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Hundreds gather in Copenhagen to protest Denmark’s Covid-19 laws

Crowds assembled in central Copenhagen on Saturday to protest against a controversial virus law and Denmark's plan to create so-called "corona passports".

Published: 28 March 2021 13:11 CEST
Hundreds gather in Copenhagen to protest Denmark's Covid-19 laws
Demonstrators protest against Covid-related laws and the 'Corona passport'. Photo: Ritzau

Marching through the streets, the group of mostly younger people lit fireworks during a march which an AFP correspondent at the scene described as “mostly peaceful”.

Police told the Ekstrabladet newspaper that some 600 people had gathered and one person was arrested for throwing firecrackers towards police officers.

Organised by Danish anti-restriction group “Men in Black,” the main issue for the protesters was a new provision to the penal code that calls for a doubled sentence for a crime that “has a background in or is connected to the Covid-19 epidemic”.

The first severe application of that law happened in mid-March, when a Danish court convicted a 30-year-old woman for statements and actions that contributed to a “gross disturbance of public order as well as the use of violence against police,” at a January protest – organised by the same group.

Men In Black demonstrators in central Copenhagen on Saturday shouted “Freedom for Denmark”. (foto: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix 2021).

Her one-year prison sentence was converted to two years. The Saturday march stopped outside the prison where she is being held, with cries of “Free Nanna” outside the building which was heavily guarded by police vans.

The demonstrators, most dressed all in black, shouted “Freedom for Denmark” and “Mette Ciao” – a reference to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – as they made their way to a square in front of Copenhagen’s city hall.

In addition to the doubling of sentences the protesters also object to the creation of “corona passports”, a smartphone app which will be used to certify that someone has received a Covid-19 vaccine, tested negative within the last 72 hours or has recently recovered from Covid-19, conferring immunity to the disease.

READ ALSO: Denmark to further ramp up Covid-19 testing capacity amid reopening plan

Denmark’s government has said the “corona passports” are a crucial part of the country’s plan to reopen, but critics argue they will create a division in society.

The Scandinavian country has been under a partial lockdown since late December. Primary schools reopened in February and secondary school students are due to return to classrooms in early April.

Most shops were allowed to reopen earlier this month. However some businesses, including hairdressers, bars and restaurants, remain closed.

READ ALSO: Denmark extends current restrictions and travel bans until April 20th

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TRAVEL NEWS

Where Malmö plans to place its first three Copenhagen Metro stops

Politicians in the Swedish city of Malmö have decided where the first three stops will be if a new Öresund Metro is built, linking the city to the Danish capital - and they are planning on using the earth excavated to build a whole new city district.

Published: 24 April 2024 15:56 CEST
Updated: 27 April 2024 15:06 CEST
Where Malmö plans to place its first three Copenhagen Metro stops

Malmö and Copenhagen have been pushing for an Öresund Metro linking the two cities since at least 2011, but so far neither the Swedish government nor the Danish one have committed to stumping up their share of the roughly 30 billion Danish kroner (47 billion Swedish kronor, €4 billion) required.

Malmö hopes the Swedish government will take a decision on the project this autumn, and in preparation, the city’s planning board last Thursday took a decision on where the first three stops of the Öresund Metro should be placed.

They have selected Fullriggaren (currently a bus stop at the outermost tip of the city’s Västra Hamnen district), Stora Varvsgatan, in the centre of Västra Hamnen, and Malmö’s Central Station, as the locations of the first three stops, after which the idea is to extend the metro into the city. 

Stefana Hoti, the Green Party councillor who chairs the planning committee, said that the new Fehmarn Belt connection between the Danish island of Lolland and Germany, which is expected to come into use in 2029, will increase the number of freight trains travelling through Copenhagen into Sweden making it necessary to build a new route for passengers.

Part of the cost, she said, could come from tolls levied on car and rail traffic over the existing Öresund Bridge, which will soon no longer need to be used to pay off loans taken to build the bridge more than 20 years ago.  

“The bridge will be paid off in the near future. Then the tolls can be used to finance infrastructure that strengthens the entire country and creates space for more freight trains on the bridge,” Hoti told the Sydsvenskan newspaper.

According to planning documents given out by the city planning authorities, the stop at Fullrigagaren would be called Galeonen and would be roughly, the one at Stora Varvsgatan will be called Masttorget, and the third stop would be called Malmö Central.  

Source: Malmö Kommun

After Fullriggaren the next stop would be at Lergravsparken in the Amagerbro neighbourhood, which connects with the current M2 line, after which the there will be four new stops on the way to Copenhagen Central, including DR Byen on the current M1 line. 

The hope is that the Öresund Metro will reduce the journey time between Copenhagen Central and Malmö Central from 40 minutes to 25 minutes. 

Source: Oresunds Metro

But that’s not all. Excavating a tunnel between Malmö and Copenhagen will produce large amounts of earth, which the architect firm Arkitema has proposed should be used to extend Malmö’s Västra Hamnen district out into the sea, creating a new coastal district called Galeonen, meaning “The Galleon”, centred on the Fullriggaren Metro stop. 

This project is similar to the Lynetteholm project in Copenhagen, which will use earth excavated for the Copenhagen Metro extension to build a peninsular in front of Copenhagen Harbour, providing housing and protecting the city from rising sea levels. 

Rather than producing a sea wall to protect the new area from rising sea levels, Arkitema and its partner, the Danish engineering firm COWI, have proposed a new coastal wetland area. 

“Instead of building a wall, we extended the land out into the sea. Then a green area is formed which is allowed to flood, and over time it will become a valuable environment, partly as a green area for Malmö residents, partly because of the rich biodiversity that will be created there,” Johanna Wadhstorp, an architect for Arkitema based in Stockholm, told the Sydsvenskan newspaper. 
 
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