The Week That Was, October 4th – 10th 2021:

Coronavirus/ What happened last week:

The number of new daily corona cases topped 600 at the end of the week as the positivity rate of those tested rose to a 6-week high – however the number of patients hospitalised by Covid remained under 100 for the third week running. Aarhus University Professor Jørgen Eskild Petersen said the increase in infections was expected as the colder weather sets in and schools have reopened with no restrictions.

More than 76% of the population have received at least one shot of a vaccine and nearly 75% are fully vaccinated.

The health authorities paused the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for people under 18 years following reports of possible rare side effects.

Denmark and Norway were the only two countries in a study of 29 countries that recorded an increase in life expectancy for both males and females in 2020 despite the corona pandemic.

Politics/Economy:

Three Danish mothers and 14 children evacuated from the al-Roj detention camp in Syria arrived in Denmark early Thursday morning – they were immediately arrested and charged with aiding terrorist activities. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen acknowledged that it might be necessary to evacuate more children from Syria but stressed there would be ‘no more parents.’

The climate dominated Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s opening speech to parliament, Tuesday, when she said Denmark’s green future will be ‘costly and need a lot of effort, decisions, investment, and not least courage’. According to left-leaning daily Politiken, the most important message of the speech was what was left unsaid – after two years’ uninterrupted focus on the problems caused by refugees, migrants, and immigrants, she declined to mention the ‘integration issue’.

The ‘Minkgate Commission’ got underway, Thursday, as parliament began hearings on whether the prime minister knew she was issuing an illegal order last year when deciding to cull the country’s entire mink population to prevent Covid-19 mutations.

Following months of negotiations a cross-party majority reached agreement on a new climate agreement for the agricultural sector.

Liberal leader Jacob Ellemann-Jensen said he fails to see the need for his predecessor, ex-prime minister Lars Lække Rasmussen’s new Moderates Party, which polls indicate could play a ‘kingmaker’ role at the next election.

The Danish People’s Party, backed by former hard-line immigration minister Inger Støjberg, put forward a new bill aimed at deporting at least 70% of a ‘certain group of immigrants’ before 2030 if they have committed crime, failed to learn sufficient Danish, or been unemployed for an extended period of time.

In her autobiography, published Monday, former prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said she was constantly undermined by her successor, Mette Frederiksen, in the Social Democrat-led government between 2011-15.

The government concluded an agreement with employer organisations, trade unions, and local authorities aimed at easing the lack of manpower.

Foreign Affairs/EU:

On arrival at the EU-Western Balkans Summit 2021 in Brdo, Slovenia, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters she sees no need to set a deadline about expanding the EU to include Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina

The EU Parliament expressed concern about increased Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic region – Denmark, Greenland, and the the Faroe Islands signed an agreement laying out the ground rules for the Foreign, Security and Defence Policy Contact Committee.

The government acknowledged that the European Court of Human Right’s (ECHR) ruling in favour of a Syrian refugee earlier this year will have a negative impact on the contentious 3-year residency requirement for refugees seeking family reunification for a spouse and children.

Denmark and Turkey set an ambitious €5bn goal in bilateral trade and green energy projects – Ambassador to Turkey, Danny Annan, said the focus will be on green energy, energy efficiency technologies, pharmaceutical sectors, textile, district heating, cooling and wastewater management.

Danish power grid operator Energinet upwardly revised the budget for the Danish part of the Baltic Pipeline to one billion euros.

Ireland and Denmark are the most socially optimistic countries in the EU according to research agency Eurofound’s latest Social Optimism Index.

Social Affairs:

Head of the ‘Free Greens’ party Sikandur Siddique and his parents were verbally abused by a Danish racist wearing a white t-shirt with the slogan ‘Fuck Islam’ as they left the official opening of parliament – the next day, Mr Siddique accused Danish People’s Party (DPP) leader Pia Kjærsgard of racism and inflaming the immigration debate by inferring that all Muslim men are paedophiles.

Three people who’ve been in custody since December 2019 on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack in Denmark were formally charged, Tuesday.

The inner-city Copenhagen district of Nørrebro was named the ‘coolest neighbourhood in the world’ by British trend magazine Time Out.

Business:

Business leaders expressed hope that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s official visit to India that got underway, Friday, would provide a significant boost to Danish exports – the Confederation of Danish Industry’s (DI) director of international trade, Thomas Bustrup, said India is facing major challenges on green issues and not least water, ‘key sectors for Denmark.’

Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent month-on-month in August, after 5.3 percent growth in July – production of pharmaceutical increased the most by 30.1 percent

The Danish Tax Agency (SKAT) is preparing for more out of court settlements with defendants who illegally claimed DKK2bn in tax refunds as part of the multi-billion share-dividend scam.

Denmark’s 2nd-biggest bank, Jyske, was named in the Pandora Papers – the latest leak of documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed how notorious Paruguayan car dealer Genaro Peña held an estimated DKK900m ($142m) at the bank’s now-closed Swiss branch.

Helle Østergaard Kristiansen, CEO of Danish Commodities, was ranked 24th on Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the world’s most influential businesswomen.

Famous Copenhagen restaurant Noma was named the best restaurant in the world for the fifth time, followed by Geranium which came in at number two in the annual rankings by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

And That Was The Week That Was, October 4th – 10th 2021: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).