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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Denmark slow to deliver tanks to Ukraine, Arctic patrol ships re-enter service, warm weather forecast for Easter and more news from Denmark on Monday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday
A Danish football fan during the men's national team's friendly match against Switzerland in Copenhagen on Saturday. The match ended 0-0. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark delivers 30 of 100 promised tanks to Ukraine 

Around a third of the Leopard-1 tanks which Denmark at the start of 2023 said it would give to Ukraine have so far been delivered, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported yesterday based on figures from the German defence ministry.

The Danish ministry did not provide any information other than to say that “many” of the tanks have been delivered, the newspaper writes.

The tanks were primarily older models owned by the Danish military and had been stored in Germany. They needed servicing and renovation before being sent to Ukraine, but technical problems have hindered the delivery schedule.

Vocabulary: kampvogn – tank

Easter could bring temperatures of up to 20 degrees

The school Easter holidays have already begun, and while the annual holiday falls relatively early this year – coming at the end of March rather than in April – the weather could be surprisingly warm.

Weather on Monday will be relatively cool interspersed by showers, but warmer weather could make a strong appearance by the weekend, meteorologist Martin Lindberg with national met office DMI told newswire Ritzau.

There will be “a short period with dry and stable weather in which it will be a bit warmer” around the Easter holiday weekend, Lindberg said.

Rainy weather with cold temperatures at night is expected to retreat by midweek, opening the way for some pleasant dry weather just in time for Maundy Thursday, which is a public holiday in Denmark.

Vocabulary: mestendels – mostly

Denmark’s Arctic patrol ships sailing again after technical problems

Two Danish Navy (Søværnet) patrol ships, which normally operate around Greenland, have had a sailing ban lifted after their backup engines were discovered on February 1st to be malfunctional.

The ships are the newest vessels in the Danish fleet and are designed to enforce Danish sovereignty year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland and the Faroe Islands. They can break ice of up to 80 centimetres in thickness.

The sailing bans were reportedly lifted on March 17th.

Vocabulary: at bryde is – to break ice

West Jutland train cancellations

A number of rail services in West Jutland have been affected by cancellations this morning, with the section between Esbjerg and Ribe particularly affected.

Up to 25 departures have been cancelled throughout the day, according to information on local operator Arriva’s website.

Broadcaster DR’s traffic service P4 Trafik Syddanmark said in a post on social media X that the cancellations are “due to equipment issues”.

Rail replacement buses are in operation on the affected routes but delays are likely.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

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

King Frederik X praises Norwegian TV series, Bornholm trialing lampposts as car chargers, today could be the first official day of summer, and other news from Denmark on Wednesday.

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

King Frederik X praises Norwegian TV series Skam on state visit 

Denmark’s King Frederik X has credited the Norwegian TV series Skam, meaning “Shame”, for bringing young peole from Denmark and Norway together, at a speech at the Norwegian Royal Palace in Oslo. 

“Norway is almost the Nordic champion in youth series, and today the majority of Danish youngsters know the meaning of tuller du? [“Are you kidding?”] and serr [“Seriously?”],” he said in the speech.

In Denmark, he continued, the series was so popular that it led to several Norwegian words and expressions working their way into the Danish language.

King Frederik and Queen Mary are on a state tour of Sweden and Norway.  

Danish vocabulary: betydningen – the meaning

Denmark trials using lampposts as car chargers 

The Danish Technical University is working with the municipality and muncipal power company on the island of Bornholm to trial using lampposts in the capital, Rønne, as chargers for electric vehicles. 

The lampposts have been shifted to LED bulbs, so use only a franction of the electrical capacity they were built with, freeing up capacity for the charger.

“We have set up a traditional charging stand in a lamppost, where electricity has already been connected. Because we now have LED fixtures, there is plenty of spare capacity. So you can easily charge an electric car overnight with the charging stand installed here,” said Claus Andersen, from the power company. 

The project has intalled chargers from the Spirii brand, which can charge up at up to 22 kwh.

“It’s a great idea to take a metal stand at the edge of the road which still has electricity in it and put a charger in it,” said Mads Aarup, at the Danish Society of Engineers. “It’s super good. It’s brilliant because it has dual use.” 

Danish vocabulary: genial – brilliant 

New Danish train signalling delayed by three years  

A new signalling system being rolled out across Denmark will not be completed until 2033, three years later than the 2030 target, with the rollout on the tracks between Copenhagen and Helsingör, and between Roskilde and Copenhagen particularly badly delayed, Denmark’s rail operator, Banedanmark, has said. 

This means rail travellers will have to wait even longer to have their routes “future-proofed”. 

The problems are connected to Alstom, which is responsible for the new signalling system, and which had wanted to delay project completion until 2031. 

“Alstom has taken good measures to reassure us, but we have not yet seen it implemented,” Peter Jonasson, from Banedanmark told the Ritzau newswire. “Therefore, we have become sceptical about the timetable and assessed that a buffer of another two years is needed.” 

He acknowledges that during the process there has been an opportunity to change supplier, but it is more complicated than that, it says.

Danish vocabulary: fremtidssikret – future-proofed

Denmark may get first summer day of the year

Today could mark the first day of summer, with the temperature passing 25C at at least one of the official measuring stations run by the Danish Meteorological Institute. 

On Tuesday, Denmark came within a tenth of a degree of meteorological summer when the measuring station in Stauning near Skjern reached 24.9C. 

DMI is predicting 20C by lunchtime in the western parts of Jutland, as well as on Funen, Zealand and the surrounding islands, with the temperatures then creeping up to between 21C and 23C across the West Coast, with temperatures of 24C to 25C close to the German border.

Danish vocabulary: en målestation – a measuring station 

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