Last Week in Denmark (07.05 - 14.05) Episode 18 Year 3
Border drones; Ban on tobacco; Free opera concerts
Editor HQ
Call for submissions: There is no topic this week. Feel free to propose investigative articles that will result in step-by-step guides or that will uncover positive stories about the international community in Denmark.
To apply to be one of the writers, send an email to lastweekdk@gmail.com with a plan on how you intend to obtain the content and a sample article published before. (paid)
We also accept opinion articles (up to 600 words), experience sharing articles (up to 1000 words), photography, and other types of content that are related to the topic of the week. You can send your submissions to lastweekdk@gmail.com (unpaid)
Call for German-speaking parents in Aalborg: AAU professor Jens M. Scherpe is trying to start a native language class for German-speaking children in Aalborg. To make that possible, 12 children (ages between 6 and 15) with an address in Aalborg Kommune who speak German at home need to apply. The class will be extracurricular, and it will not replace Danish school. If you want to join, write to Jens here - jscherpe@law.aau.dk
Call for Hungarian-speaking parents in Copenhagen: Good news. After many years of struggle, the minimum number of children needed to start a Hungarian language class in Copenhagen has been reached. So, if you speak Hungarian at home and you have a child with the age between 6 and 15 years old (and you have the address in Copenhagen or the surrounding municipalities), don’t hesitate to reach out to Diana here - anyanyelv.cph@gmail.com
One of our team members (Francisca Reyes from the Spanish edition) has started an international café in Odense. We wish her good luck and encourage you to join the opening event on 17th May at 17.00. Address - Risingsvej 132, 5240 Odense - Cafe Studiekrogen. It focuses on language homework for students. The languages are English, Danish, Spanish, German, and French.
Danish Politics HQ
New Laws and Regulations
A new agreement with the music industry requires them to give more stage time to female musicians: The Parliament decided to invest 224 million DKK over the next four years in a plan to strengthen the music industry in Denmark. One of the ambitions is to convince “more women to pursue a career in music”. The gender situation in Danish music is quite unbalanced; 90% of royalties paid out by KODA go to men.
The amount that companies can give to unpaid interns will be increased to 3,375 DKK per month from July 1, 2023: Since 2017, companies in Denmark have been able to give “erkendtlighed” (gratuity) in the value of up to 3000 DKK monthly to unpaid interns. It is not mandatory for companies to offer gratuities.
Danish Citizenship, Integration and Immigration Laws
A member of the Danish Parliament decided to hold her speech in Greenlandic: Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam (elected to the special seat for Greenland) decided to take a stand in the Danish Parliament and refused to speak Danish. Why? She wanted to remind the Parliament that they make laws for the entire kingdom, not just Denmark, and that there are parts of the kingdom where other languages are spoken.
Drones on the border between Denmark and Germany: From 12th May, the border control between Germany and Denmark has been relaxed. Instead, drones with heat sensors and cameras, license plate scanners, and other detection technology will be deployed.
The proposal to make a lesson about the “Muhammad drawings crisis” mandatory in primary school (folkeskolen) was once again rejected: The proposal was made by SF (Socialists), DD (Populist nationalists), Liberal Alliance (Libertarians), Konservative (Conservatives), NB (Libertarian nationalists), and DF (Socialist nationalists). The government parties (who have a majority) voted against the opposition's proposal. Why? It creates unnecessary danger for the teachers.
The “Muhammad drawings crisis” is about 12 drawings of the prophet Muhammad published by the Danish publication Jylland Posten in 2005. The Islamic religion doesn’t allow depictions of the prophet. The drawings were republished around the world, and they triggered acts of violence from Islamic extremists.
Law proposals and ideas
Anklets for people convicted of violence: In Norway, people who are convicted of violence, need to wear an anklet that alerts the police if they are too close to their former victim. Now, SF (Socialists) proposed the same law in Denmark. All the opposition parties support the proposal. The government has a positive inclination towards the idea, but doesn’t foresee a Danish-specific solution emerging before the following year.
A ban on selling tobacco products in supermarkets: Enhedslisten (Far left) and SF (Socialists) would like a ban to be introduced on the sale of tobacco in supermarkets. Socialdemokratiet (Social democrats) is not ready for a complete ban but for a more gradual intervention, in which they limit the number of stores that can sell tobacco and at what intervals. Radikale Venstre (Social liberals) and Moderaterne (Social liberals) prefer a further price increase, while Alternativet (Greens) is open to making them less visible in stores. The three right-wing parties, Liberal Alliance (Libertarians) and Konservative (Conservatives) are against any changes to the current legislation.
The political arena
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen will return on the 1st of August: The leader of Venstre (Liberals) and the second most powerful person in the government will return from sick leave on the 1st of August, when the new political season begins. The prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, welcomes his return. Jakob has been on sick leave since February.
Five and a half years in prison for the neo-nazi teenager: A 16-year-old Danish boy from Vestsjælland (West Zealand), has been convicted to five and a half years in prison for joining the far-right group Feuerkrieg Division. The terrorist group is a relatively new neo-Nazi group that advocates race war and civil war and primarily operates on online media platforms.
A conflict between the air traffic service and the union of air traffic controllers caused massive delays and cancellations at Copenhagen Airport. Why is there a conflict? Not enough air traffic controllers were hired. What are your rights if you end up waiting at the airport or never depart?
Normally, if an airline informs you that you will arrive more than five hours later than planned, you have the right to ask for a refund. If you have bought a return ticket, you are entitled to a complete refund (even if the return ticket is with another airline company).
However, if you have bought your ticket through a website that is not an airline or a travel agency, you need to understand that they only facilitate the sale of the ticket and are not responsible for the journey.
Unfortunately, you are not entitled to financial compensation if you are affected by the current conflict. Why? It is not the airlines fault that there is a conflict with the air traffic controllers. However, you can get food and accommodation (if you have to wait overnight).
Danish Economy HQ
Inflation rate of 5.3% in April: For the sixth month in a row, inflation has been falling. Compared to March, there is a 1.4% drop. Unfortunately, we are still a long way until supermarket prices allow you to buy as much as before the crisis.
The Ministry of Economy expects the inflation rate to fall to 3.9% by the end of the year, which means we will not see lower interest rates in 2023.
Six Danish banks have collected more debt from customers than required: It started with Danske Bank (245,000 customers affected) last year. Now, it seems other banks made similar mistakes.
Nordea (145,000 customers affected) has already started to pay back affected customers (the sum so far is 21.9 million DKK for 3000 customers).
Jyske Bank (30,000 customers affected) has also started to pay back (2.7 million DKK to 1000 customers so far)
Nykredit found errors in 500 cases (which they already repaid - 1.9 million DKK); Lån & Spar has 238 cases; and Arbejdernes Landsbank has 54 cases.
Get ready for your new property tax assessment: The Tax Ministry has sent out 400,000 more new property tax assessments. As you have probably seen, the new evaluations have been plagued by errors, and therefore you should be prepared to double-check the new evaluation. You can use this guide from DR to check the situation at your address.
You have four weeks from the moment you receive the new property tax assessment to submit a complaint.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
The 15th of May truck driver protest has been canceled: The police have invoked Section 7 of the Police Act, which says “a legal demonstration must not significantly disrupt traffic”. In light of this, the organizers decided to cancel the protest. However, some truck drivers are still planning to demonstrate illegally, so there might still be inconveniences on some roads around the country.
Social benefits vs. the municipalities: Often (85% of the cases) municipalities take away social benefits (kontanthjælp) without legal grounds. If you are in such a situation, you can submit a complaint to the Appeal Board (Ankestyrelsen). They have the power to change the decision made by the municipality and force them to pay back the benefits for the previous months.
Only 13% of public daycare institutions and nurseries have received the “good quality” mark: A study made by VIVE (National Institute for Welfare) and EVA (Evaluation Institute) of almost 200 public daycare institutions and nurseries shows that 38% of the institutions are “unsatisfactory”. What problems have been identified?
helping children to bond with other children; joining social communities; not enough different games and activities to motivate them; helping children play outside.
play is not prioritized sufficiently; 70% of the physical surroundings at day care institutions are “poor”;
There are 11,000 educators who have chosen to find a job in a different field; The parents association (FOLA) demands that the government find a solution to motivate them to return.
The unemployment insurance company FTF-A (a-kasse) encourages its members to use a robot called “Jobmakker” to submit job applications. The robot can generate job applications based on the job ad and CV in 20 seconds.
Healthcare with Punitha Kumar
A pilot project to screen for lung cancer gets the thumbs up from the Ministry of Health. The Health Minister, Sophie Løhde, said if the project provides better prognosis and survival rates for lung cancer patients, it is important to investigate the possibility of introducing early screening across the country, DR reported. Sophie’s comments come in the wake of a new surgical method to treat lung cancer that has been put to use at Rigshospitalet. However, the operation can only be offered to lung cancer patients who are at an early stage. This is where the 3-year pilot project, run by the Danish Health Authority, will, among other things, investigate how to get all heavy smokers to participate in the early screening and whether the healthcare system has sufficient resources to treat a larger number of lung cancer patients.
In Denmark, lung cancer is responsible for the majority of deaths caused by cancer, with roughly 3,750 people dying each year from the illness.
Lidl will no longer sell tobacco products by 2029, the grocery chain told Ritzau. In an attempt to thrash the ash and with the vision of making Denmark smoke-free, by the end of 2028, it will no longer be possible to buy tobacco products from any of Lidl’s 139 stores in the country. As the removal will be done in stages, by the summer of this year, 20% of cigarettes will already have been removed from Lidl’s shelves. Over the coming years, Lidl will also be opening another 60 stores in Denmark. All these new stores will be tobacco-free.
According to the Danish Smoking Habits 2022 report by the Danish Health Authority, 23% of the population (roughly 1.4 million) in Denmark use at least one tobacco or nicotine-based product.
Step aside; sweets and snacks are here to stay. A new study from the DTU Food Institute has revealed several bad habits that have stuck among the people in Denmark since the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, TV2 reported. Researchers measured diet, physical activity, and screen time among 839 adults within 6 months (during the pandemic), and here are some of the results:
30% of the people gained weight, while 15% lost weight
3 hours of screen time daily, compared to 1.7 hours before the pandemic
The DTU Food Institute stated that people also continued to buy sweets at an alarming level and no longer exercised or walked as much as they did before the pandemic.
Culture, Religion and Royals with Cicek Eris
For the past 18 years, audiences in Denmark have enjoyed free open-air opera concerts during the summer season. Hosted in various locations across the country, the Royal Summer Opera has become a beloved tradition for thousands of people. This year, the Royal Opera’s singers will visit 12 different cities around Denmark during May and August.
The program and cast for May have been published, and the program includes excerpts from Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini. You can check out the details here.
Internationals in Danish media with Jessica Malvido
A Latvian ice hockey champion has joined Odense Bulldogs: 21-year-old Harijs Brants has already made an impression in both the Latvian and Finnish ice hockey leagues. He was part of the Latvian national team that recently defeated Denmark.
The Danish industry relies heavily on an international workforce: Out of 6800 people that have been hired in 2022 within the Danish industry, 5300 have an international background, according to Dansk Metal. A wind turbine manufacturer from Give (Welcon) stated that without an international workforce they would have not been able to expand the factory and obtain an investment of 1 billion DKK. 80% of their new hires are international.
Announcement Board
This section is curated by Cicek Eris. If you have events you want us to include here please send an e-mail to denmarkhappenings@gmail.com. You can check out her newsletter about cultural events in Denmark here.
Aarhus, 15th May, 19.00-22.00: Join the language exchange that has become a part of Aarhus culture and social life. Swap Language teaches you to speak the language of the locals.
Esbjerg, 15th May, 09.00–11.00: Learn how to write a better CV tailored for the Danish job market. You'll learn about CV styles, how to handle common dilemmas, and receive personalized feedback during a Q&A session. Space is limited!
Esbjerg, 17th May, 19.00: Join other newcomers for a free outdoor cinema meetup and watch a world famous English language film with Danish subtitles. Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect with others!