The Danish Royal Family reacts via Instagram on the fire at Boersen.

“This morning we woke up to a sad sight, when smoke over Copenhagen’s roof bore witness to the devastating fire at Boersen. An important part of
our architectural cultural heritage was and continues to be in flames.,” writes King Frederik and express gratitude towards all people who have been helping fighting the fire.

Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Danish Culture minister, posted on X that he was terrified by the images of Boersen this morning.

“400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames.”

He is touched to see how people are doing everything they can.

“How touching it is to see how employees at Boersen, good people from the emergency services and
passing Copenhageners work together to rescue art treasures and iconic images from the burning building.

Gratitude towards all fighting the fire

Minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard, posts on X:

“Thank you to our skilled firefighters, police officers and paramedics who are currently fighting a fierce battle against fire and inferno to save lives and our
historical heritage.

Politician Jan E. Jørgensen, from Venstre, tells TV2 that he is shocked about the fire.

“It’s a national disaster. I think we have to rebuild
it, I don’t know how the insurance are, but I think we must help,” Jørgensen says.

Politician Søren Espersen, from Danmarksdemokraterne, told TV2 that buildings like Børsen are irreplaceable while he holds his tears.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen writes to Ritzau that a piece of Danish history is on fire.

“The images are horrible. Boersen is one of the most iconic buildings of Copenhagen. The symbol
of 400 years of companies. It’s unreplaceable cultural heritage, it hurts to see it.”

The Danish burger chain Jagger is embroiled in a name dispute with frontman of the band The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, reports Børsen.

According to case documents from the EU’s patent and trademark authority, the burger chain has been striving for seven years to obtain the exclusive right to sell burgers and operate restaurants under the name Jagger.

The company behind The Rolling Stones, Musidor, has protested the Danish burger chain since it was established in 2016 by Christian Brandt and Rasmus Oubæk. 

Two years after the pair started the Jagger chain, they applied for trademark registration in both Denmark and the EU. Jagger has since grown to 18 restaurants, all of which are located in Copenhagen. 

Musidor owns the rights to the name of the band, the name Mick Jagger, and the band’s iconic red-lips logo.

Musidor maintains that the Danish burger chain’s name is a breach of its rights to the name Mick Jagger.

Børsen reports that Musidor’s claim was partially upheld by the EU’s patent and trademark authority in 2021. 

In 2023, the burger chain filed a new case with the European authority with the aim of cancelling the Mick Jagger trademark because, according to the chain’s lawyer, “no real use has been made of it”.

Mikkel Kleis, a lawyer and partner in the Danish law and consultancy firm Patrade, which specialises in the protection and enforcement of patents and trademarks, has seen several of the case documents.

He assesses that the burger chain may ultimately be forced to change its name.

Denmark and the Czech Republic have signed a cooperation agreement to develop a pan-European ‘digital identity wallet’.

At an EU meeting in Belgium on Thursday, the Danish Digitization Minister Marie Bjerre and the Czech Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bartos agreed on a roadmap of national projects and knowledge-sharing to build a ‘wallet’ app that will give citizens and businesses access to public digital services across the EU.

“The Czech Republic is one of our strong partners on the European digitalisation agenda and I am pleased to strengthen our cooperation. The digital ‘wallet’ app is an exciting tool that we must implement well – both nationally and in the EU. This cooperation will be crucial for the ‘wallet’ app to achieve its potential,” said Bjerre in a press release.

The cooperation agreement will facilitate the exchange of experience between the Digitalization Agency in Denmark and the Czech Digitalization and Information Agency.

Ex-Chief of Defence Flemming Lentfer is threatening to sue the Ministry of Defense for unfair dismissal, according to information in a letter, obtained by TV2, that the Ministry received on Friday morning from Lentfer’s lawyer Torben Koch.

“My client completely disputes that there is even a shadow of factual justification for any subsequent disciplinary action against my client, in the last instance dismissal,” writes Koch in the letter.

He calls on the Ministry to drop the whole case, and warns that his client is ready to proceed with legal action.

“I can already state that my client is prepared to sue the ministry alleging that a decision to resign will be an invalid decision on the basis of a lack of factual considerations,” writes Koch.

General Flemming Lentfer was fired as Chief of Defence last week after it came to light that a weapons-system malfunction aboard the Red-Sea-deployed frigate Iver Huitfeldt during a drone attack on March 9 had not been directly reported to Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

Poulsen, who instead learnt of the Danish warship’s malfunction from an article in the defence media Olfi almost a month later, justified the dismissal by saying he “no longer trusts” Lentfer.

In just a few years, the number of signups for the Association for Emergency Preparedness’ crisis preparation courses has exploded. 

In 2022, there were 270 students on the course, while in 2023 there were 2,160 – an increase of almost 700 percent. This year, the association expects over 4,600 to take part.

Speaking at a community centre in Gedser, where some 40 citizens were gathered for the course ‘Get ready for 3 days’, participant Finn Hansen told TV2: “I would like to hear whether the Emergency Management Association advises us to take any special precautions or whether we should buy some provisions.”

Director of the Association for Emergency Preparedness Carsten Iversen says: “The world situation has changed, both in terms of war and climate change, and we are now experiencing a doubling of the number of course participants.”

The course equips people to handle crisis situations, with teaching on topics like how to stay warm in a power cut, and how many supplies to stock at home to survive inside for three days.

According to the Danish national emergency plan, Danes should prepare themselves to manage without electricity, water, heat and shopping facilities for up to three days.

In 2023, a record number of cases of online banking fraud were reported – as much as double the amount in 2022, according to Finans Danmark, an interest organisation for banks and credit unions. 

Michael Busk-Jepsen, director of digitization at Finans Danmark, says fraudsters have become better at deceiving their victims:

“The criminals have gotten better, their tools have become more efficient, and unfortunately we have to admit that they are also successful, and that’s why they keep doing it,” he said in a press release.

He points out that the police struggle to solve this type of cybercrime, and perpetrators are rarely caught.

Last year, there were 9127 cases of online banking fraud. In 3842 of those cases, either the customer or the bank lost money.

Finans Danmark observes that online banking fraudsters specifically target older women.

“They have gone for names that are overrepresented in the older part of the female population,” says Busk-Jepsen.

The fraud, also called ‘phishing’, typically involves the criminal sending text messages or emails to the victims, where they are asked to enter their information.

“It is very common for criminals to use an occasion to send these emails and text messages. For example, it could be payment of tax or holiday pay,” says Busk-Jepsen.

Although phishing is the most widespread form of online banking fraud, there is another method that is more effective.

“The biggest losses actually happen when a criminal calls and asks the victim to disclose some things by telling a false story – perhaps that something is about to happen to one’s account and that funds must therefore be quickly transferred,” says Busk-Jepsen.

“You have to hang up the phone. The banks and the police don’t call like that,” he asserts, adding that you should never share your codes or personal information, and be mindful of what you approve on MitId.

This year, Roskilde Festival has more female than male headliners in its lineup, following on from a 2023 edition which received considerable backlash for lacking diversity on stage.

Speaking to DR, Nana Jacobi, a musician and director of HUN SOLO, which organises concerts with women and gender minorities, said: “After all, Roskilde is a beacon for Danish festivals. So when they make a statement, it is insanely impactful.”

The count was made by DR and does not take into account the fact that the various artists have session musicians and others on stage. 

Roskilde Festival itself does not provide statistics on gender distribution among the artists.

The Danish software company Systematic has won an international tender to deliver a software solution to the defence alliance NATO for the next 12 years, according to a press release from the company.

“The NATO alliance is the core upon which we depend for security in the West. That it has decided to build security systems based on our software – this is what we have worked for for 39 years,” director Nikolaj Bramsen told DR.

Of the 12 years covered by the DKK 212 million contract, the first two will comprise system implementation and training, with the following ten as a maintenance period.

The Danish software solution is called SitaWare and will be used in a command-control system for communication, planning and coordination during NATO missions.

Systematics SitaWare is already being used by some 50 countries, including Denmark and 17 other NATO countries.

According to captain Morten Kirkegaard of the Danish Armed Forces, upgrading to SitaWare corresponds to “going from sending letters to emails”.

Speaking to DR, he explains that the system can aid in making faster decisions on the battlefield.

Systematic was established in 1985, has over 1,000 employees, and supplies health and security IT solutions to over 50 countries.

In the financial year 2022/23, Systematic saw a turnover of around DKK 1.4 billion, and a profit of DKK 204 million after tax.