Last Week in Denmark (24.04 - 01.05) Episode 16 Year 2

The end of Russian gas in Denmark! Abuse of international workforce; Higher tax deductions; Oil rations

Ukraine HQ

Refugees

Historical decision: Ukrainian children (from day-care to folkeskole) will be able to take their classes in Ukrainian and English. Almost all the parties in the parliament agreed to amend the “Primary Education Act” to allow the establishment of classes in which Danish is not the language of instruction. Why? To protect the children’s connection to the Ukrainian language, culture and identity. 

Free vaccination: 12 million DKK have been allocated to offer Ukrainian refugees the possibility to get vaccinated against measles, polio and diphtheria. When? From the 30th of April. Why? Very low rates of vaccination in Ukraine and reports of outbreaks in recent times. 

Ghetto areas: The Parliament decided to allow Ukrainian refugees to live in areas designated as “ghettos”. So far, it was not possible for Ukrainians to live in the 12 “vulnerable residential areas aka. Ghettos”. 

Others

The end of Russian gas in Denmark: The energy company Ørsted received an ultimatum from Russia to pay for the gas in rubles. Ørsted refused and therefore, from the 1st of June the gas taps for Denmark will be closed. So far, Hungary has been the only EU state to accept payment in rubles. According to the Danish Energy Agency, Denmark will be able to maintain the gas supply to all Danish households for at least two months in the event that Denmark no longer receives gas via Germany.

The 4th of May Special Event: On this day, people in Denmark usually put a candle in the window to mark the liberation day after WW2. This year, we have a special event. On the 4th of May, you will be able to listen to a direct address from Volodymyr Zelenskyj (Ukraine’s hero president) to the people of Denmark. Two large screens will be placed in Copenhagen (Rådhuspladsen) and Aarhus (Bispetorvet). 

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Danish Politics HQ

New laws and strategies

Rented prison in Kosovo: Denmark signed a treaty with Kosovo to rent Gjilan prison. Up to 300 non-Danes (that will be deported after serving their time) will be housed there. Why? The Danish prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. Gjilan prison is being rebuilt to meet Danish standards. 

Law proposals

Mistreatment of non-Danish workforce: The government wants to introduce a new law which will take away the right of running a business for those who abuse the international workforce. 

5000 DKK for the poorest pensioners: The government is proposing to give a tax-free check of 5000 DKK for the poorest 300,000 pensioners. This is a one-time check to help the poorest pensioners to survive the general increase in prices. Total cost: 1.1 billion DKK. 

2000 DKK for the students: SF (Socialist Party) is proposing a tax-free check of 2000 DKK for the students that receive SU. 

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Danish Economy HQ

Unemployment: The number of people without a job keeps going down. In March, 1300 people found a job. There are 72,000 unemployed people in Denmark at the moment. 

Multilingual information about the Danish labor market: The website Workplace Denmark, is now available in English, German and Polish. The main purpose of the website is to help temporary workers in Denmark with information about working conditions, taxation, healthcare and even includes a hotline. 

Higher tax deductions for commuting: The Tax Council has decided to raise the rates for “commuting from home to work and back” deduction from 1,98 DKK per km to 2,16 DKK per km. You get a commuter deduction if you live further than 24 km away from work. It applies to all kinds of transport. Check here how much deduction you are entitled to. 

Cooking oil rations: Supermarket chains have introduced restrictions on how much sunflower and rapeseed oil you can buy. Why? Ukraine is one of the largest producers of sunflower oil. Because of the war, the product became scarcer. 

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Daily Life in Denmark HQ

10 small and medium sized cities will get 130 million DKK to revive their city centers. 32 municipalities are in the race for the 10 seats.  You can see here which municipalities. 

Local news

Aalborg: The National Sports Championships (DM-ugen) of Denmark will take place between 23th and 26th of June. 28 sports will decide their Danish champions. 

Aarhus: The popular university naked race is back. Held once a year in Universitetsparken since 1991, it has become a tradition for the students of Aarhus University. 

Copenhagen: The street “Stefansgade” in Nørrebro has been closed for petrol and diesel cars. This is the first “green street” in Copenhagen. More are expected in the future. 

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European Union HQ

French presidential elections: The pro-European Emmanuel Macron has won the second round of the presidential elections with 58,5% of the votes. He will continue to be the president of France for another five years. 

The French people are being called back to the polls two more times, on June 12 and 19, to elect the MPs who will sit in the National Assembly for the next five years. The 577 constituencies each represent a little over 100.000 people on average. 

Slovenian parliamentary elections: The pro-European green-liberal Freedom Movement won the elections with 34,5% of the votes. The current prime-minister and ally of Viktor Orban (Hungary) Janez Janša and his right-wing party Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) lost the elections. 

Next target for the Russian war machine - Moldova: A “false flag” operation is underway in the region of Transnistria. The idea is to make it look like the Russian minority in Transnistria is under attack and in need of protection. 

UN Secretary General in Kyiv (Ukraine): During the visit of Antonio Guterres (UN Secretary General) in Kyiv, the Russians decided to attack the Ukrainian capital with missiles. An attack on the UN Secretary General security is an attack on world security, according to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine. 

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Our community 

Projects

Opportunity 1: Did you hear? Career Breakthrough is now open for registration! Career Breakthrough is a free conference where coaches and executives join to share advice and guidance for a successful professional journey! The event starts at 12 pm on May 21st at Matrikel1 in Copenhagen. Sign up now to secure your seat! 👉 This event is hosted by Femme Lead Podcast and supported by Matrikel1, Novoresume, Trustpilot and Novo Nordisk.

Opportunity 2: Youth to Business Forum is a physical event initiated by AIESEC in Denmark in its second edition that aims to bring recent graduates and businesses closer. It seeks to organize a space where the youngsters can speak to company representatives and potentially find their future employers in companies across Denmark. What separates Youth to Business from any other "career fair" type is that it encourages direct interaction between the participants and businesses through activities and meaningful discussions, not solely relying on the traditional networking and CV presentation.

Youth to Business takes place on the 19th of May at Aarhus University from 13:00-18:30. After the agenda with activities, an opening networking space will be available to solidify the connections. The event is free of charge and mainly targeted toward recent university graduates seeking a career opportunity in Denmark, whether they have a Danish or an international background.

Sign-up here

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Column: Mental Health by Dr. Flavia Cardaș 

NB! From next week you will be able to read this column on our dedicated site. Enjoy the first episode! 

Welcome! Before I reveal to you more about what this journey called "Mental health" involves, I invite you to get to know the person behind it. 

My name is Flavia Cardaș, I am a licensed psychologist and psychotherapist in Denmark and Romania, I have a PhD in Psychology and I work in private practice at a clinic in Copenhagen, with persons of all ages and with couples. I moved from Romania in August 2019, out of the desire to be closer to my partner and to try something new. I thought it was better to regret something I did rather than something I didn't do. In Romania, I worked as a school psychologist and as a university assistant at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, at the University of Bucharest. I considered myself a fulfilled professional and I felt that I was progressing. Moving to Denmark came with many major changes in my life, such as: a new country, a new culture, a new language, a new climate, a new living space, new people, new friends, new habits, a new place to live, a new job. Each change involves the loss of what was familiar and the more complex the changes, the more the losses are commensurate.

When we suffer a loss, whether material, relational, professional or otherwise, many feelings and states arise, just as when we consciously decide to make a change for the better, or when the change occurs without us deciding it - such as: war, pandemic, forced relocation (refuge), etc. That is why it is important to learn how we function as human beings and what we can do to support ourselves or others as we go through new, difficult, overwhelming experiences.

The word "psychology" comes from Greek and it means "study of the soul" (psyche - soul and logos - study), and as a psychologist, I invite you on a journey of the self, during which you will learn, among other things: what are emotions, how we can recognize them and how we can regulate them; when it is necessary to ask for specialized support; what are the steps and possibilities to use psychological services in Denmark; what a psychotherapeutic path entails; the experience of moving to a new country and the process of adaptation; change in couple and family relationship once we immigrate; the development and importance of cultural intelligence; the psycho-emotional impact of immigration on the child's development, etc.

I want this trip to be a meaningful and useful one for you, the readers, so I invite you to send me topics you are interested in and any questions you might have, and I will choose in each edition a topic and a question which I will answer. Like psychotherapy, this column is a collaborative journey, so you are welcome to write to me your feedback, thoughts, emotions or opinions on the articles I will write, and I will take them into account in order to continue improving the content. I look forward to this journey together!