News

International Round-Up: Government backing for Belarus opposition

Dave Smith

The Danish government has come out in strong support of those opposing Belarus’s government following the eastern European country’s general election earlier this month.

On Thursday, the foreign minister, Jeppe Kofod, will host a broad gathering of civil society organisations to discuss how best to support the national opposition and maintain international pressure on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

Denmark’s government has set aside an initial 500,000 kroner to support journalists, human rights activists and victims of violence in Belarus.

Backing from fellow EU nations
EU nations, including Germany, have already said that they do not recognise the election result, which resulted in a landslide victory for Lukashenko.

The European Commission has already stated that it will “repurpose” millions of euros in aid and is considering additional sanctions.

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is exiled in Lithuania, has called on all EU nations to ramp up pressure on the regime.

Support for Balkan migrant project
Denmark is to provide financial support to a project seeking to allow would-be EU migrants in the Western Balkans to return to their home countries. Currently, thousands of migrants are stranded in nations such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia with little hope of entering the EU legally. The financial support is aimed at enabling them to return to their nations of origin –predominantly in the Middle East and Africa.  Denmark will donate 15.4 million kroner to the project, which is also supported by the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria as well as the European Commission. So far, the project has helped more than 1,500 migrants to return home voluntarily.

MobilePay finally reaches Greenland
The resolution of a longstanding technical issue means that Greenland’s 40,000 adult citizens can finally use the phone payment system MobilePay. Although it has been in use in Denmark since 2013, the extension of the app to the autonomous Arctic territory has been fraught by problems related to  Greenland’s unique country code and phone numbers. To activate MobilePay in Greenland, users must first link their Greenlandic phone number to a Danish number via a separate app. Developed by Danske Bank, the app allows payments to be made using a Danish phone number connected to a bank payment card.

Iceland COVID-19 advice change
The Foreign Ministry is advising against all unnecessary travel to Iceland. The new recommendations follow Iceland’s imposition of a new home quarantine requirement for all incoming travelers, including those from Denmark. Since Wednesday, all travellers arriving in Iceland have been tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and again after five days. All of them are required to isolate until the result of the second test is known. Estonia and Lithuania have also issued similar requirements for foreign travellers, and official Danish travel advice has changed as a result.

Five Bulgarians guilty of entry fraud
Three men and two women have been sentenced to two months in prison by Sonderborg Court after being found guilty of falsifying documents. The would-be entrants, all Bulgarian nationals, had presented false work certificates to border officials when attempting to enter Denmark from Germany in July. The defendants, who had all denied any wrongdoing, have also been banned from entering Denmark for the next six years.

TOP STORIES

  • Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    After more than a decade living in Denmark, Russell shares why she made the move, how she’s coping, what she already misses, and the exciting new projects she’s working on. “It’s been a very tough decision. I love Denmark, and it will always hold a special place in my heart,” she says.

  • Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    The new Gefion AI supercomputer is one of the world’s fastest and will accelerate research and provide new opportunities in Danish academia and industry.

  • Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Experts believe it takes seven years to move into a new culture, according to leading Danish psychologist Jette Simon and therapist Vibeke Hartkorn. For expat couples, the challenges of starting a new life together in Denmark can put pressure on relationships, but emotions-focused therapy can help.

  • More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    Politicians debate a lot these days about when you can retire. The reality shows that an increasing number of Danes like to work, even if they can withdraw from the labor market. Financial incentives help.

  • Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Canadian-born environmental activist Paul Watson has been in prison in Greenland for almost 100 days awaiting an extradition decision for a 14-year-old offence against a Japanese whaling vessel that he calls a “minor misdemeanor”. The 73-year-old had previously passed through Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, France and the USA without trouble, before Greenlandic police arrested him in July.

  • Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    When the Danish government in January presented the first of its schemes to make it easier to recruit foreign labour from outside the EU, it was hailed by the healthcare and service sectors as a timely and important policy shift. But while healthcare changes have been forthcoming, the service sector is still struggling, say the directors of the industry association Dansk Industri and one of the country’s largest private employers ISS.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs