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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Whaling activist speaks from Greenland prison, rail incident near Kolding, Moderates to hold crisis meeting and more news from Denmark this Monday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday
The Moderate party is set to meet for emergency talks on Monday after being exposed by a whistleblower. Photo by Tita on Unsplash

Anti-whaling fight continues from prison, Watson says

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson’s detention in a Greenland prison pending his possible extradition to Japan has not prevented him from continuing his fight to save the animals, he told news agency AFP in an interview.

“If they think it prevents our opposition, I’ve just changed ship. My ship right now is Prison Nuuk,” the 73-year-old US-Canadian campaigner said, a mischievous smile crossing his face as he met with AFP in the visitors’ room of Greenland’s Nuuk Prison.

Watson, who featured in the reality TV series “Whale Wars” and founded Sea Shepherd as well as the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), is known for radical tactics including confrontations with whaling ships at sea.

He was arrested in July in Nuuk, the capital of the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, on the basis of a 2012 Interpol arrest warrant issued by Japan, which accuses him of causing damage to one of its whaling ships in 2010 in the Antarctic.

We’ll have the full interview in a separate article on our website this morning.

Trains near Kolding forced to stop

Trains between the stations at Kolding and Lunderskov in Jutland have been forced to stop this morning after a collision involving a person on the track, operator DSB said on its website.

Police and ambulances have been called to the scene and it is unclear at the time of writing when the train involved will be able to continue.

“We have no precise prognosis but we expect it to take around two hours,” DSB states.

Rail replacement buses have been ordered to take over the section in the meantime.

Moderates to hold emergency meeting after reports of harassment

Coalition party the Moderates are to hold an emergency meeting this morning after news was broken on Friday that its employees have been subjected to bullying and sexism. 

A whistleblower, formerly on the party’s payroll, has reported the group to the work health and safety authority, Arbejdstilsynet, newspaper BT reported.

“I take this very seriously and I would like us to meet tomorrow [Monday, ed.] at 9am to talk about what is going to be done and what measures we are taking,”  party secretary Kirsten Munch Andersen said in a written statement reported by media including DR.

Denmark could get early autumn heat this week

It’s now autumn according to the calendar, but that won’t stop us from getting some summer weather this week according to DR’s forecast.

Warm and hot air will blow across the country on Tuesday, bringing clear skies and temperatures well into the twenties. 

Western parts of Jutland are the exception to the above, with a colder and wetter front prevalent here.

Although it could be as hot as 28 degrees Celsius by Wednesday, a cold front will arrive around the same time.

According to DR, there is a chance the pleasant weather will continue until the weekend – particularly in the eastern half of the country – while it is equally likely that cooler temperatures and showers will be the order of the day after Wednesday.

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For members

TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Wednesday

Government could create new 'mega-region', new SAS routes, Moderate party offers severance to staff and more news from Denmark this Wednesday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Wednesday

Government wants to merge regions

The government plans to merge the Zealand and Greater Copenhagen regions into a single “East Denmark” megaregion, reducing the number of regions from five to four, according to reports by broadcasters DR and TV2.

The plan forms part of a health reform which is scheduled to be presented by government leadership this morning. The Moderate party, a member of the coalition government, has previously favoured abolishing the regions. 

Regions – and their elected boards – administrate public hospitals and the GP system. They also orchestrate regional mass transit and manage initiatives to create economic growth.

The new East Denmark Region would result in a significant size disparity between the regions. For example, Region North Jutland covers only 10 percent of the population, while the new megaregion would have 2,741,728 residents and encompass nearly half of Denmark’s population.

READ ALSO: What’s the difference between a municipality and a region in Denmark?

Vocabulary: at sammenlægge – to merge

Airline SAS announces 15 new routes from Copenhagen in expansion strategy

Scandinavian airline SAS is to open 15 new routes from Copenhagen from summer 2025 and aims to establish an international hub in the Danish capital, the company said in a press statement this morning.

Next summer’s services from Copenhagen Airport will include destinations such as Krakow in Poland, Madrid in Spain, Budapest in Hungary, and Malta. Domestic flights between Copenhagen and Billund will be reinstated after a five-year hiatus.

SAS revealed yesterday that it will resume long-haul flights to Seattle in the United States, after a 16-year break, as part of its new summer schedule starting on March 30th next year.

The new routes are part of a fresh start for SAS following its recent official exit from bankruptcy protection and change of ownership.

READ ALSO: Airline SAS announces end of restructuring and leaves bankruptcy protection

Vocabulary: ruter – routes/services (on transport)

Moderate party offers staff severance in return for silence

Employees of the Moderate party are being offered severance packages that include a confidentiality clause and have until Thursday to sign if they wish to accept the offer, according to reports by newspaper Ekstra Bladet.

A number of current and former employees of the coalition party last month filed a complaint with the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet), describing a culture of bullying and harassment at their workplace.

The severance option was subsequently offered during a nine-hour crisis meeting which took place two weeks ago and has since been negotiated with Djøf, the trade union which represents most of the employees, Ekstra Bladet writes.

Internal disagreements over the way the issue was handled by party leadership have led to one of its MPs, Jeppe Søe, quitting the party and becoming an independent lawmaker.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s Moderate party thrown into chaos by whistleblowers

Vocabulary: fratrædelse – severance

EU court hears Danish plea to annull EU minimum wage directive

The EU court on Tuesday heard Denmark’s call for it to annull the EU’s minimum wage directive on the grounds that it contravenes the EU Treaty.

The hearing began at 9am in the Grand Chamber of the EU Court of Justice, with Denmark arguing that when they adopted the directive in 2022, the EU Parliament and EU Council were in breach of Article 153 (5), which states that the EU’s right to legislate over social policy “shall not apply to pay, the right of association, the right to strike or the right to impose lock-outs”. 

“I am pleased that the European Court of Justice will be given the opportunity to assess the case. This is a matter of principle,” Denmark’s employment minister, Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, said in a press statement on the hearing.

“The government, a broad majority in the Danish Parliament and the social partners have been against the EU’s minimum wage directive from the start. We are adamant that wage formation must take place in Denmark and not in the EU. We have 125 years of good experience in leaving the negotiations on wages and working conditions to the parties,” she added.

More on that story here. 

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