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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Fire services forced to return to stock exchange, young Norwegian sneaks into royal birthday, new flight to Scandinavian ski destination and more news from Denmark on Tuesday.

Published: 23 April 2024 07:56 CEST
Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday
Cross country skiers in Swedish destination Sälen, which will soon be served by a direct flight from Aarhus. Photo: TT News Agency/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

Fire services back at Børsen after discovery of embers 

Copenhagen’s fire services are back at the burnt-out stock exchange Børsen despite having handed the building over to police yesterday.

Embers were found in some wooden beams that connect to damaged section of the building to the intact section, meaning firefighters were called back despite the flames having been considered to be extinguished.

A group of four firefighters was put in place at 1am last night and a fresh evaluation of the situation will be made this morning, broadcaster DR reports.

Vocabulary: gløder – embers

Norwegian ‘sneaks in’ to Crown Prince Christian’s birthday

A young Norwegian with a record of identity theft and fraud managed to get into Crown Prince (then Prince) Christian’s 18th birthday in October last year, Norway’s Dagbladet newspaper writes.

The man is reported to have gained access under pretences of being a journalist. He has been arrested several times in Norway according to the report.

He can be seen in several photos of Crown Prince Christian’s birthday which were published by media in Denmark and also took a photo of himself inside Christiansborg palace, where the event was held. That photo was included in Dagbladet’s report.

Danish police intelligence service PET told Dagbladet that it considered the birthday party to have taken place “safely and securely”.

Vocabulary: at snige sig ind – to sneak in

Denmark to get 3.1 billion kroner from EU for cyber security and green transport

Denmark is to receive 3.1 billion kroner from the EU’s Recovery Fund for spending on cyber security and green technologies, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The fund was originally established by the EU to help member states’ economies recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and is now used to meet targets related to green energy including independence from Russian gas.

Money from the fund is released to member states as they meet targets. Denmark has now fulfilled 43 of 93 targets set out in the fund.

Vocabulary: udbetaling – payment

SAS to open new route from Aarhus to ski destination

Skiing season is just about done, but if you live in East Jutland and want a quick connection for future trips then your options will be bolstered from January 2025, when SAS launches a new route from Aarhus to Scandinavian Mountains Airport.

The northern airport serves the two ski resorts Trysil and Sälen, which are in Norway and Sweden respectively. The area is a popular choice among skiing holidayers from Denmark.

In keeping with their Nordic settings, it is also possible to ride snow scooters and dog sleds at the destinations.

“This new flight route is a strong option if you want to get skiing quickly, and SAS has a strong position in the East Jutland market. This is well spotted by the airline and we expect the new route to be well received”, Aarhus Airport CEO Lotta Sandsgaard said in a press statement.

Vocabulary: hundeslæd – dog sled/dog sleigh

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Denmark announces new defence package for Ukraine, subsidies to museums boosted, economy growing faster than expected and other news from Denmark on Friday.

Published: 17 May 2024 07:06 CEST
Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Denmark donates billions to Ukraine for air defence and ammunition

Denmark has agreed to donate 5.6 billion kroner to Ukraine, in its 18th donation package to the country to help it repel Russia’s invasion.

“This is quite a large package: we are currently the country which provides the largest military support to Ukraine pro rata,” Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, told the Ritzau newswire. .

Around 2.4 billion kroner is set earmarket for improving Ukraine’s air defences and part will go towards developing Ukraine’s new fleet of F-16 fighter planes, some of which Denmark has given. It is not yet known when Denmark’s planes will be sent to Ukraine. 

“Everyone knows that Ukraine is in desperate straits for better air defences. We have nothing, but we have the resources. We have included that in this package,” Rasmussen said. 

Danish vocabulary: luftforsvar – air defences

Denmark to boost subsidies to museums in new cross-party deal 

Denmark’s government has struck a deal with opposition parties to increase the annual subiduy to museums in the country by 75 million kroner a year, pushing the annual grant to 565.7 million from 2025. 

Under the news subsidy system, museums will be divided into five categories, which will determine how big its basic grant will be. A new national museum board will be set up to assess whether museums will be among those eligible for subsidy or be stripped of state recognition. 

To be categorised as a state-recognised museum, museums must have an annual income of at least 4m kroner and at least 10,000 annual visitors, although this is reduced to 3m kroner and 8,000 visitors for museums on Denmark’s smaller islands. 

The deal was struck between the three government parties and all other parties in government apart from the Alternative and Nye Borgerlige parties. 

Danish vocabulary: museumsnævn – board of museums 

Denmark’s economy growing faster than expected 

Denmark’s economy is growing faster than the government expected, inflation is falling faster, and employment is holding up better, Denmark’s economy minister, Stephanie Lose, said at a press conference announcing the government’s Økonomisk Redegørelse, or financial statement, for May.

“In the past two years, the pharmaceutical industry in particular has driven growth in the Danish economy, while there has been stagnation or decline in large parts of the rest of the economy,” she said. “In the coming years, other industries again look set to contribute to growth. Added to this is the reopening of the Tyra field in the North Sea, which also contributes to growth in GDP.” 

The government has increased its expectation for Denmark’s growth rate since its last statement in December, with it now expecting 2.7 percent growth in 2024, up from the 1.4 percent it expected for the year in December. 

The government has significantly upgraded its expectations of what will happen to the price of domestic property this year. It now expects prices to increase by an average of 3.2 percent in 2024 and 3 percent in 2025, a rise of two percentage points on the 1.2 percent rise for 2024 it expected when it made its last forecast in December. 

Danish vocabulary: forventningen – the expectation

Denmark joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EU

Denmark is one of 15 EU member states who have sent a joint letter to the European Commission demanding a further tightening of the bloc’s asylum policy, which will make it easier to transfer undocumented migrants to third countries, such as Rwanda, including when they are rescued at sea.

The letter, sent to the European Commission on Thursday, comes less than a month before European Parliament elections, in which far-right anti-immigration parties are forecast to make gains.

The letter asks the European Union’s executive arm to “propose new ways and solutions to prevent irregular migration to Europe”.

The group includes Italy and Greece, which receive a substantial number of the people making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to reach the EU — many seeking to escape poverty, war or persecution, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Denmark’s former government sought to open an asylum reception centre in a third country, with the then immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye visiting Rwanda. But the current govermment has pledged to try and establish centres in a third country through the EU. 

They want the EU to toughen up its recently adopted asylum pact, which introduces tighter controls on those seeking to enter the 27-nation bloc.
That reform includes speedier vetting of people arriving without documents, new border detention centres and faster deportation for rejected asylum applicants.

The 15 proposed in their letter the introduction of “mechanisms… aimed at detecting, intercepting — or in cases of distress, rescuing — migrants on the high seas and bringing them to a predetermined place of safety in a partner country outside the EU, where durable solutions for those migrants could be found”.

Danish vocabulary: modtagecenter – reception centre

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