Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday
Right wing party defends use of Mette Frederiksen deepfake, parties want mink breeder compensation cut, Billie Eilish announces Royal Arena concerts and more news from Denmark on Tuesday.
Party criticised over deepfake satire video of prime minister
The far-right Danish People’s Party (DF) has been criticised for sharing a video that uses ‘deepfake’ techniques to misrepresent Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
In the video, Frederiksen is made to appear as if she is saying the government plans to cancel Christmas, Easter and Pentecost holidays after already scrapping Great Prayer Day.
A small stamp is visible in the corner of the video signalling that it is not real footage of Frederiksen.
The centre-left Socialist People’s Party (SF) and the Liberal (Venstre) party, a partner in the coalition government, have both criticised the video.
“DF's AI video of the prime minister is very funny in terms of content, but a political party using deepfakes is extremely concerning and I don't think DF actually understands the potential for (ab)use of deepfakes,” SF’s digital spokesperson Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen tweeted.
DF leader Morten Messerschmidt has rejected the criticism, saying the video was clearly meant as satire.
Vocabulary: satirisk – satirical
Politicians call for lower compensation price for mink skins
SF and the Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) want the state compensation mink fur farmers to be renegotiated. Both parties voted for the compensation plan in 2021.
The parties new positions come after a commission concluded that the most realistic unit price of a mink fur is lower than the price used to set compensation, media Zetland writes based on a leaked document.
The Social Liberal food spokesperson Christian Friis Bach called the issue a “scandal” in comments to Zetland.
Mink breeders receive compensation based on a price of 333 kroner per skin, while the commission has ruled that the most likely price is 247 kroner.
READ ALSO: Danish mink fur breeders received 'too much compensation'
Vocabulary: afgørelse – ruling
Billie Eilish to play two concerts in Copenhagen in 2025
One of the world’s biggest names in pop music will play to fans in Copenhagen next year after Billie Eilish announced two dates at the capital’s Royal Arena almost a year to the day, on April 28th and 29th 2025.
The concerts, confirmed by Live Nation Denmark in a press release, are part of Eilish’s upcoming world tour “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, in which she will play across Europe as well as in Australia and the United States.
Ticket sales for the two concerts will begin on Friday, according to the press release, with prices starting at 440 kroner.
Vocabulary: verdensstjerne – international star/celebrity
Foreign workers in Denmark 'create 300 billion kroner of value'
Almost one in eight people in paid employment in Denmark is a foreign national, meaning workers from abroad create a huge amount of value for the country, the Confederation of Danish Industry said in a new analysis.
Based on Statistics Denmark data DI found that, between 2013 and 2023, the number of foreign nationals working full-time in paid employment in Denmark increased from 147,000 to 309,000.
The 2023 level is equivalent to 13 percent of overall employment in Denmark being attributable to foreign labour, DI said.
“You cannot overestimate the importance of international labour in Denmark,” DI’s deputy director Steen Nielsen said in a statement.
“If they had not been here and made the contribution they do, we’d not have been able to produce goods, treat the sick or build the amount of houses we need,” he said.
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Party criticised over deepfake satire video of prime minister
The far-right Danish People’s Party (DF) has been criticised for sharing a video that uses ‘deepfake’ techniques to misrepresent Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
In the video, Frederiksen is made to appear as if she is saying the government plans to cancel Christmas, Easter and Pentecost holidays after already scrapping Great Prayer Day.
A small stamp is visible in the corner of the video signalling that it is not real footage of Frederiksen.
The centre-left Socialist People’s Party (SF) and the Liberal (Venstre) party, a partner in the coalition government, have both criticised the video.
“DF's AI video of the prime minister is very funny in terms of content, but a political party using deepfakes is extremely concerning and I don't think DF actually understands the potential for (ab)use of deepfakes,” SF’s digital spokesperson Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen tweeted.
DF leader Morten Messerschmidt has rejected the criticism, saying the video was clearly meant as satire.
Vocabulary: satirisk – satirical
Politicians call for lower compensation price for mink skins
SF and the Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) want the state compensation mink fur farmers to be renegotiated. Both parties voted for the compensation plan in 2021.
The parties new positions come after a commission concluded that the most realistic unit price of a mink fur is lower than the price used to set compensation, media Zetland writes based on a leaked document.
The Social Liberal food spokesperson Christian Friis Bach called the issue a “scandal” in comments to Zetland.
Mink breeders receive compensation based on a price of 333 kroner per skin, while the commission has ruled that the most likely price is 247 kroner.
READ ALSO: Danish mink fur breeders received 'too much compensation'
Vocabulary: afgørelse – ruling
Billie Eilish to play two concerts in Copenhagen in 2025
One of the world’s biggest names in pop music will play to fans in Copenhagen next year after Billie Eilish announced two dates at the capital’s Royal Arena almost a year to the day, on April 28th and 29th 2025.
The concerts, confirmed by Live Nation Denmark in a press release, are part of Eilish’s upcoming world tour “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, in which she will play across Europe as well as in Australia and the United States.
Ticket sales for the two concerts will begin on Friday, according to the press release, with prices starting at 440 kroner.
Vocabulary: verdensstjerne – international star/celebrity
Foreign workers in Denmark 'create 300 billion kroner of value'
Almost one in eight people in paid employment in Denmark is a foreign national, meaning workers from abroad create a huge amount of value for the country, the Confederation of Danish Industry said in a new analysis.
Based on Statistics Denmark data DI found that, between 2013 and 2023, the number of foreign nationals working full-time in paid employment in Denmark increased from 147,000 to 309,000.
The 2023 level is equivalent to 13 percent of overall employment in Denmark being attributable to foreign labour, DI said.
“You cannot overestimate the importance of international labour in Denmark,” DI’s deputy director Steen Nielsen said in a statement.
“If they had not been here and made the contribution they do, we’d not have been able to produce goods, treat the sick or build the amount of houses we need,” he said.
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