Danish News in Brief: Tis the season to be scandalous

Akademikernes A-Kasse and Danmarks Statistik caught up in sticky situations

Allan Luplau, the chair of the Akademikernes A-Kasse, along with two vice-chairs, have resigned following repeated allegations regarding profligate spending at the unemployment insurance provider.

While the media have had a field day about the luxurious trips abroad, they’ve saved the most derision for the amounts of expensive wine consumed in the boardroom presiding over the largest a-kasse (with 233,000 members) in the country.

In September, departing director Michael Valentin confessed to Ekstra Bladet that he spent 250,000 kroner a year on wine to satisfy a demand to celebrate good news with the best that money can buy.

Danmarks Scandalistik 
A scandal is also engulfing Danmarks Statistik where its employees regularly received gifts from a fellow data and analysis company over a seven-year period, thus contravening rules on giving presents to public employees, reports Politiken.

Between 2009 and 2015, Geomatic bequeathed more than 30 gifts, including concert tickets and fancy dinners. Geomatic is a long-term customer of the state statistics provider, from which it has been buying information about Denmark’s citizens since 2003.

Danmarks Statistik has expressed concerns at the findings, with one of its directors, Carsten Zangenberg, calling it “one of the most critical issues” seen during his two decades at the organisation.


Danish woman found dead in Atlas mountain range – foul play suspected
A Danish woman has been found dead in Morocco, together with a female Norwegian, and it is looking like they were most probably murdered. The pair were discovered near Toubkal, the country’s highest mountain, which is located in the Atlas range south of Marrakech, around 10 km away from the settlement of Imlil in the El Haouz province. Media reports claim their necks were cut and that they had been violently assaulted.

Eight out of ten Greenlanders affected by climate change – study
Some 79 percent of Greenlanders say their lives have been affected by climate change, according to a study of 1,400 islanders carried out by Kraks Fond Urban Research in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen and the University of Greenland. In contrast, around 10 percent believe climate change is benefiting Greenland and a further 9 percent predict it will do so in the future.

Twenty years for gang member who mistook police officers for rivals
A member of the Loyal To Familia street gang has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to kill two people last September in the Mjølnerparken neighbourhood in Copenhagen. At the time, the 20-year-old defendant believed his victims were members of the Brothas, against which LTF fought the 2017 Copenhagen Gang War. But it later emerged they had no gang affiliations and were in fact plain-clothed police officers.

Young teens start fire on railway carriage at Fredericia Station
Two 15-year-old girls and a 16-year-old boy have been charged with starting a fire on a train at Fredericia Station on Monday afternoon, which resulted in several carriages becoming engulfed with flames. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation, and initial fears that the smoke contained asbestos led to an evacuation of the area.  A fourth accomplice, a 13-year-old boy, is too young to be charged. It is believed the youngsters filmed another incident on Snapchat, which involved a smaller fire started on a train seat, and that this made it easy for the police to track them down quickly.




  • Danish universities increase security checks on researchers from China, Russia, and Iran, reports DR

    Danish universities increase security checks on researchers from China, Russia, and Iran, reports DR

    Danish universities, especially Aarhus University, now rigorously screen researchers from China, Russia, and Iran to prevent espionage, following recommendations and increasing concerns about security, reports DR

  • Danish Originals S7E5: Camilla Stærk

    Danish Originals S7E5: Camilla Stærk

    This week, Bonderup-born, London-trained, New York-based Danish designer Camilla Stærk talks about her work, anchored against a strong foundation of her Danish heritage combined with her fascination with Old Hollywood and film noir, and expressed in what she describes as the whole universe: of fashion, furniture, lighting, rugs, accessories

  • Young Copenhageners supply study grants by selling cocaine

    Young Copenhageners supply study grants by selling cocaine

    In recent years, the spread of cocaine has accelerated. The drug is easily accessible and not only reserved for wealthy party heads. Copenhagen Police have just arrested ten young people and charged them with reselling cocaine

  • 5 Mistakes I Made When I Moved to Denmark

    5 Mistakes I Made When I Moved to Denmark

    Here are five mistakes I made that helped me understand that belonging isn’t a strategy—it’s a practice. This isn’t a story of struggle—it’s a reflection on growth, told through the lens of emotional intelligence.

  • Analysis shows that many students from Bangladesh are enrolled in Danish universities

    Analysis shows that many students from Bangladesh are enrolled in Danish universities

    Earlier this year, the Danish government changed the law on access for people from third world countries to the Danish labor market. Yet, there may still be a shortcut that goes through universities

  • Danish Flower company accused of labor abuse in Türkiye

    Danish Flower company accused of labor abuse in Türkiye

    Queen Company, a Denmark-origin flower producer with pristine sustainability credentials, is under fire for alleged labor rights violations at its Turkish operation, located in Dikili, İzmir. Workers in the large greenhouse facility have been calling decent work conditions for weeks. The Copenhagen Post gathered testimonies from the workers to better understand the situation

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  • “It’s possible to lead even though you don’t fit the traditional leadership mold”

    “It’s possible to lead even though you don’t fit the traditional leadership mold”

    Describing herself as a “DEI poster child,” being queer, neurodivergent and an international in Denmark didn’t stop Laurence Paquette from climbing the infamous corporate ladder to become Marketing Vice President (VP) at Vestas. Arrived in 2006 from Quebec, Laurence Paquette unpacks the implications of exposing your true self at work, in a country that lets little leeway for individuality

  • Deal reached to bring more foreign workers to Denmark

    Deal reached to bring more foreign workers to Denmark

    Agreement between unions and employers allows more foreign workers in Denmark under lower salary requirements, with new ID card rules and oversight to prevent social dumping and ensure fair conditions.

  • New association helps international nurses and doctors Denmark

    New association helps international nurses and doctors Denmark

    Kadre Darman was founded this year to support foreign-trained healthcare professionals facing challenges with difficult authorisation processes, visa procedures, and language barriers, aiming to help them find jobs and contribute to Denmark’s healthcare system