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MIDDLE EAST

Danish government resumes aid to Palestinian civilians

Denmark’s foreign development aid to Palestine, suspended on October 10th, is to be resumed.

Danish government resumes aid to Palestinian civilians
People participate in a pro-Palestinian rally in central Copenhagen on Sunday December 10, 2023.. (Foto: Emil Nicolai Helms/Ritzau Scanpix)

The decision was made after the Foreign Ministry found no evidence of misuse of funding or indirect support for militant organisation Hamas through its use, the Prime Minister’s office informed news wire Ritzau on Monday.

“I am pleased to announce that Denmark is now resuming foreign development aid to Palestine. That means payments will now be initiated,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a written comment.

The EU and other European countries have come to similar conclusions through their own processes, the ministry said.

Denmark’s regular development aid to Palestine was stopped on October 10th following the attack on Israel by Hamas. It later increased humanitarian aid for Gaza by an additional 50 million kroner.

The pause on development aid was put in place until the government was satisfied that no Danish money indirectly funds terror organisations involved in the attack on Israel, the government said when announcing the earlier decision.

That meant some 72 million kroner of payments were frozen. These have now been reinstated following Monday’s announcement.

Denmark does not send money directly to the Palestinian Authority. Instead, development aid goes to a number of civil organisations that operate in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.

On Sunday, both Copenhagen and Esbjerg saw major new demonstrations from thousands of people demanding an end to Israel’s military action in Gaza.

Broadcaster DR reported that “several thousand” took part in the Copenhagen demonstration, organised by the group ‘Stop Annekteringen af Palæstina’ (Stop the annexation of Palestine).

Several participants who spoke to the broadcaster condemned the war as a “genocide” and called for Denmark’s politicians to take more action in support of Palestinian civilians.

Member comments

  1. I’m very disappointed in this. Didn’t you learn a damn thing from WWII? Go along to get along.

    Don’t be surprised when Danmark is occupied again.

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MIDDLE EAST

Danish intelligence agency says terror threat affected by war in Gaza

The threat of terror has increased in Denmark primarily due to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, according to the Danish police intelligence agency PET.

Danish intelligence agency says terror threat affected by war in Gaza

The overall terror threat rating against Denmark remains at four out of five, however, PET said in a new threat assessment released on Thursday.

“Both Quran desecrations and the conflict in the Middle East have a derived significance for the threat situation in Denmark,” the head of PET’s Centre for Terror Analysis, Michael Hamann, said in a press statement.

PET therefore sees the terror threat against Denmark and Danish interests as intensified for at least the next year, the statement continues.

The Centre for Terror Analysis has long considered the level of terror threat to Denmark to be at a level of four out of five. This rating means that PET has identified the capacity, intention and planning of a potential attack against Denmark, but without any attack taking place.

A level five rating would mean both a specific threat and possible initiation of an attack.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has potential to radicalise, meaning it could have consequences related to the terror threat in Denmark, Hamann said.

“It’s important to stress that it naturally is completely legitimate to be engaged and have an opinion about the conflict as long as this is done in a legal way. The many civilian victims cause an emotional response for many people [in Denmark],” he said.

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