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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 Friday

Overnight outage for e-Boks system continues and kindergartens to be tested for PFAS are among the news in Denmark on Friday morning.

Today in Denmark: a roundup of the news on Friday

Denmark’s e-Boks digital mail system still down on Friday morning

People in Denmark were still unable to log in to the e-Boks system on Friday morning, more than 12 hours after problems began shortly before 7pm on Thursday evening. 

“We are currently experiencing problems logging into e-Boks both via app and web. We are working hard to resolve the problem and apologise for the inconvenience,” the system said on its website.

E-Boks allows Danish residents to receive digital mail from the government and other public sector organisations.

Danish vocabulary: vi beklager ulejligheden – we apologise for the inconvenience

Major spending plan to fight social dumping 

A majority of parties have agreed a 1.3 billion kroner spending plan that is designed to tackle social dumping and other problem areas at workplaces.

The deal, termed a “working environment agreement” (arbejdsmiljøaftale), specifies social dumping as a major area of focus.

“This is an agreement of historic level. I am happy that everyone is part of it,” employment minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen said following the conclusion of negotiations on Thursday.

Social dumping is the practice by which foreign workers are used to circumvent Danish collective bargaining agreements, saving employers money by hiring staff on wages and working conditions inferior to those set by the Danish labour model.

Some 673 million kroner of the total 1.3 billion are earmarked for prevention of social dumping.

“This is an anti social dumping effort that acts against labour crime and cheating the system. So that people who actually play by the rules get fair competition,” Halsboe-Jørgensen said.

Denmark to test 10 kindergartens and playgrounds for ‘forever chemical’ PFAS

Ten kindergartens and public playgrounds in the South Denmark region are to be tested for the pollutant chemical PFAS.

Five kindergartens and public playgrounds on Funen and five kindergartens and public playgrounds in Southern Jutland are to be tested for presence of the chemical, the South Denmark regional health authority said in a statement on Thursday.

The locations are to be tested because the authority does not know with certainty that they are not contaminated with PFAS, the health authority said.

“I want to stress that the Region does not expect in advance that PFAS chemicals will be found in the ground in amounts that can constitute a risk to children,” Poul Erik Jensen, head of the Region’s environment board, said in the statement.

Danish vocabulary: at understrege – to stress

Danish agency received 14 reports of drones after Nord Stream explosions

Denmark’s Energy Agency received 16 reports of drone and ship activity at energy facilities on or under the sea in the weeks after the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.

The information on the reports was revealed by newspaper Børsen based on an access to information request with the Energy Agency.

Drone sightings accounted for 14 of the 16 reports with the remaining two relating to ships. In the corresponding period in 2021, the agency received zero reports.

It is impossible to say whether the apparent spike in sightings represents increased activity or increased alert in the area, according to an expert.

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