The Week That Was, November 2nd – November 8th 2020:

Coronavirus/ What happened last week:

Coronavirus infections hit record levels, with hospitalisations and deaths continuing to rise.

Prime Minister’s question time and all committee meetings at Christiansborg (Parliament) were cancelled, Tuesday, after an outbreak amongst ministers and MPs – former Energy Minister Lars Christian Lilleholt was admitted to Odense Hospital after testing positive.  Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup also tested positive.

The government imposed a lockdown across northern Denmark after a mutated version of the new coronavirus was detected at mink farms in the region and then spread to people – fur dealers warned that the mass cull of Denmark’s 17 million mink population could be a fatal blow for the pelt industry, which employs 4,000 people and exported skins for around $800 million last year.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) signed an agreement with 11 energy plants to burn millions of dead minks and convert them into heating.

Health experts dismissed calls for a nationwide closure of schools following the lockdown in northern Jutland.

Politics/Economy:

The Danish People’s Party (DPP), the biggest party on the right following the 2015 election with 21.1% and 37 seats, slumped to their lowest level of support this century – a new poll showed the populist party would win no more than 5% of the vote if an election was held today.

The Social Liberals (Radikale) dropped their threat to vote against the 2021 budget if the government fails to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half before 2025, compared to 1990 levels.

The New Right (Nye Konservative) party was denied permission to reprint the controversial Mohammed cartoons that made French magazine Charlie Hebdo the target of a deadly terror attack in 2015.

Former Social Liberal leader Morten Østergaard, who was forced to step down last month following a number of sex harassment allegations and has been on sick leave since, applied for a sabbatical from parliament.

The Ministry for the Environment acknowledged that Danish waterworks have for the past seven years been incorrectly granted exemptions by local authorities for exceeding limits on pesticides – which means that in many regions, water has been unfit to drink.

Followjng a storm of criticism the government dropped its ‘dictatorial’ proposal for two meat free days in all state-run canteens.

Foreign Affairs/EU:

Expenditure on student grants for foreign, EU, students could rise to DKK650m in 2023 – DKK201m more than a cap agreed by a parliamentary majority.

Germany’s Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig granted final approval to the construction of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel between Germany and Denmark after dismissing all appeals.

The government informed the Danish children of convicted terrorist Said Mansour, who’s been given the death penalty in Morocco, that the Moroccan authorities have been reminded they need to live up to ‘official assurances’ that were given before he was deported in 2019 – former integration minister Inger Støjberg said she wouldn’t be losing any sleep over the death sentence handed down to Said Mansour.

Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin allegedly played a major role in international climate fraud with links to Denmark.

Crown Prince Frederik gave the opening speech at a virtual conference of Danish and Dutch business leaders and stakeholders, ‘the Digital Business Conference for Green Transition.’

Social Affairs:

In the midst of the corona crisis the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) warned of the  increased risk of bird flu (H5N8) after infected chickens were found at a small poultry farm in Nordfriesland in the border region of Schleswig-Holstein, north Germany.

The latest Global Wealth report by top Swiss bank Credit Suisse showed that, on average, every adult in Denmark has an average wealth of around DKK1.9m (USD 300.611) one of the highest in the world.

Denmark ranked high on the 2020 Gender Equality Index – Sweden was number 1, followed by Denmark and France.

The far-left Red/Greens urged the government to offer Polish women free abortions in this country.

Copenhagen Police tightened security around two prominent Jewish sites in the capital following the terrorist attack in Vienna.

The latest Statistics Denmark figures showed gross unemployment fell by 1,400 to 136,300 in September from 137,700 the preceding month

Business:

Denmark’s biggest bank, Danske, was slapped with a DKK9m fine for misleading around 10,000 customers in the Flexinvest Fri case. From January 1st anyone holding more than DKK250,000 in a Danske Bank account will be forced to pay a -0.6% negative interest rate – Danish banks have been dealing with negative interest rates for some time, prompting many to pass them on to customers with large deposits.

Ahead of the U.S. election a TV2 report showed how lobbyists and top employees at some of Denmark’s biggest companies donated large sums to the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Consumer affairs bureau Forbrugerrådet Tænk expressed concern that Danish card payment services company NETS could be ‘swallowed up’ by its Italian rival, Nexi, after both parties entered into merger negotiations.

And That Was the Week That Was, November 2nd – November 8th 2020: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).