Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday
Queen to have back surgery, Maersk lobbied to escape global tax deal, fewer Brits move to Denmark, and Seymour Hersh claims US divers blew up Nord Stream. Here's the day's news from Denmark.
Veteran US investigative journalist claims US divers blew up Nord Stream pipeline
The US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who won the Pulitzer Price in 1970 for exposing the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam, has claimed on his Substack blog that US divers carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in September.
Hersh claims that drivers planted explosives on the pipeline under cover of the BALTOPS 22 exercise in the summer and that they were remotely detonated three months later.
Hersh, who is 85, has faced increasing criticism in recent years, for articles which have included the claim that the US's account of the killing of Osama Bin Ladin was "one big lie, not one word of it is true", questioning whether a Sarin attack in Syria was really carried out by the Syrian government, and also suggesting that the poisoning of the Russian double agency Sergei Skripal with Novichok was "suggestive ... of organised crime elements rather than state-sponsored actions".
In his article, Hersh cites a source who said the operation was proposed as a possible response in December, ahead of Russia's invasion, at a meeting of a group combining the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, and the State and Treasury Departments.
According to Hersh's source, the divers were based in Norway ahead of the missions, and dove down from a Norwegian Alta class mine hunter to plant the explosives during the exercise. The explosives were then triggered months later by a sonar buoy dropped from a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane.
Adrienne Watson, a White House spokesperson, told Hersh his story was "false and complete fiction”, while Tammy, a spokesperson for the Central Intelligence Agency, told him: “This claim is completely and utterly false.”
Danish vocab: ren fiktion – complete fiction
Queen Margrethe II to undergo surgery for back problems
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II will on February 22nd go though a major back operation, Denmark's Royal House revealed in a press release on Wednesday.
"For quite some time, Her Majesty has been affected by problems with her back, and the situation has worsened recently. After consultation with Rigshospitalet’s specialists, The Queen has decided to undergo extensive surgery," the release read.
The operation will take place at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen's main hospital, where The Queen will stay afterwards, before a period of physical rehabilitation.
The queen's official program will be postponed, canceled or handled by other members of The Royal Family for the near future.
Danish vocab: et genoptræningsforløb – a period of physical rehabilitation
Danish shipping giant Maersk ‘lobbied’ to be excluded from global tax deal
The Danish shipping giant Maersk held meetings with Denmark's tax and maritime authorities to advise them on how best to shield the shipping industry from the OECD's global minimum tax deal, according to a Danish media report.
The documents show that in June 2020, representatives of the company held a meeting with the Ministry of Taxation in to discuss strategies to exclude shipping from the OECD agreement on minimum tax.
The industry lobby group Danish Shipping (Danske Rederier) then wrote to the Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Maritime Authority warning them about the rules. A representative from the Danish Maritime Authority shortly afterwards thanked Danish Shipping for its help.
Once shipping was exempted from the OECD deal, Danish Shipping thanked the Danish Maritime Authority for its work.
Danish vocab: at modarbejde – to push back against
Number of British citizens who move to Denmark at lowest in 15 years
Some 854 British citizens moved to Denmark in 2021, according to Statistics Denmark, the lowest number in 15 years.
The number of British citizens moving to Denmark in 2021 was 552 fewer than the year before in 2020 and 855 fewer than four years earlier, in 2017.
The figures from Statistics Denmark show a clear impact of Brexit. Britons voted in favour of Brexit in a June 2016 referendum and the UK’s exit from the EU was implemented at the end of 2020.
From this date onwards, British citizens have no longer been part of the EU and cannot live and work under the EU Freedom of Movement. Instead, they are subject to third-country rules, which involves stricter requirements to gain both temporary and permanent residency in Denmark, including the need for work permits.
Danish wind energy giant Vestas makes loss for first time in a decade
Danish wind turbine producer Vestas has registered a loss for the first time since 2013, the company said as it published annual results.
The company said that increasing costs of energy and raw materials had contributed to the operating loss, as had high inflation.
“Vestas and the wind industry were ready to provide solutions to address the energy crisis, but were constrained by cost increases, logistical challenges, outdated market designs and permitting processes”, the company said in its annual report.
The annual results show a deficit of just under 12 billion kroner for the year.
Preliminary figures released at the end of last month showed that Vestas had turned over around 108 billion kroner in 2022. As such, costs have dragged the company into an overall loss for the year.
Danish vocab: et underskud – a loss
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Veteran US investigative journalist claims US divers blew up Nord Stream pipeline
The US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who won the Pulitzer Price in 1970 for exposing the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam, has claimed on his Substack blog that US divers carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in September.
Hersh claims that drivers planted explosives on the pipeline under cover of the BALTOPS 22 exercise in the summer and that they were remotely detonated three months later.
Hersh, who is 85, has faced increasing criticism in recent years, for articles which have included the claim that the US's account of the killing of Osama Bin Ladin was "one big lie, not one word of it is true", questioning whether a Sarin attack in Syria was really carried out by the Syrian government, and also suggesting that the poisoning of the Russian double agency Sergei Skripal with Novichok was "suggestive ... of organised crime elements rather than state-sponsored actions".
In his article, Hersh cites a source who said the operation was proposed as a possible response in December, ahead of Russia's invasion, at a meeting of a group combining the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, and the State and Treasury Departments.
According to Hersh's source, the divers were based in Norway ahead of the missions, and dove down from a Norwegian Alta class mine hunter to plant the explosives during the exercise. The explosives were then triggered months later by a sonar buoy dropped from a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane.
Adrienne Watson, a White House spokesperson, told Hersh his story was "false and complete fiction”, while Tammy, a spokesperson for the Central Intelligence Agency, told him: “This claim is completely and utterly false.”
Danish vocab: ren fiktion – complete fiction
Queen Margrethe II to undergo surgery for back problems
Denmark's Queen Margrethe II will on February 22nd go though a major back operation, Denmark's Royal House revealed in a press release on Wednesday.
"For quite some time, Her Majesty has been affected by problems with her back, and the situation has worsened recently. After consultation with Rigshospitalet’s specialists, The Queen has decided to undergo extensive surgery," the release read.
The operation will take place at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen's main hospital, where The Queen will stay afterwards, before a period of physical rehabilitation.
The queen's official program will be postponed, canceled or handled by other members of The Royal Family for the near future.
Danish vocab: et genoptræningsforløb – a period of physical rehabilitation
Danish shipping giant Maersk ‘lobbied’ to be excluded from global tax deal
The Danish shipping giant Maersk held meetings with Denmark's tax and maritime authorities to advise them on how best to shield the shipping industry from the OECD's global minimum tax deal, according to a Danish media report.
The documents show that in June 2020, representatives of the company held a meeting with the Ministry of Taxation in to discuss strategies to exclude shipping from the OECD agreement on minimum tax.
The industry lobby group Danish Shipping (Danske Rederier) then wrote to the Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Maritime Authority warning them about the rules. A representative from the Danish Maritime Authority shortly afterwards thanked Danish Shipping for its help.
Once shipping was exempted from the OECD deal, Danish Shipping thanked the Danish Maritime Authority for its work.
Danish vocab: at modarbejde – to push back against
Number of British citizens who move to Denmark at lowest in 15 years
Some 854 British citizens moved to Denmark in 2021, according to Statistics Denmark, the lowest number in 15 years.
The number of British citizens moving to Denmark in 2021 was 552 fewer than the year before in 2020 and 855 fewer than four years earlier, in 2017.
The figures from Statistics Denmark show a clear impact of Brexit. Britons voted in favour of Brexit in a June 2016 referendum and the UK’s exit from the EU was implemented at the end of 2020.
From this date onwards, British citizens have no longer been part of the EU and cannot live and work under the EU Freedom of Movement. Instead, they are subject to third-country rules, which involves stricter requirements to gain both temporary and permanent residency in Denmark, including the need for work permits.
Danish wind energy giant Vestas makes loss for first time in a decade
Danish wind turbine producer Vestas has registered a loss for the first time since 2013, the company said as it published annual results.
The company said that increasing costs of energy and raw materials had contributed to the operating loss, as had high inflation.
“Vestas and the wind industry were ready to provide solutions to address the energy crisis, but were constrained by cost increases, logistical challenges, outdated market designs and permitting processes”, the company said in its annual report.
The annual results show a deficit of just under 12 billion kroner for the year.
Preliminary figures released at the end of last month showed that Vestas had turned over around 108 billion kroner in 2022. As such, costs have dragged the company into an overall loss for the year.
Danish vocab: et underskud – a loss
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