Denmark mulls restarting former ammunition factory

Denmark’s government is considering restarting an old ammunition factory in Frederikshavn to help supply munitions to the Ukrainian army, the country’s acting defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said after a meeting of EU defence ministers in Stockholm.

The suggestion is part of a three-party plan drawn up by the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, to obtain more ammunition for Ukraine and refill half-empty ammunition stocks in the EU, in part by increasing production in the EU.
 
“All countries will have to consider what can be done. Therefore, we in Denmark will of course also have to consider what we can do,” Poulsen said. “We have a facility in Frederikshavn, which until a few years ago was used for weapons production. I want to take the lead in investigating whether private companies might be interested in establishing production there.”
 
The facility is owned by the Spanish company, Expal, which a few years ago decided to shut down production in Denmark.
 
Danish vocab: at genskabe – to restore/rebuild

Nord Stream sabotage boat ‘docked in Christiansø’

The boat German investigators reportedly suspect of being used to carry out the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines docked on the tiny Danish island of Christiansø, north of Bornholm, between September 16th and 18th, according to ARD and Die Zeit, the German media outlets which broke the story. 

Berlingske has spoken to the island’s administrator, Søren Thiim Andersen, who confirms having received a request from the police to ask if anyone had pictures of ships in the harbour over these three days. 

Separate reports in German and US media on Tuesday linked the attack to Ukrainian groups, with ARD and Die Zeit linking the attack to a boat owned by a Polish company owned by Ukrainians. 

Danish vocab: en henvendelse – a request

Fewer people receive benefits in Denmark despite rising unemployment

The number of people in Denmark who receive the basic form of unemployment benefit, kontanthjælp, fell in the final quarter of last year. Data released by Statistics Denmark on Tuesday show that there were just over 98,000 people in receipt of kontanthjælp at the end of 2022. The number is lower than in the preceding quarter but higher than in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Kontanthjælp is the basic form of public benefit given to people who are not employed. It is distinct from dagpenge, which requires membership of a semi-privatised A-kasse and gives them the right to receive unemployment benefits should the member become unemployed.

Danish vocab: att modtage – to receive

Denmark opens undersea graveyard for imported CO2

Denmark inaugurated a project on Wednesday which will store carbon dioxide 1,800 metres beneath the North Sea, the first country in the world to bury CO2 imported from abroad.

The CO2 graveyard, where the carbon is injected to prevent further warming of the atmosphere, is on the site of an old oil field.

Led by British chemical giant Ineos and German oil company Wintershall Dea, the “Greensand” project is expected to store up to eight million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030. In December, it received an operating permit to start its pilot phase.

Still in their infancy and costly, carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects aim to capture and then trap CO2 in order to mitigate global warming.

Around 30 projects are currently operational or under development in Europe.

Danish vocab: at lagre  – to store