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MINKS

Denmark issues ban on ministers and officials from deleting texts

The Ministry of Justice has published new temporary rules for storage of text messages at ministries following controversy by an official inquiry.

Denmark issues ban on ministers and officials from deleting texts
Danish ministers and officials will now be required to keep a record of work related texts. Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald on Unsplash

The recently-published report by the Mink Commission, appointed to scrutinise the government’s 2020 decision to cull fur farm mink – later found to have been made without legal basis – criticised officials for deleting SMS messages that would have provided important context in the inquiry.

During the inquiry, the commission found that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and several other officials had their mobile telephones set to automatically delete texts. That resulted in the commission being unable to see them.

The justice ministry has now set out new interim rules for storage of SMS communications, it said in a statement.

READ ALSO: What did Danish mink inquiry conclude and what happens next?

The new rules and guidelines are intended to ensure that ministries keep records of work-related text messages on devices used by ministers, special advisors and heads of department.

The texts must also be retained if officials switch to a new device or leave their positions.

Interim rules have been put in place because of “the timescale for clarification of the technical options for central and user-independent storage of SMS messages”, which will eventually be put in place to “ensure uniform practice”, the ministry said.

A uniform process for storing texts sent in an official capacity “takes time to develop”, Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye said in the statement.

“We don’t have the solution [in place] today. That’s why it’s good that we now have temporary guidelines that we can use for now,” he said.

The Mink Commission last week published a 4,500-page report in which it found fault with Frederiksen, who, it said, made “grossly misleading” statements about the legal basis of the mink cull at a November 2020 press conference. 

It was not the duty of the commission to make a legal assessment of whether Frederiksen or other ministers and officials acted intentionally or recklessly.

Potential consequences for Frederiksen could have resulted in an independent legal assessment of the scandal, which could in turn have led to the appointment of a special impeachment court, a rare occurrence in Danish politics but used as recently as last year.

This does not now appear to be on the cards after the centre-left Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) party said it did not back an independent legal assessment, meaning this move would not have the parliamentary majority it would need to go ahead.

The Social Liberals have, however, threatened to forward a motion of no confidence in the government if Frederiksen does not call a snap general election by October 4th.

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POLITICS

Danish government loses majority as MP defects to right-wing party

Member of parliament Mads Fuglede on Tuesday announced a switch from the Liberal (Venstre) party to the national conservative Denmark Democrats, leaving the coalition government without a clear majority to pass domestic policy.

Danish government loses majority as MP defects to right-wing party

Fuglede’s decision to switch parties means that the coalition government currently does not have a majority to guarantee it can pass domestic policy.

The now ex-Liberal MP announced in a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday that he was switching to the Denmark Democrats, a party further to the right led by another former Liberal politician, the former immigration minister Inger Støjberg.

Fuglede said that he was against the centre-right Liberal party’s involvement in the coalition government alongside its traditional rivals the Social Democrats.

He also said that he was against the proposed tax on agricultural CO2 emissions, which is backed by the Liberals, a historically pro-agriculture party, as part of the coalition. The Denmark Democrats have been the most vocal opponents of the proposed CO2 tax.

“I was very much against participation in the government and many of the decisions that arose from it. I totally disagree with the latest decision to impose a CO2 tax on agriculture. And that decision will hit harder in West Jutland than anywhere else, which is why I am switching to the Denmark Democrats,” he wrote in the post, referencing the regional constituency which elected him to parliament in 2019.

Fuglede, a former Liberal defence spokesperson, has been considered one of the party’s more right-leaning MPs, notably on refugee policy. His new party leader, Støjberg, made her name as an immigration hardliner when she was a Liberal minister.

When the Liberals were in opposition in 2022, Fuglede spoke in favour of British nationals in Denmark whose ongoing residency rights were under threat as a result of administrative problems in relation to post-Brexit registrations.

The leader of the Liberal party and Deputy Prime Minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said he did not believe Fuglede’s defection put the government under existential threat.

“I think we now need some ice in our veins. First and foremost, we have the backing – in the event of a vote of no confidence – from the North Atlantic mandates,” he said in comments to newswire Ritzau.

The North Atlantic mandates are the four parliamentary seats filled by representatives elected in Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Each of the four representatives are aligned with coalition parties but they do not generally vote on Danish domestic issues.

Another member of parliament, Kim Edberg, a former member of the far-right Nye Borgerlige, also announced on Tuesday that he had joined the Denmark Democrats. The party’s number of lawmakers thereby increased from 14 to 16.

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