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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

Published: 15 November 2021 10:37 CET
Dyrehaven in Klampenborg near Copenhagen. Denmark is expected to remain under a layer of grey cloud on Monday.
Dyrehaven in Klampenborg near Copenhagen. Denmark is expected to remain under a layer of grey cloud on Monday. File photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

Information on Covid-19 safety measures for local elections 

The government, health authorities and labour organisations are scheduled this morning to brief on measures which will be used to reduce Covid-19 risks during tomorrow’s local elections.

A number of guidelines and recommendations are likely to be announced.

Over 400,000 foreign residents in Denmark are eligible to vote in the elections. We’ll report any relevant updates in an article on our website today.

READ ALSO:

Traffic police to intensify focus on inattentive drivers

Motorists who drive while using a mobile telephone or similar face an even higher risk than usual of being stopped by police this week.

Law enforcement is to place extra focus on traffic offences which reduce drivers’ attentiveness, the National Police said in a press statement. The initiative is in place until Sunday and will be accompanied by a publicity campaign.

Inattentiveness is a factor in around half of fatal road traffic accidents, according to the police.

Weather: grey and unremarkable start to the week

Grey skies everywhere will probably be the most remarkable feature of today’s weather, unremarkable though that might be. Light drizzle in some areas during the morning will likely dry up by this afternoon.

Temperatures will be mild though fairly typical for the time of year at 7-9 degrees Celsius.

Wind will also be mild but a little fresher on the coasts.

New fund set up to help people struggling to pay heating bills

Around 500,000 households in various parts of Denmark may be offered assistance paying sky-high heating bills this winter, news wire Ritzau reports.

Homes in areas heated by gas boilers or district heating with high gas consumption could see increases in monthly bills of up to 1,000 kroner, Ritzau writes.

The government has announced funds of 100 million kroner to be earmarked to help low income households in affected areas to pay the high bills. Municipalities will be able to apply for the funding.

We’ll have more detail in an article today.

READ ALSO: Danish energy firm posts profits as electricity and gas prices rocket

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: a roundup of the news on Wednesday

Støjberg attacks Rasmussen for relaxing tough migration laws, Danish IT company declared bankrupt, 'no quick fix' for cancer waiting lists, and record number of foreigners came to work in Denmark in 2022. Here's some of the morning's news from Denmark.

Published: 29 March 2023 08:07 CEST
Today in Denmark: a roundup of the news on Wednesday

Denmark Democrat leader attacks government for relaxing migration policy

Inger Støjberg, the leader of the far-right Denmark Democrats, has attacked the government, and in particular Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen for relaxing immigration policy, and ignoring the principle that refugees who no longer need Denmark’s protection should go home. 

Støjberg was arguably Denmark’s most hardline ever immigration minister during Rasmussen’s second term as prime minister between 2015 and 2019. Both Støjberg and Rasmussen have since left the centre-right Liberal Party to form their own parties. 

As migration minister, Støjberg brought in a law allowing police to strip refugees of their jewellery, a ban on Islamic face veils, and a requirement that all those getting citizenship shake the hand of the mayor. 

“I carried it in my heart,” she said of those policies. “That is why I am infinitely sad that Lars Løkke Rasmussen did not take it to heart and is now doing away with the cornerstone, which is to send people home who no longer need our protection.”

Rasmussen has since called these measures “gesture politics”, saying that were only adopted to put pressure on the Social Democrats. 

However, he accused Støjberg of “overdoing it and overinterpreting things”.

“I completely agree that when you apply for asylum, it is because there is a special situation, and if it changes, you have to go home,” he said. “It just can’t be such a hard-boiled point of view, because then you have a heart of ice if you can’t also look at it a little practically.”

Danish vocab: grundstenen – the cornerstone

Danish IT company declared bankrupt after revelations

The Danish IT company Meew has been declared bankrupt by Denmark’s commercial court, weeks after it cancelled a listing on the Spotlight exchange in Stockholm following revelations that its founder fabricated qualifications. 

The Finans newspaper revealed in mid-March that Meew founder and managing director Armin Kavousi had falsely claimed to have a doctorate and to have been a brain researcher, among other things falsely claiming to have a master’s in neuroscience from Aston University in Great Britain. 

The following day, the company’s board resigned, and the stock market listing was abandoned.

“They tried to investigate whether there was an opportunity to transfer the healthy parts of the company,” Per Astrup Madsen, a partner in the law firm DLA Piper, told Finans. “There was contact with an investor, but it has not ended up with an actual agreement. Therefore, there was no basis for allowing the reconstruction to continue.” 

Danish vocab: at blive erklæret konkurs – to be declared bankrupt

‘No quick fix’ for Danish cancer waiting lists: health minister

Health Minister Sophie Løhde said on Thursday that she “deeply regrets” missed deadlines for bowel cancer treatment at Aarhus University Hospital, but that the government does not have an immediate fix for the problem.

Danish law requires cancer patients to be operated on within two weeks of the decision to operate being made.

Broadcaster DR recently reported that 182 patients had waited too long for an operation at Aarhus University Hospital (AUH). Following DR’s report, a Region Central Jutland survey found that 293 patients had waited for more than the two weeks prescribed by law over the past year.

Løhde was asked at a briefing on Tuesday whether bowel cancer patients at AUH can now expected to be operated on within two weeks.

“In reality, that should have happened the entire time. I can’t stand here and guarantee that it will happen again tomorrow or the next day, as much as I’d like to,” she said.

“What I can guarantee is that this has the utmost attention on the part of the government.”

Danish vocab: dybt beklageligt – deeply regrettable

‘Record number’ of foreigners move to Denmark for work

A record number of people moved to Denmark from abroad for work reasons in 2022, according to national agency Statistics Denmark.

A total of 31,600 people moved to Denmark to work last yer, according to a Statistics Denmark review released on Tuesday.

The figure corresponds to a 24 percent increase compared to 2021 and is the highest in the history of the statistic, which goes back to 1997.

The average number of work immigrants in the decade prior to 2022 was 21,000 people.

Specifically, the number describes the amount of people who were given work permits in Denmark in a given year.

Danish vocab: rekordmange – a record number (literally “record many”) 

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