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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday

Royal family to get more money, libertarian party changes tax policy, inflation edges upwards and more news from Denmark on Thursday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday
The Danish royal family is to get more money from the state. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix

Government to give royal family additional 17 million kroner 

The government says the royal family should receive more state funding and will table a proposal for an additional 17 million kroner, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.

The additional money would take state spending on the royal family from 126 million to 143 million kroner annually.

“We have a king and queen and a royal family to be proud of and who represent us in a superb manner. That’s how things should stay and we want to provide the basis for this,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in the statement.

Costs for the royal family include upkeep of palaces and other royal property as well as security.

Vocabulary: på fineste vis – in a superb manner

Liberal Alliance fleshes out policy on ‘top tax’ 

The Libertarian party Liberal Alliance (LA), whose campaign platform heavily features opposition to the highest tax bracket topskat or ‘top tax’, says it wants to halve the tax paid in the bracket after the next general election.

Previously, LA has maintained that top-end tax should be scrapped entirely.

READ ALSO: ‘Topskat’: What is Denmark’s high income tax bracket?

The party’s tax spokesperson Ole Birk Olesen stressed that LA’s long-term goal remains to completely repeal topskat.

“I think we have now become such a large and important party that we owe the public firm answers on what we want to do in the next four years. We are thereby saying that in the four years after an upcoming election, we would enact half of what we would previously have spent 13 years on,” he told newswire Ritzau.

Polling suggests a potential strong showing for LA in the next election, although one is not due to be held until 2026.

Vocabulary: at skylde – to owe

Inflation edges up as clothing and electricity prices rise

Inflation remains low in Denmark at 0.9 percent in March compared to March 2023, but edged upwards by 0.1 percent month-on-month, the latest figures from Statistics Denmark show.

The price of clothes and electricity were the primary factors in the marginal inflation.

“This increase in inflation does not set alarm bells ringing. The bigger picture shows that inflation in Denmark has come under control and it also seems that inflation is coming under control in the eurozone,” Sydbank’s senior economist Mathias Dollerup Sproegel told Ritzau.

Vocabulary: beskeden – modest

Denmark could copy Swedish model to make trains and buses cheaper

Longer journeys on public transport should be made cheaper, while shorter journeys should cost more, regional authorities in Denmark say.

Danske Regioner, the national body for regional administrations (Regioner) whose remit includes regional public transport, said in a press statement on Wednesday that a new model is favoured which would see fares adjusted in favour of longer trips.

This would be done by introducing a new fare scale inspired by a model used in southern Swedish region Skåne, the head of the Regions’ committee for development Anders G. Christensen said.

Skåne’s public transport system uses three fare zones, which compares with the approximately 100 zones used across the Øresund in the Greater Copenhagen region alone.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Leading Social Democrat interrupts May Day speech to address protesters, King and Queen to take late summer tour on royal yacht, defence minister says no ban on buying Israeli air defence, and other news from Denmark on Thursday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Top Social Democrat breaks off May Day speech to address protesters 

A leading Social Democrat minister, Peter Hummelgaard, was forced to interrupt his May 1st speech at the Fælledparken park in Copenhagen, as he was being drowned out by the booing and shouting from pro-Palestine demonstrators. 

“I don’t know if everyone out there can hear it, but there are some individuals who have come forward to drown out my speech,” he said, before addressing the protesters.

“I understand that you are upset. I understand the frustration. A ceasefire and, in the longer term, a peaceful two-state solution is needed. You have a right to be here with your opinion. But I do too,” he said. 

“I do not believe that this should destroy the democratic debate in Denmark. We all have to agree that Jews in Denmark must be able to live safely and securely,” he said.

It is somewhat unusual for the May 1st Social Democrat speech in Fælledparken to be given by a minister, as the speech is normally given by the party chair, or if the party is in power, by the prime minister.

Danish vocabulary: en våbenhvile – a ceasefire

Danish Royal Couple to visit, Assens, Veijle and Bornholm on summer cruise 

Denmark’s Royal Court has announced in a press release that King Frederik X and Queen Mary will take a late-summer cruise on their royal ship the Dannebrog, visiting the islands of Bornholm and Ærø, and the town of Assens on Funen. The cruise will take place between August 19th and August 22nd. 

In Assens, the mayor, Søren Steen Andersen, said he was looking forward to the visit, which coincides with the city’s 500th anniversary.

“We are looking forward to a visit from the Royal Couple. It will be a fantastic day when we will have the opportunity to show some of the many places, projects and development initiatives we are proud of,” he said. 

Danish vocabulary: Dannebrogstogter – Dannebrog cruises

Defence Minister says new defence deal allows purchase of Israeli air defence 

A new sub agreement under Denmark’s cross-party defense deal does not forbid Denmark from buying a new air defense system from Israel, the country’s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen, who is calling for a “completely open discussion” over the system, told Ritzau.

“We have not said that we cannot acquire it from Israel. There is nothing about that in the agreement. Nor is it the case that we have said that it must be Israeli,” Lund Poulsen said.

He points out that under the sub agreement the funds allocated for the system had been increased from 19 billion to between 19 billion and 25 billion kroner. 

The leader of the Socialist Left party, Pia Olsen Dyhr, has said that the wording of the agreement makes it “quite difficult” to buy an Israeli system, noting that it stipulates that “Nato interoperability must be taken into account”. 

Danish vocabulary: at udelukke – to exclude  

Denmark’s justice minister seeks to extend police powers to encrypted chats

Denmark’s justice minister has asked the country’s Criminal Justice Committee to investigate whether police powers legally allow them to crack encrypted digital chat such as WhatsApp. 

Peter Hummelgaard wrote in a press release that it was “absolutely crucial that the police get the necessary tools to investigate and solve crime”.

“I am pleased that a number of the country’s most competent forces will now assess whether the law gives the police the necessary powers to search, intercept and seize [chats] when the investigation takes place digitally and on new communication platforms,” he said. 

Danish vocabulary: krypterede – encrypted 

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