Morning Briefing – Monday, November 25

The Copenhagen Post’s daily round-up of the front pages and other major Danish news stories

Nov 25, 2013

NSA collecting Danish data: leak
For the first time since NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden went public earlier this year, there is now evidence that the US spy agency is collecting Danish data. A New York Times report this weekend that a leaked document indicated the NSA was had obtained access to data centres here. The information, reportedly obtained through the ‘Packaged Goods’ programme was also targeted at other European countries, including Germany and Poland. An NSA spokesperson told Politiken newspaper that the organisation was collaborating with partners to collect information, but that all its operations were carried out in accordance with American law and the laws its partners were subject to. – Politiken

War of nerves over budget
Negotiations over next year’s budget are expected to continue today after the finance minister, Bjarne Corydon (S), was unable to reach a weekend deal with his party’s far-left ally, Enhedslisten. The two sides held negotiations all day Sunday, but were unable to strike a deal. “We’re not ready to accept the deal we’ve been given. There are still quite a few things to work out, but we’re still talking.” Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen, the Enhedslisten negotiator, said. Enhedslisten announced this weekend that it would use the budget negotiations to establish minimum requirements for eldercare, such as twice-weekly baths. The government has already agreed to increase funding for eldercare by hundreds of millions of kroner, but Enhedslisten said it also wanted clear care guidelines. – DR Nyheder

Over 60 and unwillingly out of work
Despite political calls for people to stay on the job longer, businesses themselves appear to be uninterested in keeping older workers on staff. According to a poll carried out by YouGov for Ældre Sagen, a senior citizens’ lobby, more than a quarter of people over 60 who retire do so because they are forced to. On an annual basis this amounts to 6,000 people who would like to remain working but cannot. In addition, while only 12 percent of 65 to 70 year-olds were in work, 26 percent said they were interested in finding a job but had stopped looking. “The figures could indicate that we still think that people should retire at 65, regardless of whether they can keep working or not,” said Mona Larsen, the head of SFI, a social welfare research institute. Bjarne Hastrup, the head of Ældre Sagen, described the situation as “discrimination against older people”. – Berlingske

Shaky banks lending more
Even as the number of banks being monitored by banking authorities in the past year has grown 20 percent due to concerns they could collapse, the value of loans issued by these same banks has increased by a value of 11 billion kroner, to 61 billion kroner, or 3.5 percent of total bank lending. Finanstilsynet, the FSA, puts banks under observation if it fears it could go bankrupt within 18 months. Lars Krull, of the University of Aalborg, expressed concern but said it was due more to the size of the banks that appeared to be in financial trouble, not the size amount of the loans. “It’s not a lot of money compared with overall lending, but the problem is that the loans have been made by a handful of small banks,” he said. – Jyllands-Posten

Editorial Excerpt | Atomic agreement
It is too soon to tell whether the temporary atomic agreement with Iran is the path to a safer world. One can always hope though. […] Sanctions are being lifted slightly, but that is not the same as normalisation and the benefits to security that would be bring. Iran must, under no circumstances, be permitted to develop nuclear weapons, and if this agreement succeeds in that goal, it will truly be historic. One can always hope, but until we know for certain it’d be wise for America to continue to keep its options open. – Berlingske

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