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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Danish defence minister takes leave to 'unplug', antibiotic recalled, online store reaches union deal, and rail staff report abuse. Here's some of the latest news from Denmark.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday
Minister of Defense Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (Denmark's Liberal Party) at a press conference in February. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark’s new defence minister on sick leave to ‘unplug’

Denmark’s Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen on Monday said he was taking sick leave for an undetermined period, hardly two months after a new government took power.

The 49-year-old said he was admitted briefly to hospital last week for “nausea”, just after returning from Ukraine.

“I was eager to go back to work immediately. But now that it’s been a few days I have to realise I’m not ready for this,” he said on Facebook.  “I have been unusually busy for a long time. Now my body is sending me a signal that it’s time to take a break, if not it’s going to end badly,” he said.

“The bottom line is that, on the advice of my doctor, I need to unplug for a while and take leave. And then I will return when I’m ready.”

Economy Minister Troels Lund Poulsen will fill in for Ellemann-Jensen during his absence, the government said.

His absence comes as Danes protest against government plans to abolish a public holiday to help fund the defence budget amid the war in Ukraine.

Danish vocab: orlov – furlough/leave

Danish medicines authority recalls antibiotic used by 35,000 people

The Danish Medicines Agency, Lægemiddelstyrelsen, said on Monday that persons using the antibiotic medicine Dicillin, produced by Sandoz, should return it to pharmacies to be replaced.

The medicines authority issued the instructions in a press statement on Monday after multi-resistant bacteria known as CPO were detected in nine cases in patients who have taken the antibiotic.

The nine cases were detected over a four-month period.

Around 35,000 people in Denmark were prescribed the antibiotic between September and December last year, according to the Danish Patient Data Authority (Sundhedsdatastyrelsen).

Danish vocab: en tilbagekaldelse – a recall

Danish online store agrees long-awaited union deal with drivers

Danish online supermarket Nemlig.com has reached an agreement for working terms for its drivers with the trade union 3F Transport.

The two sides confirmed the new agreement in a statement on Monday.

Nemlig grew considerably as a business during the Covid-19 pandemic as large numbers of supermarket customers chose to have their groceries delivered instead of going to physical stores.

But the online supermarket has courted controversy over reports its parent company Intervare undepaid drivers.

Under the new agreement, Nemlig will be able to hire its own drivers. The company said in the statement that it will implement new terms for existing subcontracted drivers under the same conditions.

Danish vocab: en overenskomst – an agreement

Danish rail staff report high incidence of abuse at work

Staff on board Denmark’s trains are subjected to both physical and verbal abuse when at work, rail employees said in a survey.

In the survey, conducted by the trade union for rail workers Dansk Jernbaneforbund, one in five rail staff said they had received physical abuse at work at some point during the last three months.

Almost 80 percent meanwhile said they had received verbal abuse during the last three months.

Some 415 rail workers took part in the survey.

The abuse is most likely to occur when staff check the validity of passengers’ tickets.

Danish vocab: togansatte – rail workers

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: a roundup of the news on Tuesday

Danish ship sailed near Russian ships before Nord Stream blast, Danish Health Authority orders cancer review, Danish artist launches epic troll hunt, and Denmark third in Europe on patent applications per head. Here's some of the news on Tuesday.

Today in Denmark: a roundup of the news on Tuesday

Danish ship allegedly sailed after Russian ships near the Nord Stream

The Danish patrol vessel P524 Nymfen was sailing in the area around the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 just four days before they were hit by several explosions on 26 September last year, the UK’s Times newspaper has reported. 

According to the German news site T-online, six Russian warships were in the area at the same time, including the submarine support ship SS-750, which had the mini-submarine AS-26 with it.

According to the site, SS-750 turned off its tracking device when it neared the area where the gas pipelines were blown up.

Shortly afterwards, a Swedish ship, K31 Visby, sailed to the area. 

Danish vocab: patruljefartøj – patrol vessel 

Danish Health Authority orders cancer treatment review 

Søren Brostrøm, the director of the Danish Health Authority, has ordered a survey of cancer care in Denmark after DR reported that 182 patients had waited too long for an operation at Aarhus University Hospital.

Following DR’s report, a survey found that 293 patients had waited for more than the two weeks prescribed by law over the past year. The Central Denmark Region had not reported the delays to the Danish Health Authority because the patients had accepted that the waiting time would be longer than two weeks. 

It has since emerged that the Capital Region around Copenhagen has also failed to report excess waiting times for cancer patients. 

Danish vocab: ventetiden – waiting times 

Danish artist hatches epic global troll hunt

A Danish artist famous for his towering wooden trolls sent fans on a worldwide quest Monday to find his latest creation.

Thomas Dambo has created a complex treasure hunt to find “Moon Mother”, his 100th troll sculpture, who he said has “crawled into the most secret spot in the forest” to give birth.

His giant figures inspired by Scandinavian folk tales are often located off the beaten track to tempt children and adults to venture out into nature, and to show what you can do with recycled materials.

To find “Moon Mother”, fans will have to piece together codes placed near his existing trolls across the world.

“I decided to make a super secret one and make it an intricate treasure hunt that leads you around all the other ones I’ve made through the years,” Dambo told AFP.

Denmark third in Europe on patent applications per head 

Denmark was third only to Switzerland and Sweden in 2022 in the number of patent applications lodged with the European Patent Office per million inhabitants according to the latest figures.

Denmark made 453 applications per million inhabitants, just behind Sweden on 482 and Switzerland on 1,031. See graph for details

“It is gratifying that we have continued to invest in innovation and patents even under the difficult conditions seen over the last year,” said Flemming Kønig Mejl, who leads the international cooperation division at the Danish Patent and Trademark Office.

“It just shows that Danish companies are good at prioritising research and development. It is also something that we make a living from in Denmark, and which helps to create jobs.” 

Danish vocab: patentansøgninger – patent applications

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