Jeppe Kofod, the Danish foreign minister, has said that “some of the money” to rebuild Ukraine must come from Denmark’s development aid funds, reports Jyllands-Posten.
The potential allocation of additional development money for reconstruction in Ukraine has drawn criticism from parties such as the Unity List, which says it will do so at the expense of helping other nations affected by conflict.
“It will hit the world’s poorest too hard”
The UN encourages richer countries to spend 0.7 percent of their gross national income on development aid, and Denmark is one of the few countries that achieves that goal. This year, however, the country has taken $ 2 billion from its development aid funds to provide temporary accommodation for Ukrainians fleeing the war.
Christian Juhl, development spokesman for the Unity List, has said that it may be a step too far to use the same funds to fund reconstruction efforts in Ukraine.
“I’m somewhat shocked,” Juhl said Jyllands-Posten. “If we have to spend more money on reconstruction, it will hit the world’s poorest way too hard.”
“We have other money that we can spend”
Juhl has expressed his support for providing further assistance to Ukraine, including reconstruction, but he believes that the money should come from funds set aside by the national compromise on Danish security policy – the March agreement focused on strengthening Danish defense preparedness.
“I definitely think we need to help with the reconstruction, but we have other money that we can spend, so I definitely think we need to do that,” Juhl said.
Funds allocated to the Ukrainian embassy in Denmark
This month, the Danish government has set aside DKK 5 million to support the Ukrainian embassy in Copenhagen. The decision comes after the parties behind the national compromise on Danish security policy – an agreement reached on March 6 by the Social Democrats, Left, Socialist People’s Party, Radicals and Conservatives – have allocated 110 million kroner for the strengthening of Danish diplomacy.
Danish-Swedish collaboration on new Øresund connections
Sweden will, together with the Danish government, examine three proposals to create a greater connection across the Sound. The proposals include a road and railway connection between Helsingborg and Helsingør, a metro line connecting Copenhagen and Malmö, and Europasporet – a tunnel between Copenhagen and Landskron for freight, long-distance and regional trains. The study will focus on how the interconnections will affect the settlement of goods and traffic, as well as on how to ensure transport options in the event that the Øresund Bridge is affected by construction.
Promotion of green energy and health technology in the Netherlands
Last week, the Danish Crown Prince and Crown Princess visited the Netherlands to promote Danish-Dutch cooperation in the areas of green energy conversion and digitalisation of the health care system. The delegation also included Magnus Heunicke, the Danish Minister of Health, as well as 29 Danish companies with expertise in renewable energy and health technology. The delegation met with the Dutch royal couple and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and held events in four cities to present Danish solutions to climate and health challenges.
Nielsen replaces Jensen as special representative of the UN
Holger K Nielsen, who was Minister of Taxation from 2012 to 2013 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2014, has been appointed the new special representative who will lead the Danish campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council. Nielsen takes up the position on 1 August. He replaces Kristian Jensen, who resigned from the post in April. Denmark was most recently a member of the UN Security Council in 2006, and Nielsen will aim to secure the country’s membership 2025-26.
German man drowns in West Jutland
On June 19, a German citizen died after a drowning accident off the coast of West Jutland. According to police, the 65-year-old man was separated from his two swimming buddies, who then sounded the alarm. The Navy Operational Command, along with local rescue services and police, was quickly on the scene. Managed to find and revive the man, but he died later that night.
Danish pensions invest in polluting mines
Danish pension companies have invested in Chinese battery companies with connections to a polluting nickel mine in Indonesia, reports Danwatch. A total of DKK 11 million has been invested in the Chinese companies GEM and CATL, which have extracted nickel from a mine whose activities may have led to respiratory infections and drinking water pollution in a nearby village, findings from The Guardian. The Danish companies, AP Pension and Lærernes Pension, have told Danwatch that they themselves are investigating the case to determine whether their investment policies have been violated.
Estonian and Georgian officials visit Denmark
Two foreign visits were made to the Folketing this month – both on 14 June. Estonian President Alar Karis met for the first time with Henrik Dam, Speaker of the Folketing, and MPs Karen Ellemann and Trine Torp to discuss the war in Ukraine, among others. topics. Later, Shalva Papuashvili, the president of the Georgian parliament, met with Dam and others to discuss the war as well as Georgia’s democratic reforms.
Danish children suffer in detention centers in Syria
Danish doctors have visited al-Roj prison camp – a Kurdish-controlled detention center for IS members in northern Syria – to examine five Danish children living there, and said at least three of the children should be evacuated with their mothers. However, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has offered to evacuate the children without their mothers, because they are no longer Danish citizens. In October, 14 children and their mothers were evacuated from the camp. The mothers, who all had Danish citizenship, were arrested when they arrived in Denmark.
Denmark is criticized for failing to provide migrants with basic services
The Council of Europe’s Racism Commission has published a report criticizing Denmark’s treatment of undocumented migrants. According to the report, migrants must have access to “basic services”, regardless of whether they have legal residence in Denmark. This applies to education, employment and healthcare, including psychiatric healthcare. However, the report argues that migrants in Denmark are prevented from seeking access to these services due to fear of deportation. The Danish government has responded by saying that only migrants who legally live in Denmark have full access to basic services.
Source: The Nordic Page