After a year of war, Russian ammunition depots are running out of supplies, which is hardly surprising given the number of missiles, bombs, shells and rounds of bullets they have rained down on Ukraine.
No end to the conflict
However, the Ukrainians are also running out of firepower, no matter how much their friends supply.
The media may be awash with stories detailing the provision of all manner of artillery, tanks and fighter jets (not yet, but soon apparently), but as things stand, neither side seems to be gaining the upper hand that is necessary to end the war on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the negotiating table looks far away – about as far as Putin’s showpiece of a meeting table in the Kremlin.
It is feared that this war may end up being the most unnecessary, wasteful, protracted conflict in European history. The devastation in the eastern part of Ukraine already resembles one of the earthquake zones in Turkey and Syria. One can only hope.
But if one good thing has come out of all this, it is that the Ukrainian refugees in Denmark are doing well. We need their hands and they have won our hearts.
Protests don’t land
Daily life in Denmark has returned to normal, although the government has done its best to stir up anger over the abolition of the Great Prayer Day holiday.
Several hundred thousand had signed a petition demanding that it be left alone, and there had even been talk of a referendum. But the government has a majority in the Danish Parliament, and last week they used it to get the bill passed.
A demonstration outside parliament couldn’t stop them either, as trade unionists from all over the country arrived in buses festooned with red banners – although close to 5,000, not 50,000 as some media claimed!
A journalist asked many of them if they could tell the date of Great Prayer Day – and very few knew! Perhaps the time has passed for such actions.
Lots of optimism
The turmoil caused by energy prices, inflation in general and the increase in defense spending will in effect lead to generous labor deals that will restore household income in a year or two.
The learning point, however, is that an economic robustness has set in, as is evident from the way we drive: at lower speeds and increasingly in electric cars.
Coping with lower temperatures in our homes, another windfall in the fight against climate change and discount shopping are the only decisive challenges on the horizon. But even natural gas prices are returning to normal.
And on top of it all: it’s spring!
Source: The Nordic Page