Last Week in Denmark (25.09 - 02.10) Episode 33 Year 2
Psychiatry; Electricity prices; Gas pipelines attack
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Danish Politics HQ
Attack on the gas pipelines: On Monday night, the gas pipelines (Nord Stream 1 and 2) from the Baltic Sea that connects Russia with Europe have been damaged to a point where they will be very difficult to repair. It is unknown who set up the three explosions and it will take weeks before investigators will be able to descend to the area.
The Danish military and emergency agencies have increased preparedness and presence in Bornholm and around strategic electricity and gas systems.
The wave of Russian refugees: Thousands of Russians have crossed into Finland running away from being drafted into the Russian army. Venstre and Radikale Venstre proposed that they should be able to ask for “a special kind of asylum - for deserter soldiers” in Denmark.
New laws and strategies
Psychiatry 10-year plan: A broad majority in the Danish Parliament agreed to a 10-year plan to improve psychiatry. 500 million DKK will be invested yearly to increase the quality of the services.
100 extra psychiatrists will be hired in 2023 to reduce the waiting time. It can take up to 63 weeks to see a psychiatrist today.
34% of the girls and 21% of the boys between 16 and 24 years old have mental health issues.
580 people died in 2020 because of suicide. The mortality rate is 3,7 times higher among people with mental health issues compared to people without. The plan aims to reduce the suicide rate by 33%.
56,8% of young people with mental health issues complete their education, while 59,7% manage to become and stay employed.
Fewer students in the classrooms: From next school year, grades 0 to 2 will have fewer students in the classrooms. (class ceiling is reduced from 28 to 26 students).
The parliamentary elections 2022
The middle ground (small and unaffiliated parties)
Lars Løkke Rasmussen (leader of Moderaterne) demands that a lawyer should assess if Mette Frederiksen should be prosecuted in the mink case or not, if he should be convinced to support her mandate to continue as prime minister for another 4 years.
The red camp (the left-wing parties)
The current unstable situation in Denmark (the attack on the gas pipelines, the energy and inflation crisis, etc.) has not changed the mind of the social liberal leader Sofie Carsten Nielsen. Radikale Venstre still wants the parliamentary elections to be called for, at the latest, on the 4th of October. Otherwise, they will leave the red camp and overthrow the social democrat government.
The blue camp (the right-wing parties)
Venstre proposed the reduction of the SU-eligible education years from six to five years. SU is like a “student salary” that you can receive while you are enrolled in higher education. European students can receive SU if they have a part-time job or on the same grounds as the Danish students after living for 5 years in Denmark. Non-European students cannot receive SU.
Inger Støjberg’s DD party wants to join a potential blue government. This means we could see her as a minister again. A former minister that was convicted to prison for her activity now has the chance to become a minister again.
Law proposals
Denmark can do more III: During 2022, the government outlined their ideas on what they would like to do while they are in power through three documents called “Denmark can do more”. For the government to bring those ideas into reality, they need to gain a majority behind each of them in the Danish Parliament.
Reduce bureaucracy in the public sector - fewer administrative tasks - cut 2.5 billion DKK from the administrative tasks and move them to child and elderly care.
Regulatory stop - if you want to introduce a new rule (that needs time from administrators) you need to remove another one.
Reduce humanities and social sciences master’s degrees to one year (from two). The government proposes three types of master’s degrees.
One-year master’s degree (minimum 15 hours of teaching per week) - 35% of all master’s degrees. Mainly in humanities and social sciences.
Two-year master’s degrees (with focus on research and specialization) - 50% of all master’s degrees. Mainly in health and natural sciences and technical fields.
Vocational master’s degree (you can work 25 hours per week while you take a master degree). This can take between two and four years.
Reactions to the document “Denmark can do more III”
Radikale Venstre and Venstre are against the idea of reducing some master degrees to one year. Konservative welcome the idea. At the moment, there is no majority in the Danish Parliament for this proposal to become reality. The universities and student organizations are also against the idea.
Danish Economy HQ
The cheapest supermarket chain: Under the name “Basalt”, Salling is launching a new chain of supermarkets that will sell only basic groceries at 15% lower prices than the competitors. How? They save on logistics, operations and energy. No fridges and freezers in the store. The store will close at 19 during weekdays and at 16 during weekends. Products will be left on pallets.
Transport of electricity gets more expensive: From the 1st of January, most of the local power grid companies (the ones bringing the electricity into your sockets) will increase the “nettarif”. Especially for the electricity used between 17 and 21 o’clock. The “nettarif” is expected to go up with almost 1 DKK per Kwh.
Troubles at Siemens Gamesa: The company is on minus 9.1 billion DKK in 2022 and therefore decided to fire 2900 people over the next 3 years. Most of them in Denmark (800).
Daily Life in Denmark HQ
Denmark’s first EU military operation: Denmark voted this year to join the defense and military cooperation in the European Union and therefore, got the possibility to participate in EU military operation. The first contribution is a team of military doctors for the mission in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Clouds over the Danish Royal Family: The children of Prince Joachim (youngest son of Queen Margrethe II, sixth in the line of succession) have been stripped of their titles as Prince and Princess of Denmark from January 1st 2023. The royal house motivates the decision to be in the interest of the children.
Sport with Jelimir Vlastici
With a win over France this week, the Danish national football team is headed to the World Cup in Qatar by being ranked 10th by FIFA. The Danes have what it takes to repeat their Euro 2020 run to the semi-finals. Christian Eriksen is back and pulling the strings, while manager Kasper Hjulmand has built a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Denmark will wear new team jerseys at the World Cup that are protesting the human rights violations of host country Qatar, with a new black version being unveiled on Wednesday to honor the workers who died during the construction work for the tournament. It is to be determined if FIFA will allow Denmark to play in the World Cup with the new jerseys.
“Copenhagen Black Swans” written by Pratik Hariharan
“Sport is about being part of something bigger than yourself and has a huge part in making people feel like they belong. I am excited to be a part of a culture that fosters inclusivity”. - Hockey ACT Pride Ambassador Jesse Thearle (she/her).
Copenhagen Black Swans is a community that makes up the field hockey section of Pan Idræt, which is also a Rainbow community encouraging sport, and exercise. The Black Swans celebrated their 10th anniversary as they made their regular yearly appearance at the Copenhagen Pride Parade.
The Swans started with 6 members in 2012. They found it challenging to find new members for a good few months until they realigned their values. It was hard to sell the sport here in Denmark where minimal buzz surrounds hockey. Today, the Swans are more than just a sports club. They are a haven for anyone irrespective of gender, age, or sex to participate in a group exercise. The motto, ‘Fierce, Fabulous, Friends’, suggests the attitude within the group. I managed to speak to Luke O'Neill one of the Swan Awardees announced at their 10-year anniversary party.
Luke, one of the many experienced players at the club believes that the Swans are the club to go to if you are new to the sport and the city. The sheer number of expats who are current members of the club proves how effective the Swans are in making one feel comfortable. Their success is the product of the culture which they have nurtured tirelessly.
Esben Shane a.k.a ‘Mamma’ one of the coaches recalls that the vision is to be the best at being a team. There are no hardcore sports goals. The focus since the beginning has been to build a community.
Field-Hockey is one of the oldest sports events at the Olympic games. Denmark also participated in five Olympic games and won a Silver medal in 1920. Unfortunately, there is no hype around field hockey anymore. The top players do not contribute to popular culture in the same way footballers do. But, the Black Swans and a handful of other clubs are keeping the sport alive here in Denmark. The Black Swans are flag bearers of inclusivity and make sport mean more.
Pratik is our new culture field reporter.