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Denmark’s prime minister promises ‘massive’ public surveillance intensification

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said her government wants to “massively” ramp up public surveillance.

Denmark’s prime minister promises 'massive' public surveillance intensification
Photo: Sofie Mathiassen/Ritzau Scanpix

Frederiksen made the comments in an interview with newspaper Berlingske as her government prepared to announce new public security proposals on Thursday.

A series of minor explosions in Copenhagen this summer, several of which have been linked to gang crime, are connected to the measure.

The government is to propose “significantly” more police surveillance in the form of 300 new security cameras, which law enforcement will be able to install at its own discretion.

That could mean a lot more cameras pointed at public buildings.

Under current law, public spaces which are freely accessible may not be monitored by cameras.

The PM said she wants that to change, enabling the police to “watch broadly and not just narrowly”.

Overall, the measure constitutes a major change in Denmark‘a approach to public surveillance, the prime minister admitted.

“We are now going very far with an expansion of surveillance, because it has proven to be a very useful resource,” she said to Berlingske.

Additional measures in the proposal include tougher punishments for possession of explosives, better protection of the border with Sweden and bolstered police investigations.

Police suspect individuals who travelled from Sweden of carrying out a bombing at the Tax Agency in Copenhagen in August.

Frederiksen noted that 13 explosions have occurred this year in Copenhagen, and that as many as 180 gang members were convicted of crimes in the first seven months of 2019.

“This is not going to just go away, and that’s why we need to take drastic steps,” she told Berlingske.

 READ ALSO: Police call for witnesses after latest Copenhagen explosion

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SECURITY

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules

A Swedish ban on Chinese telecoms company Huawei was confirmed in court on Tuesday, citing the country's security as a just reason for banning its equipment in a 5G rollout.

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules
Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The administrative court in Stockholm ruled that the decision of the Swedish telecoms authority, PTS, to ban the use of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in a new Swedish 5G telecom network last October — a move that irked Beijing — was legal.

Equipment already installed must also be removed by January 1st, 2025.

“Sweden’s security is an important reason and the administrative court has considered that it’s only the security police and the military that together have a full picture when it comes to the security situation and threats against Sweden,” judge Ulrika Melin said in a statement.

Huawei denounced the ruling, but did not say whether it would appeal.

“We are of course noting that there has been no evidence of any wrongdoings by Huawei which is being used as basis for this verdict, it is purely based on assumption,” Kenneth Fredriksen, the company’s vice-president for Central, Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, told AFP.

Huawei will now evaluate the decision and the “see what kind of actions we will take to protect our rights,” Fredriksen added.

After the UK in the summer of 2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban Huawei from almost all of the network infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Beijing had warned that PTS’ decision could have “consequences” for the Scandinavian country’s companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to worry about retaliation.

“We will continue to be available to have constructive dialogues with Swedish authorities to see if we can find pragmatic ways of taking care of security and at the same time keeping an open and fair market like Sweden has always been,” Fredriksen said.

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