Last Week in Denmark (10.04 - 17.04) Episode 14 Year 2
Happy Easter! Ukrainian institutions; Personal finances; Elections are coming
Ukraine HQ
Refugees
32% of the people in Denmark consider that we shouldn’t put a limit on how many Ukrainian refugees we can receive. 15% consider that our limit should be between 100,000 and 250,000, while 3% are generally against Denmark housing refugees. The politicians assess our maximum capacity to be at 100,000.
The educators union (BUPL) is calling on the 14,000 retired educators to consider coming back for some time in order to help with receiving the Ukrainian children. The daycare institutions (from vuggestue to kindergarten) are struggling to find places for the refugee children.
Ukrainian daycare institutions: In Aalborg and Kolding, the local governments have established institutions exclusively for Ukrainian children. Other municipalities are thinking of doing the same, while others prefer mixing the Ukrainian children with the Danish ones. However, Ukrainian parents can still choose to take their children to a local Danish daycare institution, if there are places.
Danish Politics HQ
The political game
The political parties in the Danish Parliament are preparing solutions to help the population suffering from the largest increase in prices since the 80s.
SF (Socialist Party): They want to propose an increase in the pension for the elderly (4600 DKK) and a higher green check for families with children (up to 1500 DKK). Also, 2000 DKK more for SU. Total cost of proposals: 3 billion DKK.
Venstre (Liberal Party): They want to lower the electricity tax; raise the tax deductions and give the one time “heat check” to everyone. They are against the ideas coming from SF.
DF (Nationalist Party): They want higher deductions in general and lower taxes.
Enhedslisten (Red Green Alliance): They support the ideas coming from SF. Also, they consider that prices should be regulated by the state.
Conservative Party: They want to reduce the taxes and increase the deductions; Also they want cuts in public spending. Liberal Alliance agrees with them.
Government (Social Democrats): They are willing to listen to the parties’ proposals and will come up with their own ideas soon.
Updates on the referendum: The latest poll shows that 36% would vote “Yes” for military cooperation in the European Union, 27% would vote “No”, while 33% still don't know what they would vote for. The campaign from both sides is expected to kickstart after Easter.
There are rumors that Mette Frederiksen will announce on her 1st of May speech (Worker’s Day) parliament elections for 1st of June. The latest opinion poll shows that she would remain in power for another four years.
A (Socialdemokratiet) 26%; B (Radikale Venstre) 7,5%; F (Socialistisk Folkeparti) 9%; Ø (Enhedslisten) 7,5% - Red parties
V (Venstre) 16,2%; C (Konservative) 13,5%; D (Nye Borgerlige) 6,1%; I (Liberal Alliance) 2,4%; O (Dansk Folkeparti) 6,1% - Blue parties
G (Veganer Partiet) 0,1%; K (Kristendemokraterne) 1,3%; Q (Frie Grønne) 0,2%; Å (Alternativet) 1,3% - Will not enter Parliament (they are under 2%)
M (Moderaterne) 2,2% will enter Parliament, but they didn’t decide if they will play with the red or blue parties.
SFU vs. SF: The youth wing of the Socialist Party (SFU) is criticizing the mother party (SF) for becoming too right-wing in their approach to integration. They published an open letter in the national media, in which they blame SF for “negative framing of citizens with a Muslim background”.
Danish Economy HQ
33,500 people left the job market: They applied for the so-called “Arne pension” that allows people to retire early at 61. More than 11,000 are waiting for their application to also be processed. The “Arne pension” applies for those that started work very early in their life.
Business idea - become a wind farmer: Wind turbine owners produce so much energy that they are getting paid to stop the turbines from time to time. Read more here.
What to buy that didn’t get more expensive? Frozen seafood and fish (actually got cheaper); rice (not environmentally-friendly though); frozen pizza and other foods; chips; soft drinks and canned fruits.
Personal finances in times of crisis: Most of the things got more expensive, what to do?
Create an overview of your expenses - See what expenses have increased significantly and if there are cheaper alternatives to it. Time to rethink some of your subscriptions.
Limit your heat consumption - Reduce hot water consumption (from 15 minutes to 5 minutes, you save 5000 DKK yearly); For every degree you lower the heat inside your house you save money.
Don't buy a house now, wait until the interest rates go down again.
Renegotiate your salary - The boss will have a difficult time replacing you, with the very low unemployment rate we have, so the cards are in your hands.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Preparing for nuclear accidents: The Danish Health Agency decided to acquire two million iodine tablets. The stock is primarily for children and young people (up to 18 years old), healthcare and emergency staff and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Advice: In case of a nuclear accident or attack, stay inside to avoid direct radiation and inhalation of radioactive substances such as cesium.
Culture
Dancing Cow Day: Økodag, or dancing cow day, as it is known, marks the start of the outdoor season for all organic cows in Denmark. The first Økodag was held in 2005 with 10,000 visitors. Since then, 1.2m people have joined the annual ritual.
Cannes Film Festival (17-28 May): Denmark is rooting for three movies to win awards at the prestigious film festival. First, “Crimes of the Future” with actor Viggo Mortensen. Then, “Triangle of Sadness” with actors Zlatko Buric and Vicki Berlin and finally the movie “Holy Spider' ' produced by the Danish company Profile Pictures.
Sport
Olympics in Copenhagen: The cultural mayor of Copenhagen, Mia Nyegaard, wants to bring the Olympics into the Danish capital. When? 2036. Vision? "the cheapest, the most sustainable and the smallest Olympics ever".
Local news
Cherry trees bloomed in Copenhagen at Bispebjerg Cemetery
European Union HQ
First round of the French Presidential Elections: Current president Macron (27,6%) and Russia-friendly Le Pen (23,4%) qualified for the final round. In third place, very close to qualify, was Bernie Sanders of France, Mélenchon (21,9%).
“Macron vs. Le Pen” pairing has also been to the final round in 2017.
Melenchon voters will decide the winner. He advised them to not vote for Le Pen, but didn’t endorse Macron. Most of them might stay home.
Both Macron and Le Pen are trying to propose left-wing ideas to reach Melenchon’s voters. They have until 24th of April to convince them.
NATO is expanding: On 24th May, the Swedish Social Democrats (ruling party in Sweden) will decide if they want Sweden to join NATO. If yes, then there will be a majority in the Swedish Parliament for it. Finland is also considering joining NATO.
Interest rates remain low: The European Central Bank decided to keep the interest rates low, contrary to the actions taken by the central banks in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. This is good news for the people with variable bank loans.
Our community
Projects
North Danish Career Convention: Matchmaking event where companies from North Denmark, international students, and young professionals meet to explore career and networking opportunities in the region. When? 12th May Where? Aalborg Portland
Sign up here. It’s free.
Diversity Evening at Aalborg Zoo: In Aalborg, there is a tradition that once (or sometimes twice) per year, the Zoo opens its doors without any charge for non-Danish people. The first chance this year is on 6th of May and you don’t need to be a resident of Aalborg to visit.
Thanks for the overview, venner. As always, it's super useful.