The Week That Was, February May 17th – 22nd 2016
Politics/Economy
The Danish People’s Party blamed current national tensions, conflicts and frustrations on the many Muslims living in Denmark and called for a drastic reduction in the number of refugees granted asylum status.
The government presented a new ‘top-10’ list of social goals, focussing heavily on integrating more people into the workforce and reducing the number of people in marginalised groups – they were immediately rejected by the Social Democrats and Social Liberals even though they proposed similar legislation when in power.
New head of the Red/Green Alliance, Pernille Skipper, quit the Danish Socialist Workers Party, a revolutionary Trotskyite organisation which was one of the three parties that came together to form the Red/Green alliance 25 years ago.
The government’s plan to stop funding new coastal wind farms to bridge the funding gap from abolishing the PSO (Public Service Obligation) was met with widespread criticism.
Foreign Affairs/EU
The European Commission’s latest country-specific economic report praised Denmark’s economic stability but expressed concern about the decrease in productivity.
During a Copenhagen stopover, President of the European Commission Donald Tusk warned Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen that obtaining a parallel deal on cross border policing with Denmark will be hard, ‘maybe impossible’ – the Social Liberals called for a ‘plan B’ and suggested that a new referendum may be necessary to ensure a role for Denmark in Europol.
Documents obtained by news radio 24/7 revealed that Danish soldiers lodged 13 formal complaints regarding the physical abuse of prisoners handed over to Iraqi security forces in 2004 but they were ignored by the Ministry of Defence – at least 6 of those reports made their way up the chain of command but Denmark continued to hand over prisoners.
Around 150 Danish troops are to be deployed in Estonia next year as part of a 6,000-strong NATO taskforce – Politiken reported the troops will be employed to halt Russian advances in the Baltic region and ‘keep Putin at bay
President of the 70th United Nations General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft lashed out at the government for the recent change in green energy policy and various other issues – the former Social Democrat leader accused the ruling Liberals of turning Denmark from a ‘pioneer to a footnote in climate affairs’.
Specially appointed foreign policy watchdog Peter Taksøe Jensen warned Denmark is vulnerable to spying and has fallen behind other NATO countries in securing its communications.
The amount spent on grants to students from other EU countries has ballooned to DKK 321 million from only DKK 19 million in 2013, leading to calls for a crackdown.
Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen announced a donation of DKK 65m ($10m) to the sexual and reproductive rights fund AmplifyChange.
Social Affairs
Danish People’s Party MP Søren Espersen was hit with a storm of criticism for using the term ‘negro’.
A 24 year-old man accused of fighting for, and financially supporting, the Islamic State allegedly helped slain killer Omar El-Hussein to avoid capture last year following the terror attacks in Copenhagen.
The manager of a refugee camp in Næstved was accused of physically abusing asylum seekers – cellphone recordings showed two incidents of aggressive force.
Parliament passed legislation that makes Denmark the first country to no longer define being transgender as a mental illness.
From July 1st the financial incentive for women who donate eggs for the purposes of assisted reproduction will increase from DKK 2,400 kroner to DKK 7,000, in a move to meet the ever-rising demand.
Business
Boeing claimed that Denmark’s fighter-jet commission overestimated the cost of their planes in the selection process to replace the Danish Air Force’s ageing fleet of F16s.
Stiff competition in the agricultural sector has driven down the price of dairy products, leaving many farms to the brink of bankruptcy and creating a knock-on effect for banks who risk defaults on loans totalling DKK 65 billion.
Denmark is falling behind other countries in gender equality in top business jobs.
Employees at wind energy giants Siemens and Vestas sounded the alarm over working conditions – more and more employees are suing for compensation for medical ailments they attribute to dangerous chemicals
And that was The Week That Was, February May 17th – 22nd 2016. To read all the above articles in full see: http://seven59.dk/archive (subscription required)