Monday Morning News & Notes
Russia plays a dangerous game. Sweden will miss its climate targets.
🇩🇰
Heat, rain, drought, and floods are the four defining consequences of climate change and Denmark saw a lot of all four last year.
Climate Change Professor Sebastian Mernild says people in Denmark will need to get used to seeing a lot more of the big four as global warming drives temperatures upward.
“We see a gradually warmer climate because we have more energy tied up in our earth and atmosphere system. More energy makes it warmer and we have a greater tendency to have more and more intense extreme weather events.”
That is something Denmark saw a lot of over just the last few months with the historic October storm surge, Storm Pia’s hurricane-force winds in December, and huge snowstorms and rainfall in January, before another huge storm struck in February bringing with it monumental rain.
“What we can see when we analyze the data is that we have increasing extreme heat events and increasing amounts of precipitation. So part of what we also expect going forward is that we will see more heavy rainfall events.”
Since 1870, Denmark has become approximately 1.5 degrees warmer.
-
Vejle Fjord is dead. In what looks like a traditional obituary published in the Danish newspaper Politiken Greenpeace and the Danish Sportfishing Association lamented the death of the fjord and announced they will hold a memorial.
“Vejle Fjord has passed away after a long period of suffocation. Fish and plant life have ebbed away. On behalf of our inland waters, you are invited to the funeral, which will take place on Saturday 6 April at 11 a.m.”
The ‘funeral’ will be held at Sct. Johannes Kirke in Vejle.
The ‘funeral’ is obviously a bit tongue in cheek, even though an actual priest will speak and there will be a wake afterward. The two groups are trying to get put a spotlight on the oxygen-starved Kattegat waterways linking the North and Baltic seas. The sea water has so little oxygen that entire invertebrate species like jellyfish have been killed off en masse and other more mobile sea life has fled entirely.
Aarhus University Marine Biodiversity Professor Stiig Markager says the situation in the Kattegat is as bad as it gets.
“You can honestly say that there is evidence that the ecosystem in Vejle Fjord has collapsed. Essential components of the ecosystem have been reduced to such a low level that they do not function as they should. Vejle Fjord's ecosystem can easily rise from the dead, but it will take 20 to 30 years to get it re-established.”
However, he says that will take political will and funding. Markager says that it will also require immediate and concrete actions to vastly reduce the seepage of nutrients, especially nitrogen, from things like agricultural fertilizers into the waterways. He estimates that in order to breathe life back into the Kattegat waters nitrogen seepage from agricultural lands must be reduced by 36%, or 244 tonnes, as quickly as possible
The Danish governing parties are negotiating an emergency package to address the situation with 325 million Danish kroner (about $64 million Cdn) on the table.
-
The Danish municipality of Faxe has issued a quicksand warning. It posts on Facebook that some people have had “slightly dramatic experiences” sinking into the sand while walking on the beach.
Aarhus University Associate Professor at the Department of Geoscience Søren Munch Kristiansen tells DR that the fall and winter storms have created this quicksand-like phenomenon.
“When the waves have moved around a lot of sand, it loses its ability to bear any weight, so we sink into it like a house of cards made of sand that collapses when we step on it. It's not dangerous, but if it happens, you have to move in slow motion to slowly get out of it.”
-
The soaking-wet Danish winter continues to cause all sorts of problems. At Klatreskoven (tree-top adventure park) in Glostrup the climbing area has slowly become an ever-growing little lake over the last few months. So far there is no end in sight. With necessity being the mother of all invention park operators have built rafts and a cable system to get people up into the trees.
-
On the back of a significant decrease in coal consumption and declines in the use of oil and natural gas CO2 emissions from fossil fuels fell by 5% in Denmark last year. That is according to Green Power Denmark who says that the use of coal-fired power dropped by 36% last year while oil and natural gas use both saw “a slight decrease.”
Energy Analyst Kristian Rune Poulsen:
“The decrease comes after several years of stagnant CO2 emissions, and this is really good news. But if we are to achieve the climate goals we have set ourselves, it is also absolutely necessary.”
Coal-fired power plants saw an increase in activity after Russia turned off the gas taps triggering an energy crisis in 2022. Since then coal use has plummeted as Denmark charges ahead with the green energy transition.
Also helping reduce fossil fuel emissions has been a sharp increase in the number of electric vehicles in Denmark.
On the natural gas front, Poulsen says the good news is that gas use has plummeted since 2021 but with prices falling again people aren’t so worried about their gas use leading to a modest year-over-year decrease.
“Natural gas must leave our heating sector as soon as possible, and the homes must either have district heating or a heat pump. Even though the energy crisis is immediately over, it is very important that politicians, heating companies and homeowners stay focused and make the right investments, and for the vast majority, a switch away from gas will still pay off.”
In Denmark, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions (63%) come from fossil fuel use. The remaining CO2 emissions come mostly from the agricultural sector.
-
It is full speed ahead on the energy transition in Denmark. Vejen Kommune is building two large energy parks featuring solar cells and possibly wind turbines. The municipality near Esbjerg in Jutland has set aside 1,700 hectares of land for the energy parks, which will supply electricity for up to 282,000 homes when they come online in 2030.
-
Offshore of Esbjerg the country's largest gas field, Tyra, has reopened, reigniting a debate about the energy transition and the use of fossil fuels.
"This is a milestone, a project in the Super League," exclaims Michael Lindholm Pihl Larsen, the technical project manager at TotalEnergies, underscoring the significance of the reopening.
For Denmark, which has been reliant on gas imports from neighboring countries during Tyra's closure, this marks a crucial reversal. Kristian Rune Poulsen, chief consultant at Green Power Denmark, stresses the importance of this development, particularly in light of recent energy crises: "Without Russian gas, Europe lacks gas. The reopening of the Tyra field is a welcome help.”
Green Power Denmark, an organization dedicated to promoting the green transition, acknowledges the complexities of phasing out gas entirely. They assert that gas from Denmark is preferable to imports from North America or Russia. Collaborating with Energinet, they've facilitated the flow of Danish gas to Germany, aiming to bolster regional energy security.
The Tyra field can deliver 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year when production is up to par again, which exceeds demand in Denmark. The Danish government is pursuing a mandate to phase out gas use. Natural gas use in Denmark has declined by about 30% since the energy crisis of 2022.
-
Denmark churned out a record amount of wind and solar-powered energy last year. The Danish Energy Agency says that in 2023 wind and solar energy provided enough power to cover 44% of the country’s entire energy consumption. Solar energy continued to see massive growth across Denmark with solar panel energy production increasing by 53% year over year. The beleaguered wind energy sector seems to have hit something of a wall with an energy production increase of just 2%.
The agency says all this resulted in a 4.8% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from energy use last year.
-
A unique collaboration has resulted in hospitals in Region Sjælland reducing CO2 emissions by several hundred tonnes. The ESCO collaboration involves working with private contractors who do the work to retrofit hospitals and install green energy solutions. The hook is that the contractors are paid by the energy savings resulting from their work.
Green Transition, Sustainability, and Environment Chair Bruno Jerup:
“The green transition is a landmark for Region Sjælland, and we want to create green solutions. With 321 tonnes fewer CO2 emissions this is a good example of this. Without the ESCO cooperation, it would be almost impossible for us to achieve the results that this cooperation has led to.”
Energy renovations at just three hospitals in Næstved, Slagelse, and Ringsted, included new windows, energy-efficient lamps, and updated ventilation systems. The retrofits resulted in energy savings of 5 million Danish kroner per year (a shade under $1 million Cdn). It also reduced CO2 emissions by 131 tonnes.
The region has set a goal of cutting its energy consumption in half from 2022 levels by 2035.
🇪🇺🇩🇰
The electric vehicle revolution in Europe extends to heavy-duty trucks and buses. According to the International Council on Clean Transportation sales of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles doubled across the EU last year. There were 11,000 heavy-duty EVs sold in 2023, up from 5,000 sold the year before
In the EU, 18% of all buses sold last year were electric. Germany (30%), France (15%), and the Netherlands (15%) accounted for the majority of heavy-duty EV vehicle sales.
In the 4th quarter of 2023, all newly registered city buses were electric. Across the EU it was 43%.
🇸🇪
Sweden will not meet its ambitious climate plan goals. That is according to Sweden's Climate Policy Council. It issued a report on Friday that is highly critical of the government’s efforts to fight climate change saying in essence it is just not walking the talk. In fact, it says its emissions reduction plan is not only misleading but the government is actively counteracting efforts to reduce emissions. Consequently, the council is forecasting that emissions in Sweden will rise, not fall, over the short term.
The council says it is simply not feasible for Sweden to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2045, and it will also miss its 2030 reduction targets.
🇳🇴
In a landmark move for Norway's renewable energy ambitions, the Norwegian government has announced the winner of its first offshore wind farm tender. The project, known as Soerlige Nordsjoe II, will be spearheaded by the Ventyr group, a collaboration between Ingka Group, the parent company of IKEA stores, and Parkwind, a Japanese joint venture.
Soerlige Nordsjoe II, situated in the Southernmost region of the Norwegian North Sea, is slated to become a powerhouse in the region's renewable energy landscape. With an initial capacity of 1.5 GW, the project's first phase is set to be operational by the end of this decade, catering primarily to Norway's domestic energy needs. However, Oslo has its sights set even further, envisioning a potential second phase that could transform the project into a hybrid endeavor, supplying both Norway and Europe with clean, sustainable power.
This announcement comes as part of Norway's ambitious plan, outlined by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in 2022, to allocate a staggering 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040, aligning with the nation's annual power consumption. Embracing both conventional bottom-fixed and cutting-edge floating wind farms, Norway's strategy has positioned it as a trailblazer in the global renewable energy sector, particularly for floating offshore wind developers in Europe.
With Soerlige Nordsjoe II paving the way, Norway, known as an oil and gas powerhouse, is poised to emerge as a key player in the global fight against climate change, harnessing the power of the wind to propel its sustainable future forward.
🇫🇮
Almost half a million people in the Finnish capital of Helsinki will get a bit of a break on their electricity bills for the next couple of months. Helen, a Helsinki area electric company, says it will not charge its customers for electricity distribution fees for May and April. It says the company saw its costs significantly reduced last year and it now wants to pass those savings on to its customers.
For about 470,000 of its customers savings will equal anywhere between €25 to €90 depending on individual electricity usage.
🇪🇺
After many months of tough negotiations and compromises the European Union’s nature restoration legislation passed a vote in the EU parliament but looks to have gone off the rails ahead of what would usually be the formality of an approval vote. Hungary has suddenly changed sides going from being for the law to suddenly pulling its support and opposing it. That means the legislation doesn’t have the required 55% support of member states to pass the formal ascension vote.
The law requires, among other things, all member states to introduce nature restoration measures on at least 20% of their land areas and 20% of their sea areas before the end of this decade. The future of the law is now anyone’s guess.
This is a prime example of the tense political battleground developing around the EU’s ambitious green agenda, especially as European Union elections loom. Politicians on the right, especially the extreme wings, have jumped on opposition to the green transition from farmers and other groups. All of whom range anywhere from being nervous to being completely outraged by environmental rules and requirements and especially about the economic consequences.
🦠Outbreaks🦠
🌎
It wasn’t just COVID deaths, a new report from the World Health Organization says that in the first three years as the coronavirus swept across the globe in the European Region alone, there were nearly 7,000 more people who died from tuberculosis than otherwise would have. The WHO says those deaths are directly because of the pandemic disrupting tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment efforts due to overwhelmed healthcare systems.
The sobering report also paints a picture of a European Region that is still trying to recover from the pandemic and its impact on TB testing, diagnosis, and care.
WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge:
“Our latest report reveals a heartbreaking, entirely preventable situation: people affected by TB were not protected during the pandemic and 7000 needlessly lost their lives because of disruptions to TB services.”
The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention helped co-authored the report.
ECDC Director Dr Andrea Ammon:
“In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, we still have a long road ahead of us for meeting the TB elimination targets. Timely strengthening of prevention, testing, and treatment are key elements in fighting TB, and any delays are translated into further suffering and death. Countries must act now, and ECDC remains committed to partnering with and supporting European Union/European Economic Area countries in their efforts to end the TB epidemic.”
Around the world, there were more than 170,000 TB cases in 2022, of which more than 36,000 were in the European Region. The WHO says 38 of the 53 WHO European Member States reported that TB cases had increased year over year. The WHO says the rising number of infections is a clear indicator of a system still recovering from the pandemic disruptions.
-
A prestigious group of former world leaders have issued an open letter urging for an agreement to be reached on an international Pandemic Accord. In the throws of the COVID pandemic in December 2021, inter-governmental negotiations between representatives of 194 of the world’s 196 countries began hammering out a Pandemic Accord. Their goal was to reach an agreement by May 2024. With a ninth round of negotiations underway 23 former national Presidents, 22 former Prime Ministers, a former UN General Secretary, and 3 Nobel Laureates are urging those negotiators to redouble their efforts to reach a deal.
From the open letter:
“A pandemic accord is critical to safeguard our collective future. Only a strong global pact on pandemics can protect future generations from a repeat of the COVID-19 crisis, which led to millions of deaths and caused widespread social and economic devastation, owing not least to insufficient international collaboration.”
The signatories also addressed misinformation circulating about the negotiations saying that shouldn’t throw this vital work off track.
“As countries enter what should be the final stages of the negotiations, governments must work to refute and debunk false claims about the accord. At the same time, negotiators must ensure that the agreement lives up to its promise to prevent and mitigate pandemic-related risks. This requires, for example, provisions aimed at ensuring that when another pandemic threat does arise, all relevant responses – from reporting the identification of risky pathogens to delivering tools like tests and vaccines on an equitable basis – are implemented quickly and effectively. As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, collaboration between the public and private sectors focused on advancing the public good is also essential.”
Among the signatories of the open letter are Former UN General Secretary Ban-ki Moon, New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Helen Cark, and former UK Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
🇪🇺
While respiratory infection activity continues to decline across Europe, Influenza infections continue to account for the lion’s share of cases. In its latest update, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says while seasonal flu cases are also ebbing infections remain elevated across the EU and European Economic Area.
The ECDC continues to calculate that this year’s influenza vaccine offered 53% protection against mild to severe flu infections.
The winter RS virus wave is receding with activity assessed to be at low levels across most reporting countries. That said, children under the age of four remain vulnerable to what infection activity is still circulating.
COVID activity also remains low in Europe, based on what little testing is still being done and the few surveillance measures still standing. The ECDC says the JN.1 variant remains dominant in Europe.
-
The ECDC is raising some concerns about whooping cough (pertussis) infections. Since COVID restrictions were lifted there has been a higher-than-usual number of whooping cough cases across Europe, usually during the winter months. The ECDC says the Czech Republic is currently seeing the highest number of whooping cough cases in 60 years. It is also reporting pertussis-related deaths as is the Netherlands. So far just this year 3,101 whooping cough infections have been reported in the Czech Republic with over 800 cases just last week.
Spain is also in the grips of a whooping cough epidemic with 5,242 cases since the new year began. Last year there were 1,942 infections. Young children five to 14 years old are being hit the hardest. More than half of all cases recorded so far this year have been in Catalonia.
The Netherlands has seen almost 2,000 infections since January 1. It has been logging between 200 to 300 new infections among children each week for the last few weeks. So far this year pertussis has claimed the lives of four infants in the country.
In Denmark, a whooping cough epidemic was declared last summer in an infection wave that lasted for months before receding. Last year there were over 6,000 whooping cough cases, the most infections in the country since 2007. So far this year 822 cases have been confirmed.
Norway has reported 707 pertussis infections so far this year with most (59.7%) being among young people under the age of 19.
The ECDC is urging vaccination campaigns across Europe with a focus on infants and pregnant women.
🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺 War
Ukraine is warning that Russia is building up troop levels for a possible major summer offensive. The head of Ukraine’s ground forces Oleksandr Pavlyuk went on Ukrainian TV to say that they are seeing a build-up of about 100,000 Russian soldiers in preparation for a possible attempt to try and overrun Ukrainian defenders.
🇷🇺/ 🇩🇰
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called his invasion of Ukraine “a special military operation” for two years and during that time he made it illegal for anyone to even refer to it as a war. But apparently no longer. Over the weekend, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the words.
“Russia is at war since Western participation has turned the special military operation into a war.”
While media headlines used words like worrying, shocking, and alarming, Denmark’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen dismissed the comments. He says Russia has been at war the entire time and up until now it has simply been engaged in “absurd theatre” in referring to it as anything else.
“Now Putin is saying what we have all known all along. So this is the first time in recent times that I agree with Putin. So Putin is at war in Ukraine. We've known that all along. And it has been absurd theater to call it anything other than that. That Putin then starts using the right words about what he has been doing for two years, that in itself does not change anything.”
Rasmussen says Denmark’s resolve to support Ukraine remains unchanged and discussions are underway within the EU on how to increase that support.
“Because we have to do something more. We have Ukrainians who are in desperate need of ammunition. We must do something more to deliver on those promises. We must have built up a European defense industry and have upgraded our defenses.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen took it even further.
“The war has not only been going on for more than two years, years after the full attack war started it has been going on since 2014.”
Frederiksen added that having Putin refer to it as a war changes nothing.
“Not a millimeter. Putin and Russia could stop this war immediately, they could withdraw their troops, and they could stop killing Ukrainians. The war is solely Russia's responsibility. It has never been Ukraine's responsibility, and certainly not ours.”
🇵🇱🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺
“A clear provocation.”
That is the assessment of a Danish military analyst after a Russian cruise missile crossed two kilometers into Polish airspace early Sunday morning before it veered off and continued on to its target in Ukraine.
Early Sunday morning the Polish Armed Forces and NATO Air Command each scrambled fighter jets in response to the Russian missile barrage. Polish military command posted on its social media shortly after a Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace.
“The object entered Polish airspace near the town of Oserdow and stayed there for 39 seconds.”
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the Russian Ambassador on the carpet to demand an explanation.
Danish Defense Academy Military Analyst Anders Puck Nielsen says there is no way the incursion was an accident.
“It is one thing to breach other people's airspace, but to do so with a missile is extra provocative. When you send a missile off, you plan a route that it will fly. Often you add some turns along the way to make the missile more unpredictable and harder to shoot down. Something like this doesn't happen by accident. It is a clear, deliberate act. Someone has planned a route that went through Poland.”
The Russian attack came in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin twisting himself in pretzels to try and implicate Ukraine in a terror attack in Moscow in which ISIS has claimed responsibility.
🇬🇧🇺🇦
Ten Ukrainian pilots have graduated from the first phase of training and have graduated to advanced fighter jet training that will allow them to pilot the more modern F-16 fighter jets. The pilots are being trained in a program run by the British Royal Air Force and a contingent of instructors from allied nations.
The first phase of training involves English language lessons, basic flying skills, aviation medicine, and high G-force preparation. The ten graduating pilots will now tackle advanced fighter jet and combat training. After that will come F-16 conversion training.
Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps
“Thanks to the world-renowned skills of RAF, they have received some of the best training available and are now a step closer to joining the fight against Putin’s illegal invasion.”
The Ukrainians seem to be doing well as the RAF instructors noted they graduated phase one training ahead of schedule.
Ukrainian pilots are also undergoing F-16 training in other NATO member countries including Denmark and Romania.
🇩🇰🇺🇦
A delegation from Denmark including the Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister paid a visit to Ukraine over the weekend. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said he and some delegates from the Danish defense sector drove to Kyiv in an effort to build some bridges between defense industries in both countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj posted a picture of himself meeting with the Danish delegation.
“I hosted Denmark's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen to discuss Russian missile attacks, the need to strengthen Ukraine's air defense, and the potential for joint arms production. We appreciate Denmark's defense assistance and intend to strengthen our cooperation further.”
🇩🇰
The huge increase in military spending as Denmark, like other EU nations, prepares for the possibility of war isn’t just going to weapons, equipment, and ammunition. The Danish Coastal Directorate has given the green light to a massive project to dredge 21.6 kilometers from the North Sea to the Port of Esbjerg. The work is so the port can take much larger ships with military equipment as well as ships with large wind turbines. It will result in an estimated 3.7 million cubic meters of ocean bottom having to be dredged up and disposed of.
🇫🇮/ 🇷🇺
With warmer weather on the way and an immigrant crisis still unfolding along Finland’s border with Russia, the Finnish government is accelerating work on a border fence. The Finnish Interior Ministry says €74 million will go to expediting efforts to secure Finland’s 1,300-kilometer-long land border with Russia.
The first three kilometers of a 200 km border fencing project was completed last year. Work on the next section, a four-kilometer stretch, will begin this year.
Finland closed its land border with Russia late last year after waves of undocumented immigrants, abetted on the Russian side, began arriving at border crossings and claiming asylum. The border crossings will remain closed until at least April 14. Despite the closure, and the freezing weather, some groups of immigrants have braved the elements to cross the border on foot over the winter.
🇪🇺🇺🇦
In response to mounting pressure from domestic farmers, European Union countries have agreed to tighten regulations on Ukrainian agricultural imports, signaling a shift from the initial economic support extended to Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion more than two years ago.
The EU's decision to drop tariffs and tariff quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products was intended to provide economic relief to the war-torn nation. However, it sparked outrage among EU farmers, especially those in Poland, France, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, who felt unfairly pressured by increased competition. Protests erupted across member states, with farmers decrying the perceived imbalance in working conditions.
Now, in a bid to address these concerns, EU countries have introduced measures aimed at safeguarding their own agricultural sectors. One significant development is the introduction of an "emergency brake" mechanism. If imports from Ukraine surpass the average of 2022 and 2023 levels, duties will automatically be reinstated on products like poultry, eggs, corn, and honey.
While the agreement represents a compromise between supporting Ukraine and protecting EU farmers, it still requires final approval from European parliamentarians and member state governments before implementation.
🇪🇺🇸🇪/ 🇷🇺
While Russia's invasion of Ukraine remains a focal point, broader concerns about escalating power rivalries are also fueling historic spending on defense and weapons across Europe and around the world. Per Olsson, a defense economist at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, highlights the intensifying competition between the United States and China as a key factor driving the increase in arms acquisitions. China's exponential rise in military spending since the year 2000, with military spending increasing sixfold, reflects its ambition to challenge US dominance, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
Amidst these geopolitical tensions, European nations, especially those bordering Russia, are notably also ramping up their military capabilities. Estonia, supported by NATO, is constructing over 600 underground bunkers along its border to bolster its defenses. Additionally, Poland is going on a massive military shopping spree including a recent contract with South Korea to procure 1,000 tanks. This underscores the region's growing concerns about security threats posed by Russia.
As arms imports surge across the continent, Europe finds itself at a critical juncture between diplomacy and de-escalation efforts and preparations for war as it stands opposed to a much more aggressive Russia.
🇪🇺/ 🇭🇺
Tensions continue to mount between the European Union and Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán chose to announce his congratulations to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his election win, the only European leader to do so, just as a major European Commission meeting began. This underscores the rift as pro-Russia Orbán continues to lead Hungary in a more and more authoritarian direction.
However, it appears a red line is fast materializing for EU leaders. Danish politician, and Conservative candidate for the EU parliament, Marcus Knuth criticized the Hungarian government as being “completely against the principles of the rule of law we have in the EU.”
The Conservative voting bloc in the EU parliament has played with the idea of activating Article 7, which could ultimately mean that a member state is stripped of its voting rights. But the party is hesitant to try and pull the trigger. However, it appears to be drawing a red line.
“If Hungary again goes against supporting Ukraine, then we are 100% open to also depriving them of the right to vote.”
In 2022, EU MEPs voted to downgrade Hungary from a fully functioning democracy to a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.” Being a fully functioning democracy is a requirement of being a European Union member state.
Odds & Ends
🇸🇪
The birth rate has hit a record low in Sweden. According to Statistics Sweden on average Swedish families had 1.45 kids last year. The birth rate in Sweden hasn’t been lower since 1749, which is the year the country first began tracking the birth rate. Malmö, in Southern Sweden, has the lowest birth rate of any Swedish city. The agency says it can’t answer with any accuracy why Swedes aren’t having as many kids.
According to Swedish national broadcaster SVT, the low number of children is already being felt in school systems across the country where kindergartens are closing due to a lack of children. Statistically, if the trend continues, it will also spell trouble for social security with not enough working Swedes to support those who are retired.
🇩🇰The Week Ahead Round Up🇩🇰
Monday, March 25:
The 3XN/GXN exhibition continues at the Danish Architecture Center. The exhibit focuses on how architecture impacts people emotionally and its effect on our quality of life.
The exhibit runs until September 15.
The center can be found at Bryghuspladsen 10 along the canal in Copenhagen.
Find more information HERE.
-
The Copenhagen Zoo is offering its Easter program through the holiday week until April 1. There will be all sorts of events throughout the day for the whole family.
You can learn more HERE.
-
The beautiful Egeskov Slot on Fyn has its Easter program running all week with things to do for the whole family including an Easter egg hunt for the kids.
You can find more information HERE.
-
At Farvergården in Kerteminde, you can spend today and Tuesday enjoying classical Easter preparation activities like colouring eggs while learning about the history of Easter.
It costs 20 kroner per person and it is located at Strandgade 5 in Kerteminde.
More information HERE.
-
Follow the Easter Egg back through time at Den Gamle By in Aarhus. The delightful outdoor museum that allows you to skip through Denmark’s past presents its Easter program all week. It ends on April 1.
Den Gamle By is at Viborgvej 2 in Aarhus.
You can help plan your visit HERE.
-
If art is your thing then the Artists Easter Exhibition in Aarhus might fit the bill. The Easter exhibition at the Kunsthal Aarhus Building draws big crowds.
It is located at J.M. Morks Gade 13 in Aarhus,
You can find more information HERE.
Tuesday, March 26:
The Danish men’s national football takes on the Faroe Islands in a test match ahead of the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament.
The match takes place at Brøndby Stadium. It begins at 8:15 p.m.
You can buy tickets HERE
-
At Møntergården in Odense, the museum is offering an Easter week museum detective program for the kids. Families can take a journey through the museum and discover mysterious objects and uncover hidden secrets from Denmark’s past.
The museum is at Møntestræde 1 in Odense.
Find out more HERE.
Wednesday, March 27:
The players that will represent Denmark in the Women’s EURO 2025 tournament will be announced today. The Danish women have games coming up against the Czech Republic (April 5) and Belgium (April 9).
The team will be announced at a press conference in Brøndby.
Thursday, March 28:
Den Fynske Landsby, an outdoor museum focused on historical buildings and the Danish lifestyle of long ago, opens for a new season. Come find out how Easter was celebrated in Denmark through the centuries.
The museum is at Sejerskovvej 20 in Odense.
You can find out more HERE.
Friday, March 29:
The Art Tour Southwest Festival begins. For two days over the Easter weekend over 100 galleries and museums across Southwest Jutland will open their doors to the public and showcase brilliant artists from across the region.
You can find out more HERE.
Saturday, March 30:
Broløkke Herregård in Southern Langeland is holding an open house today. People can tour the manor house and hear about its history. You can also wander through the garden or check out the classic car collection. Food and drink will also be available.
You can find it at Hedevejen 33, in Humble.
You can find out more HERE.