Hey there,
In 2022, I hereby promise to do the name of this little update justice: weekly!
The last few weeks have been a blur of Christmas, sickness (no Covid!), and the exhaustion of parenting very young children. Despite another Copenhagen-is-such-a-happy-place ranking, that’s not exactly how I’ve been feeling this wind-stricken, damp-to-the-core January.
Denmark is in the premier league in terms of omicron infections - though who really knows what that means when the WHO says 50% of Europeans could contract Covid in the coming months, no matter what.
The 7-day coronavirus incidence rate in the Copenhagen Municipality currently lies at 2,773 infections per 100,00 people - insanely high compared to previous waves. The vast majority of those cases are in people aged 20-39, though. Which explains, perhaps, why a mere 21 people are in intensive care in the capital.
It seems like the Danish government is saying: to hell with it, let’s face this stupid variant head-on. Yesterday (Wednesday), the Epidemic Commission recommended that cinemas, theatres and other culture venues up again (after being ordered to close December18) this coming Sunday. The rules will be tighter, though: masks throughout the show and a limit of 350 spectators per event. Restaurants and bars will continue to close at 11pm.
Denmark’s corrupt, too
I’m always a little surprised when I read about stuff like this happening. I still subscribe, perhaps foolishly, to the idea that Scandinavian countries are such trusting societies that everyone is basically an honest player. Okay, last summer a local businessman did tell me he had to hand over wads of cash to various city officials to get approval for his project fasttracked, but I assumed that was an exception to the rule.
Anyway, in Fredericksberg Court Thursday, state prosecutor Magnus Petersen charged four men with fraud for “vacuuming” large amounts of public money — 27 million kroner to be exact — from 10 kommuner. They allegedly set up various companies that claimed to provide interpretation services for deaf and hearing impaired people, with the aim to improve their chances on the job market. Yet the defendents reportedly received large sums for creating fictious jobs and vastly overbilled local authorities over four years. The prosecutor says the fraudsters spent the money on luxury travel and fancy dinners, and did nothing to improve the working conditions of deaf people.
Denmark’s sadistic refugee policies….
A new article in German magazine Der Spiegel paints a bleak picture of Denmark’s treatment of Syrian refugees. It’s in German and behind a paywall, but suggests that Denmark is intentionally making itself the least welcoming place to refugees in Europe. The government has declared large parts of Syria as safe. Syrians from these regions have been stripped of their residence permits, meaning they can no longer work. Formally, Denmark can’t deport Syrians because the government has no diplomatic ties to the Assad regime. And so they’re instead sent to deportation centres within Denmark to await their uncertain fate, although, amazingly, the government is in talks with Kosovo to get them sent to a prison there. Hundreds have fled to other European countries such as Germany - but often they are deported back to Denmark because under the EU’s Dublin rules, immigrants can only apply for asylum status in a single country.
The situation has not gone unnoticed in the European Parliament. MEPs are calling on the European Commission to hold Denmark to account for stripping Syrians of their residency permits. The EU Observer has the full story in English, which also points out that Denmark actually doesn’t give a shit about where refugees end up. Or as foreign and integration minister Mattias Tesfaye put it in an interview in November: “What matters is that they leave Denmark”. It’s incredible this guy calls himself a Social Democrat.
Mette Fredericksen and her party may have been able to attract votes away from the far right with western Europe’s harshest immigration policies, but the result is a further shattering of already shattered lives.
Meanwhile….
Hooray! The Danes will be celebrating Queen Margrethe II’s 50th jubilee tomorrow. Not really sure what Danes get out of their queen, other than that annual New Year’s speech, which appears to be a harmless unifying ritual. Admittedly, for a octogenarian royal, Margrethe is a pretty fun and quirky character. If you do happen to be a monarchy superfan, here’s a detailed article in English about the celebrations.
Horror flick: The Wicker Man
With movie theatres reopening Sunday, it’s time to take advantage of the fantastic Cinematheket in Gothersgade, which screens an ever-changing selection of Danish and international masterpieces. On Monday, they’re showing 1973 “folk horror” freakout classic The Wicker Man (trailer here) - in which a remote English village sucuumbs to blood-soaked paganism. Not everyone’s cup of tea but some have called it the “Citzen Kane of horror movies”. The info.