The Week That Was, November 15th – 21st 2021:
Coronavirus/ What happened last week:
The daily infection rate topped 4,000 at the end of the week, close to the all-time high recorded on December 18th last year. The vaccination figures are above the 80% that experts originally believed would provide herd immunity but the delta variant has ’moved the goalposts’ according to Professor of virology at Copenhagen University, Allan Randrup Thomsen.
The health authorities closed down a number of schools as the virus continues to spread amongst the 6 to 11 age group.
The government proposed fast-track legislation that would allow workplaces to demand a digital ’corona pass’ for employees.
A poll showed 40% of the electorate believe Denmark should copy Austria’s lockdown for the unvaccinated.
Politics/Economy:
The Conservative Party was the biggest winner in Tuesday’s municipal elections, seeing a rise in support in 92 of the 98 municipalities – the Social Democrats suffered setbacks in most major cities and slipped to 28.5% of the overall vote, from 32.45% in 2017. Kristian Thulesen Dahl offered his resignation as Danish People’s Party leader following the populist party’s disastrous showing – deputy leader Morten Messerschmidt is seen as the ‘crown prince’ and natural successor but his candidacy is threatened by the conditional, six-month prison sentence he was given in August for forgery and defrauding EU funds, which he’s appealed.
There was a ‘red swing’ in Copenhagen where nearly 25% of the electorate voted for the Red/Green Alliance.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s closest advisor, Barbara Bertelsen, told the Mink Commission, Thursday, that she was unaware the government’s decision to cull Denmark’s entire mink herd was illegal until four days after the fateful decision was made – at the same time she also confirmed she had advised the PM to delete all her text messages ‘for security reasons.’ The two biggest opposition parties accused the government of covering up crucial information in the ‘textgate’ affair until after Tuesday’s election.
Parliament gave the government the go-ahead to vote no to a EU Directive that would ensure a minimum wage for workers throughout the union.
The government put forward a number of proposals aimed at making inner city streets safer at night, including a ban on alcohol sales from convenience stores after 12pm from retail outlets close to ‘rowdy’ hotspots
Foreign Affairs/EU:
After a meeting with her EU counterparts and talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Defence Minister Trine Bramsen said the Belarusian regime’s attempt to destablise the EU has failed and the 27-country union is stronger than ever – Integration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said the Poland-Belarus crisis shows how the EU is at a crossroads on immigration and Europeans can either renounce current asylum policy or risk drowning in refugees sent by dictators and human traffickers ‘working together to blackmail us.’
Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen said he was ‘touched’ to see countries at the COP26 Climate Conference reach agreement on the Glasgow Climate Pact, the first ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal, a key Danish issue.
In response to a new report by Amnesty International showing efforts to improve the working conditions for migrant workers in Qatar have stagnated, Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said Denmark will put ‘extra pressure’ on Fifa over human rights concerns in the build-up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where the Danish team will wear shirts critical of Qatar.
A virtual global conference hosted by Denmark’s Foreign Ministry, Thursday, sparkled off a debate about the role of democracy in the new ‘tech world’ – Foreign Minister Jeppe Kopfod came under fire when he said ‘Big Tech’ should be doing more to strengthen democracy and human rights.
A special FBI agent flew in from Washington DC to provide testimony in the Odense trial of two Danish companies accused of breaching US sanctions on Syria – an Odense court heard how a $2.6m money transfer from Russian shipper Sovfracht to a Cypriot company set the alarm bells ringing in the U.S. capital.
Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt asked the Hong Kong authorities for immunity so he can safely bring home his controversial 8-metre high ‘Pillar of Shame’ statue that’s been exhibited at Hong Kong University for more than two decades in remembrance of the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeated Great Britain’s opposition to the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline that passes through Denmark’s territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
Denmark accused the UK of violating the post-Brexit fisheries deal over plans to ban destructive bottom trawling in a North Sea conservation zone.
Christian Democrat MP Jens Rohde came under fire for urging world-famous climate activist Greta Thunberg to ‘go back to school where she belongs.’
Social Affairs:
Prosecutors sought a 10-year prison term for the alleged kingpin behind the Operation Greed affair, a record-high sentence for financial crime in this country – a total of 17 men and three companies are accused of money laundering at least DKK530m, plus tax and VAT evasion totalling DKK290m.
A Russian national lost his appeal against a 3-year prison sentence for industrial espionage – the High Court affirmed a lower court judgement against 36-year-old Aleksey Nikoforov who was originally found guilty of passing on information about Danish energy technology to a Russian intelligence service.
And That Was The Week That Was, November 15th – 21st 2021: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).