#DENMARK: Four Million Minks Buried After Virus To Be Dug Up

[world politics news] 

After slaughtering its entire mink population, Denmark will be digging millions of them up to prevent pollution, the Danish parliament voted on Sunday. 

The world’s top exporter of mink fur, Denmark culled more than 15 million of the mammals in November after government officials reported that they were carriers of a mutated strain of a virus. 

Four million mink that were not incinerated will be dug up after six months, after any chance of infection as passed but before they could affect groundwater. 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen came under fire for the decision to kill off the mink, which was made without the approval of Parliament. 

Some of them literally rose from their graves last month, elevated by the release of gas from decomposition, creating "zombie mink" stories in the media.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: Petition Seeks Automatic Citizenship After Ten Year Stay; But Signatures Are Challenged

[world politics news]

A citizen-led petition proposal to automatically grant foreigners with Danish citizenship after staying in the country for 10 years has exceeded 50,000 supporters.

Technically, that means the proposal is qualified to be put forward as a motion for resolution and then discussed and voted on in Parliament.

But, the collection of signatures has been challenged by the fact that only citizens with voting rights can support petitions. This means that the ones directly affected by the proposal are excluded from the signature collection process.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: New Citizens To Be Required To Shake Hands With Female Mayors (Including Muslim Citizens)

[world politics news]

New rules require people who have been awarded Danish citizenship to shake hands when they tak part in citizenship ceremonies. The rule, supported by the Conservative and Danish People's Party, as well as Social Democrats, is said to be squarely aimed at Muslims, many of whom don't shake hands, especially with women. Participants are also required to sign a document promising to respect Danish values.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: Pro-Environment "Alternative Party" Spokeswoman Labeled "Carbon Pig" And Hypocrite For Frequent International Flights

[world politics news]

The flying habits of members of Danish environmentalist party, "The Alternative," has come under fire by opposition parties. The Alternative positions itself as Denmark’s "greenest" party, even encouraging Danes to cut down on meat consumption and avoiding flying because of the carbon emissions of air travel.

But Alternative's political spokeswoman Carolina Magdalene Maier was the subject of scrutiny after the right-wing Free Speech Blog called her "parliament’s biggest carbon pig," and documented her many travels. The blog revealed she took 20 flights between November 2015 and October 2018 to 13 different countries.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: Development Minister Withholding Aid To Tanzania Over "Homophobic" Comments By Public Official

[world politics news]

Denmark is withholding US$9.8 million in aid to Tanzania after "unacceptable homophobic comments" from a senior politician, a minister says. Development Minister Ulla Tornaes did not name the official but said she was "very concerned" by the comments.

Last month, Paul Makonda, commissioner for the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, called on the public to report suspected gay men to the police. He said he would set up a surveillance squad to track down gay people. The government stressed at the time that Makonda was expressing his personal opinion, not government policy.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: Struggling To Integrate Refugees, Immigration Min. Rejects EU Migrant Quotas For 2018

[world politics news]

Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Støjberg has rejected EU migrant quotas for 2018, saying that migrants do not contribute enough to Denmark.

The Venstre party politician said that Denmark would not be opening the country’s borders to asylum seekers, saying: “Although we have gained significantly better control over the influx, we are still in the position that we are struggling to integrate the many refugees who have come to Denmark in recent years.”

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: Faroe Islands Considering Independence From Denmark

[world politics news]

Located more than 680 miles northwest of Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, the Faroe Islands have since 1948 had their own white, blue and red flag with an offset cross, their own language originating from the Viking's Old Norse and institutions and culture. With its breathtakingly green and high mountains covered by fog and inhabited by more sheep than people, the island territory is now weighing the idea of pushing its autonomy to full independence. The Faroese parliament voted to secede from Denmark in 1946, but the vote was not recognized by the Danish government.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: Condemned By Coalition Partners Over Immigration, Social Democrats Will "Go It Alone" In The Future

[world politics news]

Denmark’s Social Democrats will not seek to form a coalition government with long-time ally the Social Liberal Party in the event that the current opposition wins the next general election, says Social Democrat Party Leader Mette Frederiksen. The change breaks a 25-year agreement between the two parties to form coalitions together, in part because Social Democrats' increasingly anti-immigrant, populist outlook has drawn rebukes from the Social Liberals and other Left-leaning parties.

Pictured: Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen (Ritzau Scanpix)

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: PM Rasmussen Refuses To Drop "Socialist" Home Loan Plan Despite Internal Opposition

[world politics news]

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has denied rumors of a spilt within the Venstre (Liberal) party after a minister called a proposal for a state loan system “socialist." The plan calls for the government to take over issuing home loans. According to a news report, Venstre's political group chairman Søren Gade said that he considered the proposal to reflect socialist policy. Rasmussen said that he would move ahead with the proposal, despite the party's internal disagreement over it.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: 7 Parties Seek To Block EuroSkeptics By Banning "Denexit" Referendum

[world politics news]

Three of Denmark's left-leaning political parties hope to unite all seven of the nation's pro-EU parties to prevent the euro-skeptic populists and Greens from ever holding a Brexit-style referendum in Denmark. Mainly, they want to prevent the Danish People's Party from forcing a party to agree to one as a condition for a coalition in the next election. The People's Party is riding high in the polls. The push is being led by Morten Østergaard, leader of the Social Liberal Party

[FULL STORY HERE]

Pictured: Morten Østergaard

#DENMARK: Left- And Right-Leaning Centrist Parties Could Unite To Topple PM's Liberals

[world politics news]

The Danish People’s Party and the Social Democrats have long resided within their respective ‘blocs’ in the national political makeup, with the People's Party being a member of the right-of-center blue bloc and the Social Democrats, the leading party of the left-of-center red bloc. An alliance between them - rumored more loudly after a joint interview recently with the party's two leaders - could unite the nation's centrists and freeze out Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s Venstre party. 

[FULL STORY HERE]

Pictured: The People's Party's Kristian Thulesen Dahl, left, and the Social Democrats' Mette Frederiksen

#DENMARK: Greenland May Seek Independence From Denmark, Cites "Bad Deal" Over US Airbase

[world politics news]

Greenland's government may consider independence from Denmark, citing a "bad deal" with a US military base in Greenland and Danish "arrogance" in failing to grant the region more sovereignty, says Foreign Minister Vittus Qujaukitsoq. Citing frustration with the Danish government over its 1943 deal with the US over Thule Air Base, Qujaukitsoq says the base has been "nothing but trouble," citing concerns over pollution. Greenland created a new department for independence last year and passed a bill in parliament saying the US and Denmark should renegotiate the Thule deal.

[FULL STORY HERE]

Pictured: Nuuk, Greenland

#DENMARK: Center-Right PM Invites Libertarians, Conservatives Into Government

[world politics news]

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has shored up his minority government by bringing in the libertarian-leaning Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party. Rasmussen presented a 22-member cabinet that includes six posts for LA and three for the Conservatives. In the cabinet shuffle, number of high profile politicians swapped portfolio and a handful of veteran politicians were left without a job.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: Seeking Support For Budget, PM Invites 2 Ptys To Form 3-Way Coalition

[world politics news]

After months of wrangling over a budget, and a weak position for his own party, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has begun talks with leaders of the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives to discuss the creation of a new three-party coalition government. Rasmussen's centre-right Liberal Party holds only 34 out of 179 seats in parliament and needs the support of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, the libertarian-leaning Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives to govern.

[FULL STORY HERE]

#DENMARK: Facebook Temporarily Bans Danish MP Over Two Nude Photos

[world politics news]

Danish MP Uffe Elbæk was temporarily banned from Facebook for violating the social media giant's nudity policy. Elbæk, the leader of The Alternative, said on Monday that he was banned for posting two photos that contained nudity. One was from Copenhagen's Culture Night while the other was a famous photo from 1969 that shows Danish artist Lene Adler Petersen walking nude through the Copenhagen Stock Exchange carrying a cross.

#DENMARK: Member of Parliament Suggests Trump-Like Muslim Immigration Ban

[world politics news]

A high-ranking Danish People’s Party MP has proposed a ban all immigration from ‘Muslim countries’ for a period of 4-6 years. MP Søren Espersen of the Danish People’s Party (DF) proposed that a ban on immigration from Muslim countries was needed until “we have gotten a handle on our future efforts” in combating Islamic extremism in Denmark. The proposal has been likened by some critics to the one made by US presidential candidate Donald Trump

#DENMARK: All Parties Support Citizen Petition Plan That Would Require Votes In Parliament

[world politics news]

There is broad political support to allow Danish citizens to send proposals directly to parliament if they can recruit 50,000 fellow Danes to their cause. The plan is backed by the Danish People’s Party, the Social Liberals (Radikale), the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), the Alternative, the Socialist People’s Party and the Conservatives.

#DENMARK: Parliament Set to End "Tax Loophole" Of Unreported Airbnb Earnings

[world politics news]

Led by the Leftist Red-Green Alliance in parliament, legislation is being prepared to close what they call a "tax loophole" of unreported income from shared economy service Airbnb. The proposal involves enforcing automatic registration of income through subleasing via services like Airbnb. The proposal is said to have support from across the political spectrum in parliament.

#DENMARK: Porn Star Announces Candidacy For Parliament

[world politics news]

Porno Lasse, the most famous male Danish porn star of all time, is running for parliament. Porno, whose real name is Lasse Helmer Sørensen, announced his intentions on his Facebook page. Sørensen plans to run as an independent.

#DENMARK: PM Defends Proposed Law Requiring Refugees Help To Pay For Their Care

[world politics news]

Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen is defending pending legislation that would allow authorities to confiscate refugees' possessions that exceed US$1,360 in value in order to pay for their stay in asylum shelters. During a press briefing, Rasmussen said that the law is the "most misunderstood in Danish history."