Authorities raid Copenhagen convenience stores, shipyard reportedly serviced Russian gas transports, left wing party sets out demand for PM and more news from Denmark this Wednesday.
Raids by authorities have found a considerable amount of drugs and weapons in convenience stores, known in Danish as kiosks.
The raids were targeted against 24 specific kiosks and took place at the end of November, the Tax Ministry has revealed in a statement.
The shops were located throughout central areas of Copenhagen including in Vesterbro, Nørrebro, Østerbro, Amager, Frederiksberg, Nordvest and in the historical city centre.
In one particular kiosk in Vesterbro, authorities turned up a knuckleduster, a knife, a baton, a pepper spray and several hammers, as well as nearly 190 grams of illegal drugs including almost 220 millilitres of liquid GHB.
“This proves that we must continue to respond particularly strongly against these kiosks which are not satisfied with just selling soft drinks, chewing gum and cigarettes. And that’s what we’re doing,” Tax Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen said in the statement.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says she cannot understand why a Danish shipyard has serviced Russian gas tankers during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine must stop.
The shipyard, based on Funen, has serviced nine Russian gas ships since February 2022, the Financial TImes exposed in a report on Tuesday.
Frederiksen claimed to be surprised by the story, which was also reported in the Danish media in September last year.
“First and foremost, I simply can’t understand it if this is true. I mean, I find it unbelievable that a Danish shipyard is contributing to Russia’s war in Europe, and they will just have to stop it,” she told media in Finland, where she is attending a meeting for Nato members in the Baltic Sea region.
“What is obvious is that the authorities will have to take a look at this,” she added.
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The leftist party Red Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) says it will only support Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen as the candidate for Prime Minister in next year’s election if she pledges to form a government with parties on the left.
The current government led by Frederiksen is a cross-aisle centrist coalition.
“The way the pieces of the puzzle are now, we in Red Green Alliance cannot, for the first time ever, back Mette Frederiksen, the Social Democratic leader, as the lead negotiator [to form a government, ed.] after an election,” the party’s lead political spokesperson Pelle Dragsted told newspaper Politiken.
Dragsted also said to broadcaster DR that he would only back a leader that “wants a left wing government that will pursue left wing politics.”
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Danish language schools offer ‘inconsistent’ quality and outcomes in adult lessons, a report produced by two government ministries concluded.
The government panel made several recommendations to improve the existing system under which foreign nationals are taught Danish.
The review group was tasked with looking at models for optimal structure and organisation of the language courses in future.
It concluded that the existing structure can lack coherence and better transition between the various options available to attendees.
It also states that there is a high level of complexity within the system because of the broad demographic it caters to, with a wide range of needs and educational backgrounds.