Last Week in Denmark (20.08 - 27.08) Episode 32 Year 3
Ban on burning religious books; Donation of fighter jets to Ukraine
Editor HQ
Listen to the weekly “Last Week in Denmark” podcast: News commentary, insights, and sometimes even humor, with journalist Wizzi Magnussen.
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Join the “Last Week in Denmark” volunteer team
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Danish Politics HQ
New Laws and Regulations
75,000 hectares of wild forest in Denmark: The Danish Nature Agency announced that they are in the process of establishing 75,000 hectares of untouched forest in 37 state-owned forests across Denmark.
You can read on this website what changes will happen in the “wild forest” space.
In short, the forests will look less uniform, space will be made for native species, cattle and horses will once again be allowed in the forest, there will be more water streams, dead trees will not be removed, new habitats will be created, and wood production will stop.
Danish Citizenship, Integration and Immigration Laws
The temporary border control saga continues: After 26 days, on the 29th of August at midnight, the increased control at the border with Sweden and Germany will end. Border control with Sweden is once again abolished, while with Germany there will still be random checks.
PET (the Danish Police Intelligence Service) downgraded the risk for security in Denmark, so intensified border efforts are no longer needed.
Law proposals and ideas
A fine or up to two years in prison if you burn religious books in public space: The government will propose a law that makes it illegal to burn religious books (Bible, Koran, Torah, etc.) in public spaces. If you break the law, you will get a fine or up to two years in prison. However, the law will not be limited only to religious books; in fact, any object of significance to a religious community is covered.
Objects of religious significance must be understood as physical objects within a religious community that are considered sacred or particularly representative of the creed or teachings of the faith. It can be central to religious scriptures. It does not include clothing that has religious value.
Climate tax on clothing: Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) proposed a climate tax on clothing, or, to be more precise, a weight tax of 50 DKK per kilo of clothing. Why? We are world champions at buying clothes. In fact, we buy an average of 10.2 kilos of clothes per year. In the last 5 years, we increased our clothing consumption by 36%, while decreasing the usage of repair shops for shoes and clothes by 50%.
10% of global CO2 emissions come from the fashion industry.
Besides the climate tax on clothing, Radikale Venstre also proposed a tax on beef, cement, biomass, one time use products, nitrous oxide bottles, and diesel. Also, they support the introduction of a flying tax and a road tax.
The political arena
Government parties - Socialdemokratiet (Social Democrats) 22.9% (-7 mandates compared to the last elections); Venstre (Liberals) 9.7% (-6 mandates); Moderaterne (Social Liberals) 7.2% (-3 mandates) = Total: 73 (from 89 mandates today minus 16 mandates). If we had elections today there would not be enough to form a government majority (a mandate is a seat in the Parliament).
Red opposition: SF (Socialists) 12.3% (+7 mandates); Enhedslisten (Socialists) 7.5% (+4 mandates); Radikale Venstre (Social Liberals) 4.6% (+1 mandate); Alternativet (Greens) 3.1% (-1 mandate) = From 37 mandates to 48.
Blue opposition: Liberal Alliance (Libertarians) 10.9% (+5 mandates); Konservative (Conservatives) 5.4% (-1 mandate) = From 24 mandates to 28.
Far-right parties: DD (Populist Nationalists) 9% (+2 mandates); DF (Social Nationalists) 3.4% (+1 mandate); NB (Libertarian Nationalists) 3.1% (-1 mandate) = From 25 mandates to 27.
Changes in the government: Troels Lund Poulsen and Jakob Ellemann-Jensen swapped jobs. Troels is the new Minister of Defense, and Jakob is the new Minister of Economy. While Jakob was on sick leave, Troels acted as the Defense Minister. Why? Barely three weeks have passed since Jakob returned from sick leave, and he has since been plagued by scandals. It got so bad, that he had to apologize to Parliament and dismiss the top civil servant of the Ministry of Defense. Is that it? Not entirely. He needs time to focus on reviving Venstre (Liberals) and times are hectic in the Defense Ministry.
New political leader for the socialist party, Enhedslisten: Unlike other political parties, Enhedslisten has a collective leadership. This means that the front figure of the party is called the “political spokeperson” (politiske ordfører) and is appointed by the party’s members of Parliament. The new political spokeperson is Pelle Dragsted (Member of the Parliament since 2015, History teacher by profession). At the last parliamentary elections, Pelle got the most personal votes in the party (14,129 votes in the Greater Copenhagen Area).
Previous front figures: Mai Villadsen (2021-2023), Pernille Skipper (2016-2021), Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen (2009-2016)
Former political leader of Konservative, Lars Barfoed joined Moderaterne: Former political leader, minister, and member of the Parliament; 48 years of membership, and it all ended when the Konservative party leadership decided to go against a ban on burning religious books in public spaces. Not the only reason, of course. He is concerned about the drift towards the right (closer to far-right than center) and that the party is slowly losing its core identity.
Denmark donated 19 F-16 military planes to Ukraine: The Danish military has 40 F-16 military planes in total. The Dutch government has also announced the donation of F-16 military planes. The Netherlands and Denmark were the first countries in the world that decided to donate military aircraft to Ukraine.
73 Ukrainians arrived at Skrydstrup Air Force Base in Southern Denmark to be trained in operating the F-16. Six of them are pilots. The rest are support staff. The training will take about six months.
All 12 parties in the Danish Parliament approved the donation of military aircraft.
According to international media, the donation makes Denmark a “diplomatic frontline state”, which changes the debate among NATO countries from “can we deliver war planes?” to “why aren’t you donating planes?”, so more countries will be pressured to donate.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyj made a visit to Denmark.
Danish Economy HQ
9% reduction in electricity consumption: Compared to previous years, the consumption of electricity and gas has decreased significantly this summer. 9% for electricity and 17% for gas. To avert a new energy crisis this autumn-winter season, the trend needs to continue. We need to reduce our electricity and gas consumption overall.
According to the Danish Energy Agency, we shouldn’t experience a shortage of electricity this winter, as long as we continue to reduce our consumption and follow the hours when most electricity is produced. Of course, in the case of an extreme winter, the situation might change.
Regarding gas, the European Union's storage should be 90% full by November. However, the International Energy Agency warns that we need to reduce overall consumption of gas across Europe if we want to survive without access to Russian gas.
You can buy 100 Swedish Kroner for 62 Danish Kroner: Basically, you get more value for your money in Sweden, and that is reflected in the bookings made by people in Denmark for the winter ski vacations. The large majority have chosen to book travel packages in Swedish ski resorts. In fact, Sweden has overtaken Norway as the main winter destination.
The weak Swedish Kroner also means that Sweden has become less attractive as an export market for businesses in Denmark.
Free public transport in Aarhus: Today (27th August) you can travel for free with public transport in Aarhus. Why? Seven streets and one square will be closed for cars (as part of a car-free Sunday experiment) and people will be encouraged to use public transport instead.
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
It’s mushroom picking season, and the "poison hotline" is busier than ever: There have been more than 650 calls so far from people who might have confused a poisonous mushroom with an edible one. According to the Danish Food and Drug Agency, “Most mushrooms are harmless, and quite a few are good edible mushrooms. But a few fungi are directly life-threatening and can cause serious illness. One of them is green fly agaric, which is deadly poisonous. It damages the organs and can be mistaken for the porcini mushroom, which is a widespread edible mushroom in Southeast Asia.”
You can call the Poison Hotline at 82 12 12 12
Avoid eating raw mushrooms; be 100% sure that they are edible before consuming them; and use an up-to-date mushroom book when you go hunting.
Healthcare with Punitha Kumar
Is Ozempic part of your diabetic medication? Then be prepared to fork out more money for it next year as authorities plan on removing subsidies for Novo Nordisk’s appetite-inhibiting drug, DR reports. The long-standing issue over the high subsidy amount that is needed to cover the drug’s price for almost 90,000 patients in Denmark has now come to the attention of the country’s Reimbursement Committee, which falls under the purview of the Danish Medicines Agency.
The committee stressed that patients should be given a cheaper first alternative as the government will have to allocate a large sum, DKK1.1 billion this year, just for Ozempic.
Ozempic costs around DKK 48 per day, or DKK 17.000 per year, per patient.
A cheaper alternative costs around DKK 15 per day or DKK 5.500 per year per patient.
If the Danish Medicines Agency adopts the committee’s recommendation, most patients will then have to decide if they want to switch to a cheaper alternative after consulting their doctors. If patients still want Ozempic, they will have to apply for it, and only upon a doctor’s stringent assessment will it continue to be administered and subsidized. The Danish Medicines Agency must decide on this matter by autumn, and if the subsidy is removed, changes can be expected by next summer.
Due to inflation and large costs for subsidized medicines – including Novo Nordisk's diabetes medicine Ozempic – Region Midtjylland council chairman Anders Kühnau now says the DKK2 billion financial aid given by the government in February is not enough, DR reports. Anders said this meant the region could not continue treating patients on waiting lists without overspending its budget. Minister of Health Sophie Løhde said all regions in Denmark signed an agreement during the healthcare emergency plan announcement that stated the regions would ensure waiting lists at hospitals would reduce by 2024 and return to pre-pandemic times. “So, I am really surprised that they (Region Midtjylland) are now saying they cannot live up to it. The agreement was confirmed in June, and they (regions) were also allowed to access DKK350 million in funds at their own discretion,” she said.
Education
28 applications for the establishment of “independent schools”: An “independent school” (friskole) is an alternative to the public school (folkeskole). They have been created on the basis of Article 76 of the Constitution (Grundlov) which says that in Denmark we have a duty to learn, not a duty to go to school. There are 550 “independent schools” that operate under the “Independent Schools Act”. In comparison, there are 1066 public schools. Read more here.
Each “independent school” decides on its own value foundation - some schools follow the Grundtvig tradition, others the Rudolf Steiner, some are multilingual (French and German schools, f.ex), some are faith-based (Muslim, Catholic, f.ex) and so on.
The “independent school” is financed via state subsidies (76% of the average government operating grant per year per student, which is 52,578 DKK) and parent payments (which average 15,000 DKK per year).
The reason behind so many new applications for “independent schools” is that local governments are forced to close small schools (due to cuts in spending), usually placed in villages. So, the communities rally to create partly state-financed “independent schools”.
Culture, Religion and Royals with Cicek Eris
Sargun Oshana, former theater director at Blaagard Theater in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, has been awarded the first Bodil Koch Prize for his contributions to advancing equality and diversity in the arts and cultural life. Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt praised Oshana’s ability to bring new voices and audiences to the theater, making it inclusive across age, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity.
The Bodil Koch Prize, established in honor of a pioneering Danish politician, will be awarded annually to a person or organization that has made an exceptional effort to promote equality and/or diversity within arts and culture. The winner of the award receives 100,000 DKK.
Sports
Denmark’s women's football team is ranked 12 on the list of the world’s best teams.
Sweden, Spain, and the USA are the best teams in the world.
Denmark’s women's football team is better ranked than the men’s football team (19).
The team is doing better than last year, when it ranked 18.
Science and Technology
DKK 5 million for a research project on indoor air quality in schools: Scientists from Statens Serum Institute received a 5 million DKK grant from RealDania for a two-year pilot project, during which they will look into how indoor air quality in schools could be upgraded to prevent respiratory diseases.
European Union HQ
This category covers interesting happenings from other EU member states, EU candidate countries and EFTA countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland)
Emergency grain storage: The Norwegian government decided to establish an emergency stockpile of grains (starting with 15,000 tonnes next year). In 2030, they want to have a grain stockpile of 82,500 tonnes, which can feed all Norwegians for three months. The last time Norway had such a stockpile was 20 years ago. They base their decision on the unstable global order (war in Ukraine) and climate change (extreme weather conditions that affect food production).
BRICS is expanding: The club made by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has decided to accept new members after twenty years. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, and UAE have been accepted as the new members. The purpose of the club is closer economic cooperation and to provide an alternative to the Western-dominated clubs. Read more in English here.
Joining BRICS indicates a willingness to collaborate with Putin’s Russia. So this is a signal sent to the NATO countries that Russia is not alone.
The BRICS expansion is a challenge to the old world order (where world trade is calculated in US dollars; the World Bank dictates loan terms and international payment systems are used politically vis-à-vis Russia).
The new BRICS represents 50% of the world population and 30% of the world economy.
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.
Esbjerg, 31st Aug, 16:30-18:00: Get a chance to have fresh, energetic conversations with new people - and in inspiring environments. During the event, you’ll meet a new person and new artwork every 7 minutes. Why? To expand your network. To meet new people. To have something inspirational to chat about. Book your free ticket here.
Esbjerg, 2nd Sep, 11:00: On the Club & Association Day you can learn about local clubs and opportunities in sports, music, dance, outdoor adventures, nature exploration, and volunteering. Or on 3rd September, you can spend a day out in the open for potluck lunch, and outdoor activities.
Copenhagen, 2nd Sep, 10:00: If you are new in town or curious about what more Lyngby has to offer you can join this event. It is specially designed for international professionals, students, partners, and children, aiming to provide valuable guidance on networking, job hunting, leisure activities, cultural experiences, and more.
Aalborg, 14th Sep, 15:45 - 17:45: Are you new in Denmark and looking for all the opportunities life has to offer in North Denmark? Join the Internationals’ Fair North Denmark. At the fair, you'll have the chance to meet public authorities, relevant organizations, NGOs, and get helpful information as a newcomer living in North Denmark. You also have the opportunity to laugh at jokes from British stand-up comedian Conrad Molden, get free ice cream and network with other internationals.