Last Week in Denmark (13.03 - 20.03) Episode 10 Year 2
Ukraine Act! Healthcare reform, Hard times for the economy, Car-free Sundays
Editor HQ
Opportunity: The United Nations Association together with L’Oreal Paris are looking for 9 participants from Denmark for a project called “Stand Up against street harassment”. You can participate online for the three training sessions (01.04, 02.04, 09.04). Afterwards, you can organize dissemination events for which you will get paid (500 DKK / session). Deadline - 21st March!
Ukraine HQ
Refugees
Volunteers needed: If you are over 21 years old and can speak Ukrainian, you are needed at BørneTelefonen. The phone line is for children who need counseling.
Ukraine act: The Danish Parliament passed a special law (the first one of its kind in history) that gives Ukrainian refugees the same rights as EU citizens in Denmark. One party voted against (Free Greens - Frie Grønne) and three abstained (DF, Nye Borgerlige and Alternativet).
The special law covers Ukrainians that resided in Ukraine before 24 February 2022 and people that had refugee status in Ukraine. The residence permit is valid for two years with the possibility to extend for one more year. You can apply here for a residence permit.
Once they apply for a resident permit, the Danish Immigration Service will decide in which municipality they will receive permanent accommodation.
Despite opposition from the government support parties (RV, SF, Ø), the Ukraine Act will be financed by moving two billion DKK from the development aid budget meant for Africa and Afghanistan.
Jobs for refugees: The government partnered with the trade unions, employers associations, the municipalities and the regions to help Ukrainians find a job in Denmark as fast as possible.
Support to prepare a CV and have competencies assessed.
Welcome package.
Job bank for refugees.
Danish language courses.
Upskilling courses.
Access to IGU courses (integration basic education).
Almost one billion DKK have been donated by the people and companies in Denmark to support Ukrainian refugees. 175 million DKK have been collected during the support concert “Together for Ukraine”. The money goes towards 18 emergency aid organizations.
Favrskov: The municipality asked for help from the citizens to furnish 32 apartments for Ukrainian refugees. In just one day, 40 people offered to help.
Refugees refused entry in Denmark: In the last week, a few hundred refugees have been refused to enter Denmark. Why? Despite having Ukrainian residence permits, they are citizens of other countries.
Others
The Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, threatened in an open letter to the people of Denmark, that the Russian government will take over the factories, stores and other locations owned by the Danish companies that ceased activity in Russia.
The Association for Danish Zoos and Aquariums (DAZA) donated 125.000 DKK to the zoos in Ukraine. The Danish Zoos also expect to receive refugee animals from the Ukrainian zoos.
According to an adviser to the Ukrainian president (Oleksiy Arestovich), “the war in Ukraine is likely to end in May”.
Danish Politics HQ
The political game
Latest opinion poll: A (Social Democrats) 28%, V (Liberals) 15,3%, C (Conservatives) 14,3%, F (Socialists) 8%, D (Libertarian Nationalists) 7,1%, Ø (Red-Green Alliance) 6,8%, B (Social Liberals) 6,5%, O (Nationalists) 5%, I (Liberal Alliance) 2,6%, M (Moderates) 1,9%. (2% are needed to enter Parliament)
Referendum opinion poll: On the 1st of June, the Danish citizens will vote regarding defense cooperation with other EU member states. 38% will vote “Yes”, 23% will vote “No”, while 32% don't know yet.
The political party founded by the former Venstre prime-minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Moderaterne (the Moderates) has been approved to participate in the next parliamentary elections under the letter M. They collected more than 25,000 signatures (21,000 needed).
Enhedslisten Ø: The former communist party of Denmark is struggling with its ideological lines - Denmark out of NATO and the European Union. After the NATO debacle last week, they went down in the polls to 6,8%. Now, top members of the party want to change the ideological line to “better stay in the European Union and change it from inside”.
New laws and strategies
“Power-to-X” agreement: The Parliament approved the establishment of “fuel factories” that can transform hydrogen into fuel, by using electricity.
The Climate Council (Klimarådet) expressed concerns about the new technology, as it requires a lot of energy. They said that a plan needs to be made so that there is enough green energy to power the “fuel factories”.
Law proposals
Healthcare reform: The government presented a series of initiatives under the title “Make Denmark healthier” that they will attempt to pass into legislation in the following months.
Raise the age limit for buying alcohol at 18 years old.
National campaign to discourage alcohol consumption among young people.
Ban the possibility to buy nicotine-based products for people born after 2010.
Reactions to the “Healthcare Reform” proposal
Conservatives - against the initiatives to raise the age limit and ban nicotine.
Enhedslisten (Red-Green Alliance) - supports the ban on nicotine products.
Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) - skeptical about implementation of the ban.
Young Social Democrats (DSU) - against the initiative to raise the age limit for buying alcohol - internal war inside the Social Democrat Party. They point out that the elderly over 60 years old consume more alcohol than young people.
Similar legislation regarding nicotine around the world
New Zealand - People born after 2008 will not be allowed to buy tobacco products from 2023.
Malaysia - People born after 2005 will not be allowed to buy tobacco products from 2023.
Bhutan - Smoking is illegal for everyone.
1950 - 1970 - Any child could buy cigarettes at the grocery store and teachers would smoke during class. The tobacco industry is thriving. By 1970, 60% of the adult population in Denmark smoked.
1980 - Research shows the negative effects of nicotine.
1990 - 40% of the adult population in Denmark smoked.
1995 - The first law against smoking - ban on smoking in public spaces and transport.
2002 - Ban on tobacco advertising.
2004 - Age limit to buy tobacco products raised to 16 years old.
2008 - raised again to 18 years old.
Danish Economy HQ
“The economy will slow down” according to the Danish National Bank. Because of the war in Ukraine, there has been a negative shock to the economy. The prediction is for 2,1% growth this year. 1% less than before the war.
In the worst scenario predicted by the National Bank, the growth will only be 0,9% and the inflation will reach 8,8%.
To keep up with the current inflation, a lot of salaries will have to be renegotiated.
Food supplies: According to the Minister of Agriculture, Rasmus Prehn, we are secure in terms of food supply. “You should not hoard food” says the government. There is a certainty that the prices of food will go up, however this is an opportunity for less food waste.
Danish companies have to pay more to import goods from abroad. 17,4% more compared to last year.
16% of the people in Denmark are buying and selling shares online. If you traded your stock via a Danish bank or stock broker, your activity has been automatically reported to the Danish Tax Agency. However, if you didn’t, then you have until 1st of July, to register your activity on foreign trading platforms.
According to the Center for CyberSecurity, the networks and IT systems in Denmark are under continuous attacks from cybercriminals and foreign states. To enhance cyber preparedness, organizations and companies can look at this list of basic measures.
Car-free Sundays: The International Energy Agency proposed a series of measures inspired from the 1973 oil crisis. According to them, there is an oil shortage that we can only cope with by reducing consumption of gasoline. Proposals - car-free Sundays, reduce speed on motorway by 10km/h, work from home 3 days/week and cheaper public transport.
The one-time “energy check” in value of 3750 DKK is expected to be paid to households (that earn under 550.000 DKK yearly) at the end of May or later, according to the Minister of Energy. The payment will be automatic.
Only 13% of the total energy consumption in Denmark is fueled by natural gas.
Pension: The pension age in Denmark has increased from 65 to 67 years old (from 1st January 2022). This also means that the pension discount on public transport will apply from 67 years old.
Topdanmark Livsforsikring: Nordea has acquired Topdanmark life insurance company for 2 billion DKK. “Topdanmark” is the fifth largest life insurance company in Denmark with 225,000 customers.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Russian children: According to Red Barnet (Save the Children), Russian children are at risk of harassment and bullying.
Danish citizenship: A new research shows that people who received Danish citizenship integrate better into Danish society than those who didn’t.
Narcotics Annual Report: Fewer young people (under 25 years old) are smoking cannabis or experimenting with cocaine, amphetamines or ecstasy. 20% of the young people under 25 smoke cannabis, while 2.9% use hard drugs like cocaine.
Culture
Did you know you can see “Aurora Borealis” aka the Northern Lights in Denmark? It happened last week.
“Blood rain”: On Thursday morning, in some places around Denmark you could see the sky red and the rain resembling blood. That is because of red dust from the Sahara.
Sport
Nanna Koerstz Madsen is the first person from Denmark to win an LPGA (golf) tournament.
Vejle Football Club: 34-year old Croatian Ivan Prelec has been hired as head coach to replace Peter Sørensen.
Local news
Satudarah: The Dutch outlaw motorcycle group opened a chapter in Aalborg (North Denmark), according to the local police. They are currently recruiting members from other gangs. Satudarah has existed in Denmark since 2013. Their main activities include drug trafficking, murder, extortion and weapon trafficking.
Russian coal: The municipality of Aalborg has managed to find a replacement to the coal from Russia they were using for the heat and power plant Nordjyllandsværket.
New mayor: Copenhagen has a new mayor for employment and integration, after Cecilia Lonning-Skovgaard resigned, due to abusive behavior towards the public functionaries. She will be replaced by Jens-Kristian Lütken. They are both from Venstre (Liberal Party). NB! Copenhagen has a “lord mayor” and six other mayors that are responsible over a certain domain.
Vandalism: The Russian Orthodox Church in Bredgade (Copenhagen) and the “Little Mermaid” sculpture have been painted with the Z-symbol (which can be likened to the new swastika).