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Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Elizabeth Anne Brown
Elizabeth Anne Brown - [email protected]
Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday
Bomb squads were called to "diffuse" a keg of beer under extremely high pressure in Sønderborg on Monday. Photo: Presse-fotos.dk/Scanpix 2022

No chance of a carbon-neutral Copenhagen by 2025, an official heat cheque investigation, and more flexibility for Ukrainian refugees are among the top news stories in Denmark on Tuesday.

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Copenhagen won't be carbon neutral by 2025 

Since 2009, Copenhagen has been vocal about plans to become the first carbon-neutral capital city by 2025. But after an incineration plant has thrown in the towel on an attempt to reduce its emissions, that lofty goal is off the table, broadcaster DR reports.

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"It's a shame we won't reach it by 2025. I'm really sorry about that," mayor of Copenhagen Sophie Hæstorp Andersen told DR. "But that's not the same as saying we won't make it in 2026, 2027, or 2028. That's why we still have hope that we will succeed." 

According to Andersen, Copenhagen has already slashed CO2 emissions by 80 percent. 

Minister agrees to investigate mistaken heat cheques 

Bowing to pressure from support parties, Climate, Energy and Supply minister Dan Jørgensen as ordered an investigation into how many people were mistakenly sent heat cheques. 

The 6,000 kroner cheques were intended to offset skyrocketing energy costs for households heated by gas ahead of winter. But due to inaccuracies in an online database that requires homeowners to self-report information on their home, including gas boilers, many people are believed to have received the cheques in error. 

The legislation approving the cheques explicitly stated that households that received the cheques despite not being eligible wouldn't be required to return the money. But critics — among them some who received the money in error and have tried to return it — see a needless waste of tax kroner. 

READ MORE: Danish parties urge investigation of heating cash sent to ineligible homes 

SF wants to welcome more Ukrainian refugees 

The Socialist People's Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF)  is pushing for more flexibility on the 'cut-off date' for Ukrainian refugees to be eligible to live in Denmark, newswire Ritzau reports. 

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Currently, people who left Ukraine before February 1st can't apply to be refugees under Danish law. According to data from the Danish Immigration Service, 278 Ukrainians have been turned away because they left their home country earlier. 

Carl Valentin, the Socialist People's Party's immigration commissioner, notes that the government originally planned to receive as many as 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. 

"That many have not come. And with a number like this, we should just be able to look at getting some more flexibility in the law," Valentin told Ritzau. 

To date, about 27,000 Ukrainians have gotten refugee status in Denmark. 

READ MORE: Number of Ukrainian refugees working in Denmark triples in one month 

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