Denmark part of French nuclear deterrence plan, few houses on market, Novo Nordisk to expland plant in Ireland and more news this Tuesday.
Denmark confirms role in French plan to expand nuclear arsenal
French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that France will expand its atomic arsenal and could deploy nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries for the first time, as he unveiled an unprecedented plan to bolster security on the continent.
Macron announced that eight European countries had agreed to participate in what he called a “forward” nuclear deterrence scheme.
“Today more than ever, independence cannot mean isolation,” Macron said in his 50-minute speech, with one of France’s four ballistic missile submarines in the background.
Macron said eight European countries had agreed to join his plan to use France’s nuclear stockpile to bolster security on the continent.
The countries — Germany, Poland, Sweden, Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and Denmark — will be able to temporarily host French “strategic air forces”, which will be able to “spread out across the European continent” to “complicate the calculations of our adversaries”, Macron said.
Nuclear weapons will not be placed on Danish territory as part of the agreement, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a press briefing in Copenhagen later yesterday.
“The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has invited Denmark and a number of other countries to engage in closer cooperation in this area. It is intended to strengthen Europe’s deterrence capability. Unfortunately, that is necessary,” Frederiksen said.
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Demand outstripping supply on housing market
The number of houses on the market is falling to a level not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, a trend which experts say could result in further price rises.
A market index produced by real estate analysts Boligsiden shows that the number of homes for sale is declining in all parts of Denmark with the exception of Bornholm.
Some 29,071 homes were for sale at the start of March, 171 fewer than at the beginning of February.
Supply of homes on the market has fallen by 2.4 percent over the last month and 14.3 percent over the last year. This places it at a four-year low, with only a short period during the pandemic producing a lower figure in recent times.
The relatively high number of buyers, related to high employment and wage increases, and low supply are likely to combine to produce an upward force on prices, analysts have noted.
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Novo Nordisk invests 432 million euros to make anti-obesity pills in Ireland
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which is expecting approval for the pill version of its anti-obesity treatment Wegovy in Europe this year, announced Monday that it will invest 432 million euros ($507 million) to expand its plant in Ireland.
“With the investment in the Athlone facility, Novo Nordisk is expanding its production capacities for oral products, which will strengthen our ability to meet both current and future demand, outside the US,” Kasper Bodker Mejlvang, Executive Vice President for Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and Product Supply at Novo Nordisk, said in a statement.
Semaglutide, marketed by Novo Nordisk under the name Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, is among the best-selling medicines in the world.
Until now, it has only been available as an injection, but a pill form of Wegovy has been authorized since early 2026 in the US.
The pill is awaiting approval in Europe, with Novo Nordisk expecting the process to be completed in the second half of the year.
Left takes narrow lead in early election poll
A poll shows that Denmark’s left-leaning ‘red bloc’ has slightly more overall support than the opposing, conservative ‘blue bloc’, with four weeks to go until the March 24th general election.
The poll is the first to have been completed since Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced the election last week.
In the poll, the group of parties which form the ‘red bloc’ of left wing and centre-left parties have a total of 48.7 percent of the vote, giving them 78 seats in parliament. The ‘blue bloc’ of parties on the right get 44.2 percent of the vote or 78 seats.
Neither side has an overall majority in the poll, however.
With reporting from AFP.