The Week That Was, May 3rd – May 9th 2021:
Coronavirus/ What happened last week:
For the first time in four months the daily corona infection figures topped 1,000, raising fears of a ‘3rd wave’. The ‘R’ rate – the average number of people each infected person passes the disease onto – has risen from 1 to 1.1, which means the epidemic is growing slightly.
All children were allowed to return to full-time schooling after a cross-party majority reached agreement on a wider reopening of society - gyms, cinemas, and theatres also opened up again for those with a corona pass.
Former business minister Brian Mikkelsen, who now heads the Danish Chamber of Commerce (DCC), accused politicians of being ‘lured into a trap by the health authorities’ after the Danish Health Authority removed Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine from its immunisation program, which he said will probably delay the national vaccination timetable by at least four weeks.
The Netherlands was the latest country to enquire about acquiring Denmark’s unused Johnson & Johnson (J&J) covid jabs that have been dropped from the vaccination programme due to a potential link to blood clots - Poland has also made a bid while Latvia and the Czech Republic have previously expressed an interest in purchasing surplus Astra Zeneca vaccines. The Danish health authorities have a stockpile of more than half a million discarded vaccines.
Denmark could follow the USA where the Biden administration came out in favour of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.
A German home corona testing kit has won EU approval and could soon be marketed in this country.
Politics/Economy:
Experts warned that the government’s hardline immigration policy could seriously damage Denmark’s reputation abroad - while ‘playing the immigration’ card, such as deporting Syrian refugees or imposing strict demands on citizenship applicants, is a winning political issue for Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in this country, Denmark’s position has been widely condemned internationally.
Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said Denmark is ‘in dialogue’ with 5 to 10 countries as potential hosts of an offshore asylum centre where asylum seekers can be processed - human rights organisation Amnesty International denounced the government’s efforts to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Long-time cabinet minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said the centre-right group of parties pose the weakest political opposition in modern times.
Minister for Food & Agriculture Rasmus Prehn was asked to explain why it’s going to cost the state around DKK150m (€20m) to exhume around 4 million mink that were slaughtered and buried last year as part of a nationwide cull, more than double the original DKK72m estimate.
A parliamentary majority passed new legislation that will require the screening of future foreign investments to ensure they don’t pose a threat to national security.
In its ‘Convergence Programme 2021’ the government projected the economy will grow by 2.1% this year and 3.8% in 2022.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
Alok Sharma, President for the COP26 climate summit to be held in Glasgow, UK, in December praised Denmark’s climate leadership during talks in Copenhagen with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and members of her cabinet, including the Climate, Foreign, Finance and Ministers.
Denmark’s Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager proposed legislation that would prevent companies backed with state aid from buying EU businesses - a policy aimed at fending off unfair competition from China.
The European Commission approved €400m of Danish state aid that, according to Denmark’s commissioner in charge of competition, Margrethe Vestager, 'will contribute to substantial reductions in greenhouse emissions and supporting the objectives of the Green Deal.’
The government is aiming to spend much of the money that Denmark receives from the EU crisis fund for pandemic recovery on achieving its ambitious climate goals.
Denmark sent 53 ventilators to help coronavirus-hit India and also donated a million euros to the Red Cross to help fight the ever-growing epidemic in the country.
Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod held talks with his North Macedonia counterpart, Bujar Osmani, in Copenhagen, Tuesday - in a tweeted message Mr Kofod said he’d enjoyed a ‘fruitful meeting with constructive dialogue on geopolitics in the Western Balkans.’
Denmark moved up two places in a European wealth ranking of the past five years, to 3rd.
Social Affairs:
After months of lengthening jobless queues the unemployment rate fell in March to 128,600 in March from 130,400 the preceding month, or 4.5% of the labour force.
The Copenhagen 2021 World Pride and EuroGames will be going ahead in the capital as planned from August 1st but organisers expressed concern about the government’s ‘overly-cautious approach’.
A Lebanese national who attempted to murder Rasmus Paludan, leader of the anti-Muslim ‘Stram Kurs’ (Hard Line) party, avoided deportation.
Business:
The Danish Tax Agency (SKAT) won the right to appeal against a UK High Court ruling 14 days ago when its $2.1 billion lawsuit in the share dividend scam was rejected by a judge.
PFA, the largest customer-owned pension company in Denmark, has invested around DKK500m in a property set to be built this year in Brooklyn, New York, and then rented out on a 15-year lease to internet giant Amazon.
Costume jewellery giant Pandora announced it will no longer make jewellery using mined diamonds as it aims to create more ethically sourced products - it will in future only use diamonds created in a laboratory. The news came after the company reported first-quarter profit of $2.05 billion.
The State Prosecutor’s Office for Serious Economic and International Crime (SØIK), popularly known as the fraud squad, dropped all money laundering charges against former Danske Bank CEO Thomas Borgen due to a lack of evidence.
And that Was The Week That Was, May 3rd – May 9th 2021: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).
For the first time in four months the daily corona infection figures topped 1,000, raising fears of a ‘3rd wave’. The ‘R’ rate – the average number of people each infected person passes the disease onto – has risen from 1 to 1.1, which means the epidemic is growing slightly.
All children were allowed to return to full-time schooling after a cross-party majority reached agreement on a wider reopening of society - gyms, cinemas, and theatres also opened up again for those with a corona pass.
Former business minister Brian Mikkelsen, who now heads the Danish Chamber of Commerce (DCC), accused politicians of being ‘lured into a trap by the health authorities’ after the Danish Health Authority removed Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine from its immunisation program, which he said will probably delay the national vaccination timetable by at least four weeks.
The Netherlands was the latest country to enquire about acquiring Denmark’s unused Johnson & Johnson (J&J) covid jabs that have been dropped from the vaccination programme due to a potential link to blood clots - Poland has also made a bid while Latvia and the Czech Republic have previously expressed an interest in purchasing surplus Astra Zeneca vaccines. The Danish health authorities have a stockpile of more than half a million discarded vaccines.
Denmark could follow the USA where the Biden administration came out in favour of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.
A German home corona testing kit has won EU approval and could soon be marketed in this country.
Politics/Economy:
Experts warned that the government’s hardline immigration policy could seriously damage Denmark’s reputation abroad - while ‘playing the immigration’ card, such as deporting Syrian refugees or imposing strict demands on citizenship applicants, is a winning political issue for Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in this country, Denmark’s position has been widely condemned internationally.
Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said Denmark is ‘in dialogue’ with 5 to 10 countries as potential hosts of an offshore asylum centre where asylum seekers can be processed - human rights organisation Amnesty International denounced the government’s efforts to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Long-time cabinet minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said the centre-right group of parties pose the weakest political opposition in modern times.
Minister for Food & Agriculture Rasmus Prehn was asked to explain why it’s going to cost the state around DKK150m (€20m) to exhume around 4 million mink that were slaughtered and buried last year as part of a nationwide cull, more than double the original DKK72m estimate.
A parliamentary majority passed new legislation that will require the screening of future foreign investments to ensure they don’t pose a threat to national security.
In its ‘Convergence Programme 2021’ the government projected the economy will grow by 2.1% this year and 3.8% in 2022.
Foreign Affairs/EU:
Alok Sharma, President for the COP26 climate summit to be held in Glasgow, UK, in December praised Denmark’s climate leadership during talks in Copenhagen with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and members of her cabinet, including the Climate, Foreign, Finance and Ministers.
Denmark’s Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager proposed legislation that would prevent companies backed with state aid from buying EU businesses - a policy aimed at fending off unfair competition from China.
The European Commission approved €400m of Danish state aid that, according to Denmark’s commissioner in charge of competition, Margrethe Vestager, 'will contribute to substantial reductions in greenhouse emissions and supporting the objectives of the Green Deal.’
The government is aiming to spend much of the money that Denmark receives from the EU crisis fund for pandemic recovery on achieving its ambitious climate goals.
Denmark sent 53 ventilators to help coronavirus-hit India and also donated a million euros to the Red Cross to help fight the ever-growing epidemic in the country.
Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod held talks with his North Macedonia counterpart, Bujar Osmani, in Copenhagen, Tuesday - in a tweeted message Mr Kofod said he’d enjoyed a ‘fruitful meeting with constructive dialogue on geopolitics in the Western Balkans.’
Denmark moved up two places in a European wealth ranking of the past five years, to 3rd.
Social Affairs:
After months of lengthening jobless queues the unemployment rate fell in March to 128,600 in March from 130,400 the preceding month, or 4.5% of the labour force.
The Copenhagen 2021 World Pride and EuroGames will be going ahead in the capital as planned from August 1st but organisers expressed concern about the government’s ‘overly-cautious approach’.
A Lebanese national who attempted to murder Rasmus Paludan, leader of the anti-Muslim ‘Stram Kurs’ (Hard Line) party, avoided deportation.
Business:
The Danish Tax Agency (SKAT) won the right to appeal against a UK High Court ruling 14 days ago when its $2.1 billion lawsuit in the share dividend scam was rejected by a judge.
PFA, the largest customer-owned pension company in Denmark, has invested around DKK500m in a property set to be built this year in Brooklyn, New York, and then rented out on a 15-year lease to internet giant Amazon.
Costume jewellery giant Pandora announced it will no longer make jewellery using mined diamonds as it aims to create more ethically sourced products - it will in future only use diamonds created in a laboratory. The news came after the company reported first-quarter profit of $2.05 billion.
The State Prosecutor’s Office for Serious Economic and International Crime (SØIK), popularly known as the fraud squad, dropped all money laundering charges against former Danske Bank CEO Thomas Borgen due to a lack of evidence.
And that Was The Week That Was, May 3rd – May 9th 2021: To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required).
Danish Krone Exchange Rate
