Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup has prepared a new bill for consultation, which will implement a new multi-year agreement for the criminal justice system – which was concluded in December 2021 – will give Denmark the opportunity to send deportation convicts to serve their sentences in Kosovo.
The new agreement proposes to set aside around DKK 4 billion for the period 2022-2025.
Not enough officers or seats
This historic increase should help the criminal justice system recover, as there are currently too few prison guards and too few places. It is expected that the prison service in 2025 will lack up to 1,000 places.
The new bill will make it possible to send about 300 deportees to serve their sentences in Kosovo. It would therefore free up prison places in Denmark.
Coincidentally, 300 is also the number of pages in the bill that Hækkerup explained will “ensure the legal basis for sending criminals who have been sentenced to deportation and who are unwanted and have no future in Denmark to serve their sentences in Kosovo”.
Human rights are respected
The agreement with Kosovo is historic, but it is also a legal breakthrough for Denmark. “With a future agreement, we must ensure that the conditions in the prison in Kosovo basically correspond to a prison in Denmark,” Hækkerup continued.
“We therefore propose a number of changes to the legislation to ensure the conditions, rights and duties of prisoners during their imprisonment.”
Denmark’s international obligations will be respected in prison, and health legislation will be amended to ensure the treatment of prisoners in Kosovo. At the same time, rules will be established in areas under the control of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration to ensure that prisoners can, as far as possible, be sent directly from Kosovo to their countries of origin.
What else is in the draft??
The draft also includes a change in the sentencing for Covid-19-related crimes – which is expected to reduce the prison population by approximately 250 prison places by 2025.
Other dispositions are a new disciplinary punishment system, a new model for criminal costs, a new release model and salaries for prison officers in training.
The draft law has now been sent out for consultation and is expected to be submitted before the end of April.
Danish companies have blood on their hands
Mykhailo Vydoinyk, the Ukrainian ambassador, claims that Danish companies have blood on their hands, even though many of them have stopped all business relations in Russia and with Russian entities. Vydoinyk encourages all Danish companies to leave Russia. Those who remain, he argues, must take responsibility for some of the victims – especially among children. Both Minister of Trade and Industry Simon Kollerup and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod have said that they are proud of Danish companies’ efforts to distance themselves.
Development Minister sends aid to Ukrainian refugees in Moldova
A new donation of DKK 25 million has taken the total Danish humanitarian aid to take care of Ukrainian refugees up to DKK 305 million. The money is handed over by Development Minister Flemming Møller Mortensen to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The fund will be used to help refugees in Moldova – one of the poorest countries in Europe – where 259,000 of the 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees fled. Most of them have since traveled to other countries, but an estimated 82,000 have remained.
Foreign tourists return
Tourists have seriously started returning to Denmark after a two-year stay due to the pandemic. Of the 785,000 registered overnight stays in January, 174,000 were booked by tourists – three times as many in January last year, but still well below the same month in 2020.
Vaccines on the way to Ukrainian refugees (but not corona this time)
Following a prayer from Poland through the EU’s civil protection mechanism, Denmark is donating MMR vaccines and DiTE vaccines to Ukrainian refugees in the country. The Statens Serum Institut currently has 40,000 MMR vaccines and 93,000 DiTE vaccines that can be donated immediately without compromising Danish emergency preparedness. The vaccines protect against measles, mumps and rubella, as well as against diphtheria and tetanus. The cost of the donation will be covered within the framework of 50 million kroner approved by the government for the donation of medicine and medical equipment to Ukraine and affected neighboring countries.
The Prime Minister visits NATO Headquarters in Poland
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was in Poland on March 10, before heading to France for an informal EU summit. Her visit to NATO’s Multinational Corps North-East (MNC-NE) headquarters in Szczecin included a meeting with Danes deployed there. The Paris Summit will focus on the current situation in Ukraine and the security and economic consequences. “Europe stands together to help Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. At the same time, we must actively contribute to security in Europe and our neighborhood, and I look forward to meeting the Danish soldiers who help every day to ensure a strong and robust deterrent against Russia in our neighborhood. ”
Two Swedes charged with murder in Vesterbro
Two Swedish men have been arrested in the case of a murder in Vesterbro on 4 February. A third man – a Dane – has been detained in Sweden, but refuses to be extradited to Denmark. They are suspected of having shot a 36-year-old man – also a Swedish citizen. Copenhagen Police has therefore requested the Dane’s extradition. Police spokesman Lars-Ole Karlsen said the killing was believed to be gang-related. All three suspects are part of the gang scene in Malmö, while the murdered man was linked to the Copenhagen gang scene. The inaugural hearing took place last Wednesday.
52-year-old Briton has stolen 320 million from the Danish state
A third British citizen has been charged with fraud by the Danish treasury – this time for an amount of 320 million kroner. In total, fraudsters used a stock dividend refund scheme to defraud the Treasury of $ 12.7 billion. The alarm bell rang in 2015. ‘Third man’ has links to a company called Salgado Capital, which was used to withdraw large sums from the Danish treasury between 2012 and 2015.
Municipalities with permission to house displaced Ukrainians
The government will allow municipalities to help Ukrainians with accommodation and food until the expected special law on accommodation enters into force – most likely Thursday this week. A broad majority in the Folketing supported the bill. It should enable Ukrainian refugees to quickly obtain a residence permit so that they can get work and education. The municipalities will be compensated with the bill of up to 500 kroner per person per day.
Prime Minister fears the use of chemical weapons in war in Ukraine
Prime Minister Frederiksen has warned that Russia’s use of chemical weapons will be a violation of international treaties. “There is a risk. No one can give guarantees as to how it will end and where it will end. “We know that Putin has access to weapons that we in the West believe are totally unacceptable to use on humans,” she said. Russia has previously been accused of using chemical weapons in assassination attempts: Most recently on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018 in Salisbury, and then on opposition politician Alexei Navalny in 2020. Last week, the International Criminal Court in The Hague opened an official investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine.
Danish soldiers have traveled to the NATO mission in Estonia
For the fifth time, Denmark and the Danish defense have sent troops to the NATO mission ‘Enhanced Forward Presence’ in Estonia. More than 100 soldiers from the Jutland Dragon Regiment traveled from Karup to Tapa in Estonia. The soldiers will be part of NATO’s advanced presence in the east for the next six months. Here they will be part of a British battalion battle group under an Estonian brigade. This emphasizes that NATO is united and stands behind its Baltic allies. At the end of the half-year, the troops will be replaced by another Danish contribution – most likely in August.
Denmark supports peace and stabilization efforts in Syria and Iraq
Denmark will contribute to inclusive peace and stability and reduce displacement and violent extremism in Syria and Iraq. The government will therefore support the efforts in the countries – with DKK 596.5 million over the next four years – as part of the regional peace and stabilization program. In Syria, the Danish effort must help to promote a sustainable, negotiated end to the conflict, fight impunity and support basic infrastructure and other stabilization efforts in areas beyond the regime’s control. In Iraq, the program will focus on promoting security and stability – through demining and security sector reform.
Donated fire trucks on their way to Poland
Four privately owned fire trucks have been donated to Ukraine. On 11 March, Danske Beredskab transported the vehicles to an EU warehouse in Poland. From there, the Ukrainian authorities will arrange transportation into Ukraine. All four fire trucks are fully functional and donated by the company RK Brand & Teknik. The fire trucks include water tanks that can hold 2,500 liters of water for ordinary firefighting.