Citing high shot rates, Danes end COVID-19 restriction

September 10, 2021

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — After 548 days with restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19, Denmark's high vaccination rate has enabled the Scandinavian country to become one of the first European Union nations to lift all domestic restrictions.

The return to normality has been gradual, but as of Friday, the digital pass — a proof of having been vaccinated — is no longer required when entering night clubs, making it the last virus safeguard to fall.

More than 80% of people above the age of 12 have had the two shots. “I wouldn’t say it is too early. We have opened the door but we have also said that we can close it if needed,” Soeren Riis Paludan, a professor of virology with the Aarhus University in Denmark’s second largest city, told The Associated Press.

As of midnight, the Danish government no longer considers COVID-19 “a socially critical disease.” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said Aug. 27 that “the epidemic is under control” but warned: “we are not out of the epidemic” and the government will act as needed if necessary.

Jens Lundgren, a professor of viral diseases at the Copenhagen University Hospital said the government would be “quite willing" to reintroduce restrictions if infections spike again. He pointed at night clubs being the last thing to open because “it is the activity associated with the highest risk of transmission.”

“The world is in the middle of a pandemic and none of us can claim that we are beyond the pandemic,” said Lundgren who described Denmark as being “an isolated island” where the vaccine rollout has worked.

“Nobody should have the illusion that we are over this.” The tipping point in Denmark to start easing restrictions came when a majority in the age group of 50+ had the two shots, Riis Paludan said. Since Aug. 14, a face mask on public transportation is no longer mandatory. On Sept. 1, night clubs reopened, limits on public gatherings were removed and it was no longer mandatory to show the pass when one wanted to be seated inside restaurants, or go to soccer games, fitness centers or hairdresser.

However, the face mask or shield are still mandatory at airports and people are advised to wear one when at the doctor's, test centers or hospitals. Distancing is still recommended and strict entry restrictions still apply for non Danes at the borders. The outbreak is still considered “an ordinary dangerous illness.”

“The ghost of corona sits in the back of our head,” said Frank Oestergaard, a patron in a downtown Copenhagen restaurant. After more than a year, several European countries are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but with caveats. Some have lifted restrictions but will introduce a vaccination passport. Others expect to do so soon. And in some places, there are few restrictions and they are not respected.

On July 19, the British government lifted remaining legal restrictions for England, though it still plans to introduce a vaccination passport for entry into nightclubs and other crowded venues at the end of September.

In Denmark's neighbor Sweden, which has stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off response to the pandemic, the government said earlier this month that most restrictions, including the ceiling for private and public gatherings and the advice to work from home, will be removed as of Sept. 29.

The Scandinavian country has not gone into lockdowns or closed businesses, relying instead on citizens’ sense of civic duty to control infection. According to official figures, 70% of people over the age of 15 have gotten both shots and nearly 82 % have received the first shot.

And despite a surge, most of the Balkan countries practically have no restrictions, and those which are in place are not respected. In late May, the Danish government presented the passport app featuring a QR code and a green bar if the person has been vaccinated twice or recently tested negative. A paper version also was available. People either had to scan the code or flash it before entering an airport, a harbor, a train station, a hairdresser or an eatery.

While in many European countries there were pockets of resistance such passes, people used it all the time in Denmark because people trust authorities, Riis Paludan said. Armed with their pass, people were able to get a haircut, have a drink with friends or attend a cultural event. “It was getting one’s freedom back instead of having to sit at home in isolation,” laughed Oestergaard.

“I think it’s very good, so hopefully we can get back to a normal day in the restaurant business without checking people and just no restrictions whatsoever. That’s nice,” said cafe owner Ralph Marker.

Greenland election shows divide over rare-earth metals mine

 April 06, 2021

HELSINKI (AP) — Greenland is holding an early parliamentary election Tuesday focused in part on whether the semi-autonomous Danish territory should allow international companies to mine the sparsely populated Arctic island's substantial deposits of rare-earth metals.

Lawmakers agreed on a snap election after the center-right Democrats pulled out of Greenland's three-party governing coalition in February, leaving the government led by the center-left Forward party with a minority in the national assembly, the 31-seat Inatsisartut.

One of the main reasons the Democrats withdrew was a deep political divide over a proposed mining project involving uranium and rare-earth metals in southern Greenland. Supporters see the in the Kvanefjeld mine project as a potential source of jobs and economic prosperity.

Former Prime Minister Kim Kielsen pushed to give the green light to mine owner Greenland Minerals, an Australia-based company with Chinese ownership, to start operation. Erik Jensen - Kielsen’s recent successor as Forward party leader - is opposed to granting the company a mining license.

Recent election polls showed the left-leaning Community of the People party (Inuit Ataqatigiit), a staunch opponent of the mine project, in position to become the largest party in the Greenlandic Parliament.

The opposition party has stated that a majority of Greenland’s 56,000 inhabitants, most of them indigenous Inuit people, are against the project, largely for environmental reasons. The mining proposal is relevant beyond Greenland. The largely ice-covered island has the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth metals, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Estimates show the Kvanefjeld mine could hold the largest deposit of rare-earth metals outside China, which currently accounts for more than 90% of global production. Rare-earth metals are used in a wide array of sectors and products, including smartphones, wind turbines, microchips, batteries for electric cars and weapons systems.

Greenland, the world’s largest island that is not a continent, has its own government and Parliament, and relies on Denmark for defense, foreign and monetary policies. Voting in Tuesday's election is set to end at 2200 GMT. Initial results are expected on Wednesday.

North Denmark in lockdown over mutated virus in mink farms

November 06, 2020

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — More than a quarter million Danes went into lockdown Friday in a northern region of the country where a mutated variation of the coronavirus has infected minks being farmed for their fur, leading to an order to kill millions of the animals.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the move was meant to contain the virus, and it came two days after the government ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred at Denmark’s 1,139 mink farms. The coronavirus evolves constantly and, to date, there is no evidence that any of the mutations pose an increased danger to people. But Danish authorities were not taking any chances.

“Instead of waiting for evidence, it is better to act quickly,” said Tyra Grove Krause, head department at Statens Serum Institut, a government agency that maps the spread of the coronavirus in Denmark.

In seven northern Danish municipalities with some 280,000 residents sport and cultural activities have been suspended, public transportation has been stopped and regional borders have been closed. Only people with so-called “critical functions” such as police and health officials and different authorities are being permitted to cross municipal boundaries.

People in the region have been urged to to be tested. As of Saturday, restaurants must close and school students from fifth grade and up will switch to remote learning Monday. “We must knock down completely this virus variant,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said Thursday, adding that the mutated virus had been found in 12 people.

Last month, Denmark started culling millions of minks in the north of the country after COVID-19 infections were reported among the stock there. Nationwide, at least 216 out of the 1,139 fur farms in Denmark have now been infected.

Kaare Moelbak of Statens Serum Institut said the virus variant was registered in August and September, and no mutations have been found since, so it was not known if it still exists. The mutated virus was found in five mink farms, according to the government body.

WHO officials said each case needs to be evaluated to determine if any of the changes mean the virus behaves differently. “We are a long, long way from making any determination of that kind,” said Mike Ryan, the WHO emergencies chief. He said that such mutations happen all the time in viruses.

“Right now the evidence that we have doesn’t suggest that this variant is in any way different in the way it behaves,” he said in Geneva. Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert on food safety, said that initial studies on pigs, chickens and cattle "show that these species are not at all susceptible in the same way that mink are, for example. So even if these animals were infected, they would not be able to sustain and spread the disease in the same way.”

Britain on Friday said that people coming from Denmark must self-isolate for 14 days, adding the country to a list of countries it deems risky. The Danish government said a mutation of the virus had been found in 12 people infected by minks, which farmers have been ordered to cull en masse, but experts said the significance of any variant strain and its effect on humans was unclear because it was yet to be studied.

Denmark, the world’s largest mink fur exporter, produces an estimated 17 million furs per year. Kopenhagen Fur, a cooperative of 1,500 Danish breeders, accounts for 40% of the global mink production. Most of its exports go to China and Hong Kong.

The pelts of the mink will be destroyed and Danish fur farmers have said the cull, which is estimated to cost up to 5 billion kroner ($785 million), may spell the end of the industry in the country. Overall, Denmark has reported 53,180 cases of coronavirus and 738 deaths.

Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Denmark wants to cull 15 million minks over COVID fears

November 04, 2020

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's prime minister said Wednesday that the government wants to cull all 15 million minks in Danish farms, to minimize the risk of them re-transmitting the new coronavirus to humans.

Mette Frederiksen said a report from a government agency that maps the coronavirus in Denmark has shown a mutation in the virus found in 12 people in the northern part of the country who got infected by minks. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said half the 783 human COVID-19 cases in northern Denmark ”are related” to mink.

“It is very, very serious,” Frederiksen said. “Thus, the mutated virus in minks can have devastating consequences worldwide.” Denmark is one of the world's main mink fur exporters, producing an estimated 17 million furs per year. Kopenhagen Fur, a cooperative of 1,500 Danish breeders, accounts for 40% of the global mink production. Most of its exports go to China and Hong Kong.

According to government estimates, culling the country's 15 million minks could cost up to 5 billion kroner ($785 million). National police head Thorkild Fogde said “it should happen as soon as possible.”

Denmark’s minister for food, Mogens Jensen, said 207 farms were now infected, up from 41 last month, and the disease has spread to all of the western peninsula of Jutland. Last month, Denmark started culling millions of minks in the north of the country. The government has promised to compensate farmers.

The country has registered 50,530 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 729 deaths. A total of 207 out of the 1,139 fur farms in Denmark has been infected with COVID-19, which prompted the announcement. Millions of mink will be killed as a result.

Animal welfare group Humane Society International applauded the prime minister for taking “such an essential and science-based step to protect Danish citizens,” and said it hoped that losing so many mink to the coronavirus causes fur farms to get out of the business.

“Although the death of millions of mink — whether culled for COVID-19 or killed for fur — is an animal welfare tragedy, fur farmers will now have a clear opportunity to pivot away from this cruel and dying industry and choose a more humane and sustainable livelihood instead,” Humane Society International-Europe spokesperson Joanna Swabe said.

Humanitarian ship takes 27 migrants from Danish tanker

September 11, 2020

MILAN (AP) — Twenty-seven migrants who have grown increasingly distressed aboard a Danish tanker since being rescued at sea more than a month ago have been transferred to a humanitarian rescue ship, a nongovernmental organization said Friday.

Mediterranea Saving Humans immediately appealed to Malta to offer a safe port, after taking the migrants on board its ship Mare Jonio. The migrants have been caught in a standoff since being rescued by the Danish-flagged chemical tanker from a flimsy fishing boat just before it sank in the central Mediterranean on Aug. 5. Neither Italy nor Malta has offered a safe port to disembark.

The 185-meter-long (610-foot) tanker, the Maersk Etienne, had sounded an alarm that food and fresh water were running low, amid a worsening situation with three migrants having jumped overboard and the threat of a hunger strike.

“Our medical team found them in serious psycho-physical conditions that make it impossible for them to stay on the petrol tanker," Mediterranea Saving Humans tweeted. The Maltese government has said that that the rescue occurred in Tunisia’s search and rescue area.

Despite Malta’s insistence, Mediterranea Saving Humans said Friday that Malta was responsible for the search and rescue area where the migrants were picked up on Aug. 5. It has requested that Malta authorities “disembark these people in urgent need of treatment.” Most are from northern Africa, and they include a pregnant woman and a child.

While the fate of the migrants remained unclear, the shipping company Maersk Tankers said a statement that the Etienne would head to a “suitable port” to debrief the crew “and ensure they too get the care they need.”

“We are relieved and grateful. The rescued persons can now finally get the medical care they need and our crew can continue their voyage safely,” said Tommy Thomassen, chief technical officer of Maersk Tankers. “While we are appreciative of the support from Mediterranea in helping us to bring a closure to this unprecedented situation, we are at the same time deeply concerned that it has not been possible to find a solution to the situation before now.”

Rights activists say Danes unaware of racism in their nation

July 02, 2020

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Rights activists on Thursday accused Danish officials of being unable to recognize racism after authorities said the killing of a biracial man by two white men was not racially motivated.

“In Denmark, white people are colorblind. They cannot see that racism exists. That is embarrassing,”said Jette Moeller, head of the Danish chapter of SOS-Racism, an international association. “Of course, racism exists (in Denmark). We know that. It has been documented for years,” said Mira Chandhok Skadegaard, an assistant professor at Aalborg University in northern Denmark.

A biracial man was killed last month on a Danish Baltic Sea island. The Danish police, prosecutor, a defense lawyer and a white friend of the victim all say a personal relationship that went wrong between the victim and the perpetrators was the reason for the slaying, not racism.

The 28-year-old victim, who had Danish and African roots, was found on the island of Bornholm on June 23. Two white brothers in their 20s whom the victim reportedly knew have been detained until July 22 on suspicion of murder. None have been named by authorities.

Speculation that the killing could be racially motivated began after it emerged that the victim's death bore some similarities to that of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes even as Floyd pleaded for air. Floyd’s death has sparked protests around the world demanding racial justice and condemning police brutality.

The Danish chapter of Black Lives Matter wrote on Facebook that “two brothers committed a racial murder on Bornholm” and posted a photo of a swastika tattoo, claiming it was on one suspect’s leg. “Let a judge decide” whether the slaying was racially motivated, Moeller told The Associated Press in an interview. “But it should be investigated as a racially motivated crime. Knowing those who killed him doesn’t rule out it could include some racial elements.”

Activists like Moeller see a pattern of denial in Denmark, which they attribute to rising anti-immigrant attitudes in the Nordic country. She also points out that Denmark's freedom of expression should not be used to denigrate people, and the miss-use of that right has previously brought the Scandinavian country of 10 million into the crosshairs of Muslims around the world.

“Racism is about the effect it has on other people ... One cannot use the liberty of expression as an excuse to taunt others, like Rasmus Paludan does by burning copies of the Quran,” she said. For months, Paludan, a far-right provocateur, has been touring the country and tossing copies of the Islamic holy book in the air before burning them before immigrants. This has sometimes led to brief confrontations between onlookers and police who have been protecting Paludan.

Last month, Paludan was convicted of racism, among other things, with a court ruling that “his statements were derogatory and degrading toward a population group.” He was given a three-month prison sentence, of which two were suspended, and his licence to practice law was suspended in part for three years. He has appealed the sentence.

In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons showing the Prophet Muhammad. This caused wide outrage among Muslims, who generally hold that any depiction of Muhammad is blasphemous and prompted often violent protests in Muslim countries. The newspaper — one of Denmark’s largest — said it had wanted to test whether cartoonists would apply self-censorship when asked to portray Muhammad. No Danish laws were violated with the cartoons’ publication.

It was the same daily that in January published a cartoon with the Chinese flag with what resembles viruses instead of the normal stars, sparking China's anger. In both cases, the Danish right to freedom of speech was invoked.

In 2017, a 16-year-old Afghan boy was set on fire by four schoolmates but race was ruled out as factor. The four teenagers were found guilty of gross violence and the Afghan boy survived with burns on his legs and chest.

A 2018 report by the European Union pointed out that hate crimes in Denmark had quadrupled over 11 years, from 35 reported cases in 2007 to 140 cases in 2016. In Europe, “Denmark belongs to the tough group,” Moeller told the AP. “I believe that we’re on the right track as we start to discuss it, address it.”

She noted that a racial justice demonstration in Copenhagen on June 7 drew at least 15,000 people. Chandhok Skadegaard, who has been studying discrimination for decades, said Danes “are far behind when it comes to recognizing racism in our society. Sweden is several steps ahead of Denmark ... as is Norway, and Finland and England.”

“People tend to not report discrimination, because they find it is not acknowledged or taken seriously by the authorities,” she said. In 2016, Denmark made international headlines when a law was passed requiring asylum-seekers to hand over valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner ($1,500), to help cover housing and food costs while their cases were being processed. Although the center-right government behind the move said it was in line with rules for unemployed Danes seeking benefits, critics denounced the law as inhumane.

Still, the law has not been changed under Denmark's present Social Democratic government.

US opens consulate in Greenland capital

Copenhagen (AFP)
June 10, 2020

The United States has opened a consulate in Greenland's capital Nuuk, the US embassy in Copenhagen said Wednesday, nearly a year after Denmark rejected President Donald Trump's interest in buying its vast Arctic territory.

"The consulate is another positive sign of the strong collaboration between the U.S. government and the Greenlandic and Danish governments," said US ambassador Carla Sands.

Washington received the green light from Copenhagen to set up the consulate last December.

At the end of April, Greenland said it had accepted an offer of $12.1 million in US funds for mining, tourism and education in the massive and coveted territory.

Greenland has its own parliament, but foreign relations are run by Copenhagen and the economy relies heavily on Danish subsidies.

Rich in natural resources, including oil, gas, gold, diamonds, uranium and zinc, and with the prospect of new maritime routes as a result of global warming, Greenland has attracted attention from the United States, China and Russia.

In August 2019, Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland, an autonomous territory under Denmark. Both Greenland and Denmark rejected his interest.

The last US consulate in Nuuk closed down in 1953.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/US_opens_consulate_in_Greenland_capital_999.html.

Social Democrats appear headed back into power in Denmark

June 06, 2019

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Social Democrats emerged as Denmark's biggest party in elections Wednesday, with preliminary results indicating gains for left-leaning parties and a big loss for populists.

If confirmed in final returns, the outcome pointed to the Social Democrats returning to power after four years as the country's leading opposition party. The Social Democrats got about 25.9% of the votes after a campaign in which party leaders vowed a tough stance against immigration.

Mette Frederiksen, the party's leader, said late Wednesday that the Social Democrats will try to govern as a minority rather than form a governing coalition with smaller parties. It will seek support from the right on some issues, such as immigration, and from the left on other matters, such as social welfare, she said.

Although Frederiksen won't try to form a coalition, other left-leaning parties that increased their vote shares will likely support her effort to form a government to avoid the center-right from getting a chance. The Social Democrats and other left-of-center parties appear headed to having one more vote than a majority in the 179-seat parliament, the Folketing.

With nearly 100 percent of the votes counted, the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen showed a slight gain from four years ago. But the populist Danish People's Party, which often voted with the center-right Liberals, was hit with a big drop in support, meaning Loekke Rasmussen can no longer muster a majority in parliament.

The Danish People's Party's performance was a contrast to some other European countries, where far-right populists have been on the rise. The party was the second-largest party in the outgoing parliament, but its vote share plunged to about 9% Wednesday, compared to 21.1% in 2015.

Loekke Rasmussen conceded defeat and would resign Thursday. "You have chosen that Denmark should have a new majority, that Denmark should take a new direction," Frederiksen said told a jubilant crowd at parliament. "And you have chosen that Denmark should have a new government."

At age 41, Frederiksen could become Denmark's youngest-ever prime minister. "The election campaign is now over. It's time to find solutions," she said. Many Danish People's Party voters have drifted to the Social Democrats, mainly because of it readopting tough views on immigration. The party advocated restricting immigrants in the 1980s and 1990s but softened its position later while in a coalition with left-wing parties.

Its lawmakers voted for several laws introduced by Loekke Rasmussen's government to tighten immigration. "This is really, really bad," People's Party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl said of his loss at the polls, but he said the party would not change its politics.

The Hardliner Course party didn't cross the 2% threshold needed to enter Parliament. The New Right, another openly anti-Muslim group that also fielded candidates for the first time, will be in the legislature after getting 2.4% of the votes.

This story has been corrected to show that the name of leader of the Danish People's Party is spelled Kristian Thulesen Dahl.

A look at the main candidates in Denmark's election

June 04, 2019

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A look at the main candidates in Wednesday's elections for Denmark's 179-seat parliament.

LARS LOEKKE RASMUSSEN

Loekke Rasmussen has been in power since 2015. He presently heads a minority center-right government with his Liberal Party, the center-right Liberal Alliance and the Conservative Party.

A member of parliament since 1994, the avid cyclist and jogger also was prime minister from 2009-2011, and earlier was interior and health, and finance minister.

Described as a skilled negotiator, Loekke Rasmussen, 55, has been at the heart of several scandals about using party funds for personal use.

His government has tightened Denmark's immigration laws several times, bowing to pressure from the populist, anti-immigration Danish People's Party, which isn't part of the government but supports it with the needed seats to muster a majority.

METTE FREDERIKSEN

Frederiksen, 41, took over Denmark's largest party, the Social Democrats, in 2015 after Helle Thorning-Schmidt lost to Loekke Rasmussen.

A member of Denmark's Folketing, or parliament, since 2001, she comes from a working-class background. Frederiksen was minister for employment and justice in the Social Democratic-led governments of Thorning-Schmidt.

Frederiksen has insisted on forming a one-party government if her party can garner a majority. She started the election campaign with a 16-percentage point lead ahead of Loekke Rasmussen.

KRISTIAN THULESEN DAHL

He became Danish People's Party leader in 2012 after its founder and leader Pia Kjaersgaard voluntarily stepped down.

A member of parliament since 1994, the 49-year-old Thulesen Dahl has in recent years changed his image to become folksier. He has managed to position his party and its 37 seats in parliament by supporting the center-right government in exchange for tightening Denmark's immigration laws.

Thulesen Dahl has said his party shouldn't be in government because it has greater influence by being outside. Polls also have shown people who traditionally voted for the Danish People's Party are drifting to other parties, mainly to the Social Democrats.

PERNILLE VERMUND

Vermund, a 43-year-old architect, founded in 2015 the conservative New Right, which has an anti-immigration and euroskeptic agenda.

The party has been promising a stricter immigration policy in a challenge to the Danish People's Party.

The New Right wants asylum only given to those with "a job in hand," an end to spontaneous asylum, calls for random border controls and wants to limit Danish citizenship to people who "contribute positively" to society.

Vermund has said her party is "ready to withdraw Denmark from the EU and seek a looser connection if a satisfactory agreement for Denmark cannot be achieved."

RASMUS PALUDAN

The 37-year-old lawyer came first to public attention when burning Islam's holy book, the Quran. He did it across the country, often in neighborhoods with a large immigrant population under heavy police protection. Paludan said it was done to support free speech.

The burning of the Quran sometimes sparked violent clashes with counterdemonstrators. Police eventually issued bans, citing Paludan's own safety.

In a video posted on Dec. 19 on the YouTube channel of his party which he founded in 2017, Paludan said: "The enemy is Islam and Muslims ... The best thing, however, is if there are no Muslims left on our dear Earth."

In April, a Copenhagen suburban court found Paludan guilty of racism for comments directed at the spokeswoman of an ethnic group and was given a 14-day conditional jail sentence which he has appealed.

Three years earlier, he was convicted of insulting a police officer and told the court that he sustained a head injury in a 2005 accident after which "he found it very difficult to tolerate other people's mistakes without being very frustrated."

In 2013, he got a five-year restraining order for harassing a fellow student and, as a lawyer, he has been defending cases where asylum-seekers had their applications rejected.

A look at what is at stake in Denmark's general election

June 04, 2019

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark is holding a general election Wednesday and unlike in other European countries, far-right populists don't seem to be on the rise here. The center-left Danish Social Democrats, in fact, may be making a comeback after four years in opposition.

While far-right parties are making gains across Europe after the 2015 refugee crisis, Denmark's largest party has elbowed itself back thanks to taking a tougher line on immigration. At the same time, Danish populists seem to have lost support.

A look at what is at stake in Wednesday's elections to renew Denmark's 179-seat Folketing, or parliament, at the end of its four-year term.

THE MAIN CONTENDERS

The Social Democrats, the main party in the so-called red bloc, and four other center-left parties face a center-right blue bloc that is losing steam. The latter is splintered into eight parties of which three are newcomers, including two openly anti-Muslim groups.

Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen's three-party coalition isn't campaigning together, and none wants to rely on support from the anti-immigration newcomers. At the same time, the populist Danish People's Party that has been supporting the minority government sees shrinking support in polls.

Denmark's 4.2 million voters can pick from 13 parties. The red bloc could get up to 55% of the vote, according to polls.

THE KEY ISSUES

Immigration, climate and environment along with welfare, where there have been cuts in recent years.

LIKELY OUTCOMES

Whatever the result is, it likely will end with a minority government.

The Social Democrats want to form a one-party government headed by its leader, Mette Frederiksen, and will seek support on the right when it comes to immigration issues and on the left for matters like social welfare, said Nicolai Wammen, the party's No. 2 official.

"There is a limit as to how many people we can take in and preserve (Denmark's) welfare state," Wammen said.

Many Danish People's Party voters have drifted to the Social Democrats, mainly because of its stricter stance on immigration policy. It's a position they already had in the 1980s and 1990s, but which they later watered down in a coalition with left-wing parties. They also have voted for several of the center-right government's tightening of immigration laws.

The 2015 migration crisis, in which mostly Muslim asylum-seekers sought shelter in European countries, was "an eye-opener" for the Social Democrats, said Kasper Moeller Hansen, a political analyst with Copenhagen University, to explain why the party has shifted back to a firm line. He added it "triggered a change in their view on immigration."

THE CENTER RIGHT

Loekke Rasmussen is heading a coalition with his Liberal Party, the smaller center-right Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives. But it depends on the Danish People's Party to muster a 91-seat majority in parliament. They have been pressing for tightening Denmark's immigration laws several times.

Laws range from a ban on garments covering the face, including Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa to require newly arrived asylum-seekers to hand over valuables such as jewelry and gold to help pay for their stays or requiring anyone who becomes a Danish citizen to shake hands at the naturalization ceremony.

Last year, Denmark made international headlines when it was decided to send rejected asylum-seekers or those with a criminal record awaiting expulsion to an island that once housed a defunct laboratory for contagious animal diseases.

Wammen said if they win, they have no plans to reverse any of the laws on immigration.

THE POPULISTS

In last month's European Parliament elections, populists and anti-immigration parties made significant gains across the continent.

That trend didn't happen in Denmark where the Danish People's Party suffered a major blow when losing three of its four seats in the 751-seat European assembly.

Voters have turned away from the party because of fraud scandals involving European Parliament funds, domestic backpedaling but also criticism that it is no longer a protest party and doesn't give enough attention to climate change and environmental protection.

In 2015, the party had its best-ever result in a national election when the euroskeptics grabbed more than 21% to become the second-largest party in the Scandinavian country of 5.8 million.

This time around, the party could see its support cut in half, according to polls.

THE NEW FAR-RIGHT

In recent months, Hardliner Course and New Right have been challenging the Danish People's Party, claiming its immigration line is too soft.

Hardliner Course leader Rasmus Paludan has burned Islam's holy book, the Quran, sometimes in public and under heavy police protection.

The 37-year-old lawyer has said in online videos that "the best thing is if there are no Muslims left on our dear Earth."

"Only massive returns of Muslims can solve the problems that Denmark faces," a party flier said.

More moderate is Pernille Vermund, 43, who founded the conservative, pro-business New Right in 2017 which calls for a stop to spontaneous asylum, limit Danish citizenship to people who "contribute positively" to society and calls for Denmark to leave the European Union which the Scandinavian country joined in 1973.

These parties, plus the third newcomer, headed by fraud-convicted businessman Klaus Riskjaer Pedersen, hover around the 2% threshold to win parliamentary seats.

6 killed, 16 injured in Danish bridge train accident

January 02, 2019

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A passenger train on a bridge linking central Denmark's islands hit an "unknown object" early Wednesday, killing six people and injuring 16 others, Danish police said. The rail operator, Danish Railways, earlier told Denmark's TV2 that the victims were passengers on a train going from the city of Odense, on the central Danish island of Fyn, to Copenhagen when the accident took place about 8 a.m. local time.

Danish media reported that a tarpaulin on a freight train hit the passenger train, which was going in the opposite direction, prompting it to brake violently. Police spokesman Arne Gram said the passenger train "hit an unknown object," but did not further comment.

Photos from the scene show the freight train was carrying crates of beer, and the tarpaulin that covered the train was torn in pieces. Kasper Elbjoern, spokesman for Danish brewery group Carlsberg, confirmed that a freight train transporting its cargo was involved in the accident.

Jesper Nielsen, who was on the passenger train, told Denmark's TV2 the train "was out on the bridge when there was a huge 'bang' .... very quickly thereafter, the train braked." The Storebaelt bridge is part of a system of bridges and a tunnel linking the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen.

Flemming Jensen, the CEO of state-owned Danish Railways, said police and the Danish Accident Investigation Board are investigating the damages. He said the operator "will contribute everything that we can to the investigations."

In a statement, police urged passengers to contact next of kin to inform them of their safety and urged people not to share photos and videos of the accident. The accident took place on a road-and-rail bridge, part of a transport system consisting of a road suspension bridge and a railway tunnel.

The transport system was closed to cars overnight because of strong winds but trains could pass. Road traffic resumed Wednesday with a 50 kph (31 mph) speed limit.

Danish prince visits ailing father after leaving Olympics

February 10, 2018

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik has returned from the Winter Olympics in South Korea to visit his ailing father at a Copenhagen hospital. The royal household said Saturday that Frederik, the heir to Denmark's throne, was joined by his mother, Queen Margrethe, and his wife during the visit late Friday.

The queen's French-born husband, 83-year-old Prince Henrik, was hospitalized with a lung infection on Jan. 28. Last year, the palace announced Henrik was suffering from dementia. The palace said Friday that Frederik, an International Olympic Committee member, left the Winter Games in Pyeongchang because his father's condition had "seriously worsened."

Wolves return to Denmark for first time in 200 years

Stockholm (AFP)
May 4, 2017

At least five wolves, including one female, have returned to Denmark for the first time in two centuries, a zoologist who has obtained DNA evidence said on Thursday.

The predators came from Germany to settle in western Denmark's agricultural region, the least densely populated in the Scandinavian country.

Peter Sunde, scientist at the University of Aarhus, told AFP the wolves must have walked more than 500 kilometers (310 miles).

"We think these are young wolves rejected by their families who are looking for new hunting grounds," the researcher added.

Scientists have established a genetic profile from the faeces of five wolves -- four males and one female -- but there could be more.

Sunde said researchers had suspected since 2012 that wolves had entered Denmark. "Now we have evidence (including) that there's one female," signalling the possibility of giving birth this spring, he said.

Proof was also established through the wolves' fingerprints and video surveillance showed their location, which scientists refuse to reveal out of fear that it will attract hunters.

"We're following that. The wolf is an animal we're not allowed to hunt so we must protect it," Henrik Hagen Olesen, spokesman at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, told AFP.

Exterminated by hunters, wolves had been completely extinct in Denmark since the beginning of the nineteenth century.

In other Nordic countries with a higher wolf population, culling the species, protected by the Bern Convention, is under a fierce debate between inhabitants, farmers, hunters, the government, the European Union and wildlife activists.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Wolves_return_to_Denmark_for_first_time_in_200_years_999.html.

Denmark urged to clean up US military waste in Greenland

November 26, 2016

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Greenland is calling on Denmark to clean up an abandoned under-ice missile project and other U.S. military installations left to rust in the pristine landscape after the Cold War.

The 1951 deal under which NATO member Denmark allowed the U.S. to build 33 bases and radar stations in the former Danish province doesn't specify who's responsible for any cleanup. Tired of waiting, Greenland's local leaders are now urging Denmark to remove the junk that the Americans left behind, including Camp Century, a never-completed launch site for nuclear missiles under the surface of the massive ice cap.

"Unless Denmark has entered other agreements with the United States about Camp Century, the responsibility for investigation and cleanup lies with Denmark alone," said Vittus Qujaukitsoq, Greenland's minister in charge of foreign affairs.

Camp Century was built in 1959-60 in northwestern Greenland, officially to test sub-ice construction techniques. The real plan was top secret: creating a hidden launch site for ballistic missiles that could reach the Soviet Union.

The project was abandoned in 1966 because the ice cap began to crush the camp. The U.S. removed a portable nuclear reactor that had supplied heat and electricity, but left an estimated 200,000 liters of diesel oil and sewage, according to an international study published in August.

Scientists are warning that as global warming melts the ice cap, the waste could surface and pollute the environment. In an Oct. 24 letter to Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen, obtained by The Associated Press, Qujaukitsoq asked about Denmark's plans for Camp Century, adding that an international study said the waste includes "radioactivity, oil and PCB pollution."

PCBs stands for polychlorinated biphenyls, a man-made chemical once widely used in paints, plastics and other products, but were banned after they were demonstrated to cause cancer and other ailments.

At a meeting on Nov. 17 in Nuuk, the Greenland capital, to discuss the issue, Jensen said Denmark's Environment Ministry was investigating the environmental risks. "I hope it can be done as quickly as possible," he told a news conference, declining to give any specifics.

Jensen later told The Associated Press in an email that "it is still too early to say who will be involved in a possible cleanup." The U.S. military was interested in Greenland during the Cold War due to its strategic location in the Arctic. Under the 1951 agreement, the U.S. also built four radar stations as part of an early warning system to detect incoming Soviet bombers.

The U.S. Air Force still uses the Thule Air Base, about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) below the North Pole. Military airfields in Narsarsuaq, Kulusuk and Kangerlussuaq have become civilian airports. Several other military installations have been abandoned, some in remote areas, in the hope they would be entombed forever in the thick ice cap that covers most of the vast island.

Local authorities have started clearing some of the sites, but don't have sufficient resources, said Rasmus Eisted of Danish engineering company Ramboll, which has been involved in some cleanup projects.

Eisted singled out a junkyard in Kangerlussuaq containing miscellaneous military equipment from the time it was a U.S. Air Force Base known as Sondrestrom. The continuing cleanup task was larger than first anticipated, he said.

Aleqa Hammond, a former Greenland premier who now represents the mostly Inuit population of the Arctic island in the Danish Parliament, said Greenland could bring Denmark before a U.N. panel on indigenous issues unless it deals with the junk.

"Denmark is responsible for cleaning up after the Americans," Hammond told AP. "I see a potential political crisis between Greenland and Denmark."

Prominent activist freed in Bahrain leaves for Denmark

June 11, 2016

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A prominent activist in Bahrain said early Saturday she left the tiny island kingdom after recently being freed from prison, the latest protester to go into exile five years after its Arab Spring demonstrations.

Zainab al-Khawaja is the daughter of well-known activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who himself is serving a life sentence over his role in the protests that saw the island's Shiite majority and others demand more political freedom from its Sunni rulers.

In a series of messages on Twitter, al-Khawaja said she had left the country. Her family confirmed she left with two children to Denmark, where she also has citizenship. The "regime that thinks exile means moving us away from our land should know, we carry (hashtag)Bahrain in our hearts wherever we go," she wrote.

Al-Khawaja was detained March 14 and faced three years in prison on charges related to her participation in anti-government protests, including tearing up pictures of Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. She was in prison with her infant son, Abdulhadi, prior to her release.

Al-Khawaja said Bahrain was preparing to file new charges against her that would have made her detention "indefinite." Bahrain's government and its state-run news agency did not immediately comment on al-Khawaja leaving the country.

Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, crushed the 2011 protests after several weeks with the help of troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the time since, the island has faced low-level unrest, protests and attacks on police.

Other prominent opposition figures and human-rights activists remain imprisoned. Some have had their citizenship stripped by the government and been deported.

Nordic countries in annual contest to claim real Santa

December 23, 2015

HELSINKI (AP) — Most kids learn that Santa Claus comes from the North Pole, but children in Scandinavia are taught he lives a bit further south. Where exactly is a matter of much debate, with businesses in Finland, Sweden and Norway competing to cash in on the cachet that comes with claiming Santa's hometown.

Finnish children know his home to be in the mythological Korvatunturi (Ear mountain) in the northern wilderness of the Finnish part of Lapland while Swedes say he hails from the small town of Mora. Norwegians claim he was born hundreds of years ago under a stone in Drobak on the Oslo fjord.

Danes, who enjoy milder and mostly snowless winters, teach their children that Santa's home is on the distant Arctic island of Greenland, a sparsely populated semiautonomous Danish territory. In the battle to beat their Scandinavian neighbors, Finland's public broadcaster YLE every year sends out a video of a red-cloaked Santa leaving his log cabin on a sleigh drawn by a white reindeer in the frozen snowy landscape that reaches millions of viewers worldwide. A regular feature for the past 30 years, it was first broadcast in 1960.

The biggest town in Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi, has been dubbed the official hometown of Santa Claus and depends on the myth for a large part of its yearly tourism turnover of some 210 million euros ($230 million). Situated just south of the Arctic Circle, it attracts more than 300,000 visitors annually — five times the town's population.

"Santa Claus is a very important and known person globally ... and that's a good basis for us to build up this kind of business," Mayor Esko Lotvonen said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The origins of Santa Claus — widely known elsewhere in Europe also as St. Nicholas — are shrouded in the mists of mythology, but the benevolent figure is believed to be based on St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century Greek Christian bishop who lived in a province of the Byzantine Empire that now is Turkey.

Danes, Swedes and Norwegians base their Santa on a mythological figure — a gnome known as a "tomte" or "nisse" in the Scandinavian languages — whereas Finns, who are ethnically and linguistically a different people, know Santa as "joulupukki," a Christmas buck or goat, derived from old pagan Norse mythology.

In the Nordic region, Santa doesn't clamber down chimneys but visits homes on Dec. 24, meeting the children, or if he's too busy leaving behind a bag or basket of presents. Mora in central Sweden has claimed itself as Santa's home since 1984, with some 50,000 visiting Santaworld annually.

Nicklas Lind, director of Santaworld, which includes Santa's house, a troll safari, moose park and restaurants, says the town, known for its knives and an annual 90-kilometer cross-country skiing race, welcomes the extra money brought in by Santa but was unable to give figures.

"It's very important for the region and the town, for hotels and skiing," he said. "We get some millions; that's all I can say." The message that Santa's home is somewhere in the Nordic region has spread far and wide. Santaworld's post office has received 400,000 letters this year addressed to Santa, his post office in Rovaniemi claims more than 500,000 letters with 100,000 more expected before the year-end.

The Norwegian Santa in Drobak is too busy to talk as Christmas approaches. Instead, his cousin Tom picks up the phone but doesn't want to discuss business. "It's time for Christmas cheer not for competition, but we can't be angry if our good colleagues in Sweden, Finland and Greenland think otherwise," he says. "All Norwegian children know the real Santa lives here."

A group of schoolboys enjoying their Christmas break at a shopping mall in Helsinki are just as confident Santa is from Finland. Six-year-old Matias, who doesn't want to give his family name, looks puzzled when asked the question, before blurting out: "He lives in Korvatunturi (Ear mountain), of course."

"And he's coming to see us again, he did last year," Matias says.

Associated Press reporter James Brooks contributed to this report from Rovaniemi.

PM: Danish vote shows 'considerable skepticism'

December 04, 2015

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The fact that 53 percent of Danish voters decided in a referendum to continue a decades-old opt-out from justice affairs in the European Union shows there is "considerable skepticism about the European project," Denmark's pro-EU prime minister said Friday.

Lars Loekke Rasmussen called the vote, which means Denmark can no longer be directly involved with the police organization Europol, "a slap in the face." He wrote on Facebook that Denmark should join the agenda of British Prime Minister David Cameron on future ties with the EU, which both countries joined in 1973.

Britain plans a referendum by the end of 2017 to decide whether it will leave the 28-nation bloc. Cameron wants to stay in — provided he can secure the changes he wants, including giving member states more autonomy, such as the power to restrict benefits for EU immigrants coming to Britain.

Loekke Rasmussen's vision for "a new balance" is "a strong Europe that really can make a positive difference (and) a slimmer EU, where countries can solve problems in their own way more meaningfully."

Gilles De Kerchove, the EU counter-terrorism coordinator who works closely with the bloc's agencies involved in the fight against extremists, including Europol, said the Danish referendum was "a very strong expression of some hesitation on the extent to which Europe can provide security."

"It's sad for me because Europe needs Denmark," De Kerchove told reporters. "When you see the added value of the (security) tools we are developing ... you need to be on board." Next Friday, Loekke Rasmussen meets with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels to start talks on reaching so-called parallel agreements that would allow Danes to continue cooperation with Europol, among others.

"We want to continue in Europol," said Soeren Espersen of the EU-skeptic, anti-immigration Danish People's Party. Denmark's second-largest party wants changes to the passport-free Schengen travel zone that recently came under pressure following the surge in migrant numbers in Europe. "We must have this fundamental discussion now."

Last week, the bloc changed the role of the European police agency, including banning opt-outs from EU justice policies for full members. Loekke Rasmussen's center-right government had argued that ending the 1992 opt-out would give Danes more say, while opponents said Danes would lose even more sovereignty to Brussels.

Turnout in Thursday's referendum was 72 percent.

Associated Press reporter Lorne Cook in Brussels, Belgium, contributed to this report.

Danish referendum takes step away from EU, including Europol

December 03, 2015

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danes voted Thursday to keep a 23-year-old opt-out from justice affairs, hence taking a step away from closer ties with the European Union, meaning it temporarily would end ties with Europol, even as the European law-enforcement agency is preparing to increase its role in fighting terrorism.

Projections on Denmark's two main television stations based on nearly all votes counted showed 53 percent wanted to keep the 1992 opt-out. "Danes are saying yes to cooperation but no to relinquishing more sovereignty to Brussels," said Kristian Thulesen-Dahl, head of the EU-skeptic, anti-immigration Danish People's Party. "What a fantastic evening," said Thulesen-Dahl, one of the "no" sides most prominent figures.

Pro-EU Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said he now would have talks with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker aimed at reaching so-called parallel agreements that would allow Denmark to continue cooperation with Europol, among others.

During the two-week campaign, both sides have called for somehow being part of Europol — either directly, as the government suggested, or through parallel agreements, as the "no" side called for. The latter means Danes find themselves on the sidelines of the EU-wide police agency with no say in decision-making, like non-EU neighbors Norway and Iceland.

"It is a considerable 'no' which bothers me," said Loekke Rasmussen who heads a one-party center-right government, adding he has "full respect for the Danes' choice." Last week, the 28-member bloc changed the role of the European police agency, including banning opt-outs from EU justice policies for full members.

The pro-EU center-right government had argued that ending the opt-out would give Danes more say within the bloc, while opponents claim the opposite would happen — Danes will lose even more sovereignty to Brussels.

If Thursday's referendum results in continuing the opt-out, Henning Soerensen, a lecturer in lecturer in EU law at the University of Southern Denmark, fears a new agreement to rejoin Europol "could take years."

Danes "won't (then) have immediate access to Europol registers on foreign fighters in Syria, criminal motorbike gangs, etc.," he said. "Basically, it's a matter of what relation Denmark wants with the EU — inside or outside."

The vote comes three weeks after the deadly Paris attacks, reviving fears in the small Scandinavian country where officials say they have thwarted several terrorist attacks since the 2005 publishing of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that caused fiery protests in Muslim countries. In February, a gunman killed two people and wounded five in attacks on a free-speech event and Copenhagen's main synagogue.

The government had said that whichever way the vote goes it won't affect the country's immigration policy. Unlike neighbors Germany and Sweden, Denmark has not seen a recent surge in migrant numbers, chiefly because of its asylum rules, considered among the strictest in Europe.

Turnout was around 72 percent, the DR and TV2 channels said.

Soyuz with Russian, Dane, Kazakh docks at space station

September 04, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new crew docked at the International Space Station on Friday after a safe but unusually long two-day flight.

The arrival of Russia's Sergei Volkov, Denmark's Andreas Mogensen and Kazakhstan's Aidyn Aimbetov brings the number of astronauts on the orbiting space outpost to nine for the first time since November 2013.

Mogensen, the first Dane in space, got a message from his mother shortly after he arrived. "I am really looking to have you back on Earth again," Lisa Bjerregaard said during a video link from Baikonur, the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan where the spacecraft was launched Wednesday with relatives in attendance. "Don't forget to call me when you land."

Mogensen answered: "Yeah, yeah, I promise." The exchange was shown live on television in Denmark. Mogensen and Aimbetov will return to Earth on Sept. 12 along with Russian Gennady Padalka, the current station commander. Command will then be passed to NASA's Scott Kelly, who along with Mikhail Kornienko of Russia is spending a full year on the station to study the effects of long space travel in preparation for a possible future trip to Mars.

Russian Mission Control said the Soyuz docked on time at 10:42 a.m. Moscow time (0742 GMT) Friday, about 51 hours after blasting off from Baikonur, the launch complex operated by Russia. For the past two years, the space station crews have taken a more direct, six-hour flight to the station. This time, however, the Russian Federal Space Agency decided to revert to the traditional route, citing security concerns after the International Space Station had to adjust its orbit to dodge space junk.

Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.

Exit poll: Danish governing bloc, opposition neck-and-neck

June 18, 2015

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's governing coalition and the center-right opposition were in dead heat Thursday in Denmark's parliamentary election, according to an exit poll by broadcaster TV2.

The poll results gave the opposition 88 seats, and 87 for parties supporting the center-left government. That would still leave the race open because it doesn't count the four seats from the semi-autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.

The poll was based on about 6,000 interviews and had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points. Kasper Jensen of polling institute Megafon sounded a note of caution, saying the exit poll wasn't a final result.

It's "only an indication of what a representative group of people had voted," Jensen said. Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats and opposition leader Lars Loekke Rasmussen's Liberals depend on other parties to build a majority in the 179-seat Folketing, or Parliament. The campaigns focused on immigration and welfare spending, among other issues.

In addition to the 175 seats decided by voters in Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland get two seats each. If the vote is close, those four seats could swing a result in favor of either Thorning-Schmidt or Loekke Rasmussen. Currently, the government bloc has three of the four seats. Polling stations in the Faeroes close at 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT) while those in Greenland shut down three hours later.

Both Thorning-Schmidt and Loekke Rasmussen have promised to further tighten Denmark's controls on immigration. Loekke Rasmussen, a former prime minister, needs support from the populist Danish People's Party, which wants to reintroduce border controls against neighboring countries. That's a controversial among many in the European Union who feel it would challenge the idea of a borderless Europe. But Loekke Rasmussen appeared to endorse the proposal as he cast his vote in Copenhagen.

"I want an open Denmark, but I also want a Denmark that is efficiently shut for people who don't want our country," Loekke Rasmussen told reporters. Thorning-Schmidt voted not too far away, accompanied by her husband, Stephen Kinnock, who was elected to Britain's Parliament for the Labour Party in Aberavon last month. He wasn't voting.

Thorning-Schmidt, a prime minister since 2011, emphasized Denmark's economic growth in recent years. "That road we have steered Denmark onto, where we have a grip on the economy, where there is money for the welfare, if that is the way you want to take, then you must vote for the Social Democrats," she said.

Thorning-Schmidt has pledged to raise welfare spending by 39 billion kroner ($5.7 billion), while the opposition says that improvements can be achieved without expanding the public sector. Candidates were campaigning until the very end, handing out leaflets, flowers, balloons and sweets to voters on the streets and squares of the Scandinavian country of 5.6 million. According to pollsters, up to 20 percent of Danish voters had not made up their minds before the election.