered to pay by Denmark’s EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in June.

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Social Affairs:

Danish soldiers will soon be seen patrolling the streets of Copenhagen after the government granted permission for 160 soldiers to guard high-risk potential terrorist targets in the capital.

Despite constant reports of an impending shortage of manpower, the unemployment queue grew longer in July, to 121,100 from 116,400 the preceding month – despite this, Danish companies posted 22,660 new vacancies on the internet portal Dansk Job Index in August, the highest figure since before the financial crisis hit.

Labour Minister Troels Lund Poulsen proposed a change in the law that will allow the authorities to increase the penalties on ‘welfare chisellers’ who cost the state millions of kroner every year by falsely claiming social benefits while working.

New Tax Ministry figures showed more than 100.000 non-resident Danes owe the state a collective DKK8.1bn (€1.088bn), with one debtor alone owing DKK279m(€36m). The numbers of Danes earning in excess of DKK1m a year has increased by around 35% since the start of the financial crisis.

The latest OECD Education at a Glance report for 2017 showed 83% of young Danes between the age of 25-34 who’ve completed higher education are employed, less than Norway and Sweden who both register 87%.

A friendly rematch of the Women’s European Championship final scheduled for Friday was cancelled by the Danish Football Association (DBU) after wage talks collapsed.

Business:

Denmark is number 2 on the latest Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index (QNI), which ranks countries according to developing talents and businesses.

Denmark’s biggest pension fund, ATP, agreed to buy a 27.7 percent stake in Copenhagen Airports (CPH) from Australian investment bank Macquarie for nearly DKK10bn($1.4bn).

National Bank Governor General Lars Rohde warned that with negative interest rates expected to continue until 2020 the financial industry needs to face the reality of lower profits.

The head of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) said Denmark has a poor record on money laundering and needs to tighten up.

Dong Energy won a contract to create the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the Hornsea Project Two in the UK.

24 of Denmark’s biggest institutional investors are suing US finance giants, Carnegie Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley, who they claim misled them about the 2014 listing of the now bankrupt marine fuel oil supplier OW Bunker.

Scandinavian Airlines’ (SAS) Q3 quarter net profit almost doubled to DKK1.53bn ($126m) compared to a year ago.

Carlsberg is reportedly interested in increasing its 17% stake in state-owned Vietnamese brewery to a 51% majority shareholding.

And That Was The Week That Was, September 10th – 17th 2017: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)