Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday
Plans for driverless S-trains, appeals board has backlog of rent complaints and latest on Copenhagen Airport delays. Here is the news from Denmark on Monday.
Officials did not check criminal record of new citizens
Newspaper Politiken reports that mandatory checks for previous criminal records of new Danish citizens, introduced in 2018, have not always been conducted by public servants at the Ministry of Immigration and Integration.
Danish law allows authorities to revoke citizenship in cases where a person has not disclosed or lied about a criminal record when applying for naturalisation.
The most recent checks of this type took place in 2021, according to Politiken, when 2 cases out of 1,255 were referred to police for further investigation. Denmark approves new citizenship applications twice yearly.
The immigration minister, Kaare Dybvad Bek, stated in a parliamentary committee letter that staff had failed to prioritise the task.
“This is very regrettable and I have made it clear that if such a prioritisation is to be made, it must be at the minister’s desk,” he said.
Bek is set to be summoned to a committee hearing by the opposition Danish People’s Party over the issue.
Copenhagen Airport reduced delays during holiday weekend
Many passengers at Copenhagen Aiport have recently experienced delays due to an ongoing shortage of staff at air traffic control, but the extent of the problem was more limited during the past holiday weekend according to news wire Ritzau.
Saturday saw 1,500 passengers delayed and on Sunday morning only “a few” were affected by the issue, head of traffic Kristoffer Plenge-Brandt said.
That compares to around 21,400 delayed passengers on Thursday. The delays are related to a lack of available flight tower staff plus ongoing negotiations between the air traffic controllers’ trade union and employer Naviair.
“Right now we are awaiting the situation and hope the conflict will be solved. If it is not, we risk more delays and cancellations,” Plenge-Brandt said.
Driverless S-trains could be on the tracks by 2029
A new generation of S-trains could begin to operate on the metropolitan rail network that connects Greater Copenhagen by the end of the decade. The trains will be driverless, rail company DSB said in a statement yesterday.
A new infrastructure budget has opened the way for contractors to submit bids to develop the trains.
The new system is intended to reduced congestion on the system, which is expected to increase in the coming years. The line between Hellerup and Ny Ellebjerg will be first to get a driverless train, DSB said.
Municipalities have backlog of rent complaints
Complaints against landlords submitted at municipalities are piling up with a long waiting list for rent cases to be assessed, broadcaster DR writes.
The waiting time for a case to be assessed by the Danish rent appeals board, Huslejenævnet, has doubled in many areas since 2021 according to the Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing (Social- og Boligstyrelsen).
Individual cases of people waiting up to a year and a half for an answer to an appeal, after their landlords put up their rents, were reported by DR. Danish law restricts the amount by which landlords can increase rent, and a 2022 amendment capped this limit at 4 percent due to concerns related to inflation.
Comments
See Also
Officials did not check criminal record of new citizens
Newspaper Politiken reports that mandatory checks for previous criminal records of new Danish citizens, introduced in 2018, have not always been conducted by public servants at the Ministry of Immigration and Integration.
Danish law allows authorities to revoke citizenship in cases where a person has not disclosed or lied about a criminal record when applying for naturalisation.
The most recent checks of this type took place in 2021, according to Politiken, when 2 cases out of 1,255 were referred to police for further investigation. Denmark approves new citizenship applications twice yearly.
The immigration minister, Kaare Dybvad Bek, stated in a parliamentary committee letter that staff had failed to prioritise the task.
“This is very regrettable and I have made it clear that if such a prioritisation is to be made, it must be at the minister’s desk,” he said.
Bek is set to be summoned to a committee hearing by the opposition Danish People’s Party over the issue.
Copenhagen Airport reduced delays during holiday weekend
Many passengers at Copenhagen Aiport have recently experienced delays due to an ongoing shortage of staff at air traffic control, but the extent of the problem was more limited during the past holiday weekend according to news wire Ritzau.
Saturday saw 1,500 passengers delayed and on Sunday morning only “a few” were affected by the issue, head of traffic Kristoffer Plenge-Brandt said.
That compares to around 21,400 delayed passengers on Thursday. The delays are related to a lack of available flight tower staff plus ongoing negotiations between the air traffic controllers’ trade union and employer Naviair.
“Right now we are awaiting the situation and hope the conflict will be solved. If it is not, we risk more delays and cancellations,” Plenge-Brandt said.
Driverless S-trains could be on the tracks by 2029
A new generation of S-trains could begin to operate on the metropolitan rail network that connects Greater Copenhagen by the end of the decade. The trains will be driverless, rail company DSB said in a statement yesterday.
A new infrastructure budget has opened the way for contractors to submit bids to develop the trains.
The new system is intended to reduced congestion on the system, which is expected to increase in the coming years. The line between Hellerup and Ny Ellebjerg will be first to get a driverless train, DSB said.
Municipalities have backlog of rent complaints
Complaints against landlords submitted at municipalities are piling up with a long waiting list for rent cases to be assessed, broadcaster DR writes.
The waiting time for a case to be assessed by the Danish rent appeals board, Huslejenævnet, has doubled in many areas since 2021 according to the Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing (Social- og Boligstyrelsen).
Individual cases of people waiting up to a year and a half for an answer to an appeal, after their landlords put up their rents, were reported by DR. Danish law restricts the amount by which landlords can increase rent, and a 2022 amendment capped this limit at 4 percent due to concerns related to inflation.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.