The Evening Report - May 9
April sets another heat record. Whooping cough cases rocket up in Europe.
🍃Environment & Energy⚡️
🌎
Make it 11 months in a row. Copernicus, the EU climate change service, says that last month recorded the hottest April temperatures on record. That is the 11th consecutive month to break temperature records and the ninth month to record a global temperature above the danger threshold of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The average temperature in April was 15.03°C, which is 0.67°C above the 30-year climate normal from 1991 to 2020 and 0.14°C above the previous record high set in April of 2016.
Copernicus Climate Service Director Carlo Buontempo:
“While temperature variations associated with natural phenomena such as El Niño come and go, the extra energy trapped in the ocean and atmosphere by the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to push the global temperature towards new records.”
Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere also set a record last month. In April, CO2 concentrations were measured at 427 parts per million, breaking the record set just the month before. Greenhouse gas concentrations have been measured since the 1950s.
🇩🇰
The Danish government has unleashed millions of kroner in an emergency package designed to try and address a crisis unfolding in the country’s inland waterways. Huge portions of the Kattegat Strait separating Denmark and Sweden are suffering from critically low oxygen levels. The situation is so bad that entire populations of invertebrates have been wiped out and fish have fled to more hospitable waters.
Danish Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke says 39 million Danish kroner (about $7.7 million Cdn) has been earmarked for buying up about 400 hectares of agricultural land along waterways and the coastline around the Vejle fjord. The lands will be converted back to nature and act as a buffer to limit nitrogen leakage from fertilizers from seeping into the marine environment.
Another 32 million kroner will be targeted to do much the same thing around the Limfjord, where, in addition, fish farms will also be removed.
-
Beginning next year, cruise ships that dock in Copenhagen will be supplied with shore power using clean energy. This will mean the massive cruise ships can shut down their diesel generators and will thus emit much less greenhouse gas emissions while docked.
🇸🇪
A national citizen’s climate council is being formed in Sweden. Some 7,000 people were selected by an algorithm designed to select people from different walks of life, varied political beliefs, and representing every corner of the country. The group will be whittled down to a group of 60, who will then wade through different environmental problems and try to determine ways to solve them.
Similar councils have been implemented in countries like France, Great Britain, Finland, and Germany.
🇫🇮
Finland will begin testing drinking water around the country to measure for the presence of so-called “forever chemicals,” also called PFAS. The harmful chemicals, which break down incredibly slowly, are found in, among other things, non-stick frying pans, cosmetics, waterproof clothing, and fire-fighting foam. Because they are so widespread and take forever to break down, they are difficult to avoid. People ingest the chemicals mainly in food, especially fish, meat, fruit, and eggs.
In 2020, the European Food Safety Authority found that children are among the most exposed groups to PFAS compounds, and the chemicals seem to have reduced vaccine efficacy among kids.
Individual health agencies in the Nordic countries, and elsewhere across the EU, have been working to quantify PFAS contamination and have banned the most harmful compounds. The EU is also proposing to ban PFAS chemicals, albeit gradually over time.
The issue has prompted the Finnish Institute for Health to launch testing for PFAS chemicals in drinking water around the country beginning in 2026.
-
Finnish food companies are being accused of greenwashing. Corporate watchdog Finnwatch found an assortment of labeling on food products that had either fabricated climate logos or environmental claims, which companies couldn’t back up when asked.
Finnwatch's Climate Expert Lasse Leipola:
"What's written on the package doesn't help consumers make environmentally friendly choices because the labels and claims are confusing, and the calculation of the carbon footprint behind them varies a lot.”
Finnwatch assesses a number of products for their environmental claims or climate logos, ranging from things like coffee, milk, oat drinks, and even dog food. Some companies provided vague or not quite relevant information when challenged, while at least one other said it would discontinue the use of a climate friendly logo that didn’t appear to have anything of substance behind it.
Finnwatch blames a lack of regulations and says the EU needs to step in and provide specific rules and requirements so companies aren’t wading around in a more grey than green area.
🇬🇹🇸🇪
Huge amounts of plastic waste are contaminating rivers and oceans around the world. A project in one of Guatemala’s most polluted rivers is giving us a sense of how prolific plastic pollution really is. A group called Ocean Cleanup installed a specially made barricade in the Rio Managua. In the space of just one afternoon, the barricade prevented over 1.4 million kilograms (over 3 million pounds) of plastic waste from flowing down the river and into the Caribbean Sea.
The barricade utilizes two floating boom systems anchored with concrete, one upstream and the other down, so one collects what the other misses.
Sweden’s University of Gothenburg contributes to the project.
Ecotoxicology Professor Bethanie Carney:
“It is much more difficult to clean plastic in the sea. This invention captures the plastic before it gets there. The main focus should be to reduce plastic production and ensure that it does not end up in nature from the very beginning.”
Carney also doesn’t pull any punches, accusing the same companies partnering with them on the project, like Kia, Maersk, and Coca-Cola, of greenwashing.
“They want to make it seem like they care about the environment, but it is their packaging that is in the river.”
🇩🇰🇸🇪🇫🇮🇳🇴
Electric vehicle owners in the Nordics are saving some money as four of the largest charging infrastructure providers have lowered their prices to top up EV batteries at public charging stations. Charging prices are down by about 20% from where they were a year ago. Ironically, this is happening as gas and diesel prices rise.
Consumer economist at FDM, a car owners association, Ilyas Dogru, estimates charging prices will continue to drop due to increasing competition.
“I think there is potential for prices to come down further, because there is massive competition out there and there is a battle for customers, so I think we will see more operators lower prices even more.”
While it is still cheaper to charge an EV at home, especially if you charge when electricity is cheapest, the price drop at public charging stations benefits EV owners who live in apartments who don’t necessarily have the ability to charge their car at home.
🇫🇮
Electricity spot prices have been jumping up and down in Finland over the past week or so. Prices jumped last week due to a lack of strong winds, which reduced wind turbine output, combined with some reactors at the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant getting their annual maintenance. Prices are expected to rise again this week as all three of the power plant’s reactors undergo some simultaneous servicing.
A trade association, Finnish Energy, is warning consumers that significant daily and monthly price fluctuations could be looming.
🇩🇰
After being offline for almost five years, Denmark’s largest offshore gas field, Tyra, is back online, and gas is once again flowing from the North Sea platforms. Gas field operator Total Energies says it is still dealing with some technical challenges and likely won’t be able to get the pipeline up to full capacity until later this year.
🇩🇪🇳🇴
Germany and Norway have embarked on an ambitious journey towards a greener future with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a hydrogen pipeline linking the two countries. This landmark agreement marks a new interdependence in Europe's energy landscape. Set to export hydrogen from Norway into Germany, the pipeline represents a significant step towards decarbonizing the heartland of German industry, substituting green hydrogen for more polluting fossil fuels in sectors facing difficulties in lowering their greenhouse gas emissions.
The bilateral partnership also focuses on many green technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, offshore wind, raw materials, batteries, and hydrogen.
Rooted in the German-Norwegian Partnership on Climate, Renewable Energy, and Green Industry established in 2023, the agreement underscores a shared commitment to the goals in the Paris Agreement, the creation of green industries, and jobs, as well as the bolstering of energy security, and circular economy practices. Notably, it reinforces Norway's pivotal role as Germany's primary gas supplier, supplanting Russia after Putin tried to weaponize Russian energy exports, sparking the 2022 energy crisis.
🦠Outbreaks🦠
🇪🇺
Europe is seeing an explosion of whooping cough infections according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The agency says since January 1 of last year until April of this year countries across Europe have recorded nearly 60,000 whooping cough infections, more than ten times the numbers seen in each of the two previous years.
Infants under the age of six months are the most at risk of infection-related hospitalizations and death.
ECDC Director Andrea Ammon:
“As we tackle this pertussis epidemic, it's essential to remember the lives at stake, especially our little ones. Vaccines against pertussis have proven to be safe and effective, and every action we take today shapes the health of tomorrow. We have a responsibility, as parents or as public health professionals, to protect the most vulnerable group from the deadly impact of this disease.”
Public health agencies across Europe are being urged to increase vaccination efforts, especially among infants and pregnant women.
The ECDC says a number of factors are to blame for skyrocketing whooping cough numbers, including the COVID pandemic, for both disrupting childhood vaccination efforts and lowering natural immunity across the overall population.
-
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is urging hospitals to double down on some simple measures to reduce the number of infections patients in European hospitals are getting while admitted. The agency says some 4.3 million patients become infected with a “healthcare-associated infection” while in hospital every year.
A major contributor to that over the last several years has been COVID, which was responsible for about a third of all hospital-acquired infections last year. Things like urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, bloodstream infections, and gastrointestinal infections covered off the rest.
ECDC Director Dr Andrea Ammon:
“Healthcare-associated infections pose a significant challenge to patient safety in hospitals throughout Europe. These recent numbers highlight the urgent need for further actions to mitigate this threat. By prioritizing infection prevention and control policies and practices, as well as antimicrobial stewardship and improving surveillance, we can effectively combat the spread of these infections and protect the health of patients across the European Union and European Economic Area.”
The ECDC says a lot of these infections are preventable. Simple measures like more frequent handwashing or ensuring patients have alcohol based hand sanitizer beside their bed can prevent about 20% of infection spread.
🇩🇰🇬🇧
Ground beef from a British producer, Hilton Foods, is being recalled after a batch tested positive for salmonella. In Denmark, the brand sells its ground beef in Dagli'Brugsen, Superbrugsen, 365 Discount, Coop, Irma, and Kvickly grocery stores. If you have Hilton Foods ground beef with a best before date of March 26 to 30 and May 11 and 12, you should throw it away.
Since mid-March, 51 people across Denmark have had salmonella infections.
🇩🇰
An outbreak of slapped cheek disease, sometimes called fifth disease, is continuing across Denmark. Since January 1, the Statens Serum Institute has confirmed 702 cases, of which 146 were pregnant women. In some cases, the fifth disease can infect the fetus. Denmark’s National Health Board is encouraging expecting mothers to be aware.
-
Coronavirus activity across Denmark, as determined by wastewater surveillance, remains at a “low level” roughly corresponding to levels of about three weeks ago. That said, the Statens Serum Institute says that the national growth rate over the last three weeks had COVID activity rated as a “strong increase.”
However, it adds that the determination should be taken with a grain of salt.
“When the concentration is low and there are few infected, fluctuations in the concentration are expected and can cover a small change in the number of infected people. The observed growth must therefore be interpreted with caution.”
COVID hospitalizations remain at near rock bottom in Denmark, although coronavirus infections were responsible for the most respiratory virus-related admissions last week.
-
Denmark’s Statens Serum Institute and the Technical University of Denmark have received a 6.2 million Danish kroner grant to develop a new way to administer vaccines. Vaccines administered by needles don’t provide any protective immune response in the upper respiratory tract. Essentially, a needle in the arm doesn’t offer much protection if a virus is inhaled through your nose. This is why there has been so much focus on developing a COVID vaccine that can be inhaled.
However, Danish researchers are working on an approach where mRNA vaccines could be administered to the inside of a person’s cheek using microneedles. This would provide a vaccine inoculation with a protective response for viruses that are inhaled. To add a further twist, the SSI is working with nanoparticles that would ensure that the mRNA vaccine is activated directly against specific diseases by sort of programming the immune system to provide a specific immune response.
Nanoparticles Researcher Signe Tandrup Schmidt:
"mRNA is a fragile molecule that is easily degraded if it is not packaged and delivered directly to the right cells. Our collaborators from DTU develop the microneedles, while we develop the nanoparticles in which the mRNA is packaged. The nanoparticles consist of different fats, which we can adapt to optimize the immune system's response to the vaccine.”
🇫🇮
The ripple effects of the pandemic continue to play out in a number of ways. In Finland, since COVID struck, more people are choosing to work remotely compared to the years before the pandemic arrived. Obviously, this is a number that soared during the various lockdowns, but since restrictions vanished and we returned to near normal, 37% of Finnish women and 33% of men have continued to work remotely. This is according to Statistics Finland’s Quality of Work Life survey, which noted a first in this year’s findings.
“This is the first time in the Quality of Work Life Survey that remote work was more common among women than men. Men have conventionally worked remotely more often than women.”
The agency says women closed the gap beginning in 2018 and then reversed it entirely last year. Overall, over a third of the working population worked from home last year, and one in five spent at least half their working days in the home office. That is a 7% increase from 2018, but a more than doubling of remote workers compared to 2013.
💉
From famine to feast. During the height of the COVID pandemic, vaccines were in massive demand, but now there is a major surplus. So much so that AstraZeneca is abandoning its COVID vaccine entirely. The pharmaceutical company, a joint British Swedish endeavor, has initiated a worldwide withdrawal of its COVID vaccine due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines.” It is even going so far as to withdraw the vaccine’s marketing authorizations in Europe and elsewhere. The AstraZeneca vaccine is no longer being manufactured or supplied.
The company’s vaccine was in huge demand early in the pandemic, but it ran afoul of European regulators, and the EU as a whole, which accused the company of breaking its contract to supply vaccine doses. In the middle of a bitter back and forth with European authorities, the AstraZeneca vaccine was linked to potentially serious side effects like blood clotting and low blood platelet counts. In the aftermath, many countries yanked the vaccine from their national inoculation programs, leading to its eventual demise.
AstraZeneca says it will now focus its efforts on RS virus vaccines and obesity drugs.
🇬🇧
Diseases not seen in Great Britain since the Victorian era are making a comeback. Chief among them is measles, as British health authorities declare it a ‘national incident’ as the number of measles cases rockets upward. Health services are working to increase uptake of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines in an effort to curb the outbreak.
According to the World Health Organization, population level vaccination rates must reach 95% in order to stop the spread of highly infectious measles. In parts of London , vaccination uptake is only 60%. Doctors blame the COVID pandemic when the focus on the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdowns resulted in the usual childhood vaccinations being missed. The other reason is growing vaccine skepticism and outright denial.
But it isn’t just measles. Doctors in Britain are also raising the alarm over rising numbers of scurvy and rickets infections. Diseases that haven’t been seen in almost a hundred years and were thought to be eradicated. Both are deficiency diseases caused by poor diets. Health experts blame rising inequality, as years of economic cuts and high levels of inflation have increased poverty rates in the UK.
🇺🇦Ukraine/ Russia War🇷🇺
🇪🇺🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺
European Union countries reached an agreement on Wednesday to use accumulating interest on billions of dollars of frozen Russian funds to support Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen:
“I welcome today's political agreement on our proposal to use the proceeds from immobilized Russian assets for Ukraine. There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live.”
It is estimated that the interest alone on frozen Russian monies could be between $3.5 and $4 billion USD annually depending, of course, on interest rates.
🇸🇪
Sweden’s Social Democratic Party wants the European Union to tap all those frozen Russian assets to finance a huge new support package for Ukraine.
Party leader, and former Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson:
“We want to use Putin's money to support Ukraine. The countries of Europe must increase their support for Ukraine and stand stronger against Putin and against the right-wing populist and authoritarian forces that want to divide us. It is ultimately about the safety and security of the Swedish people.”
Andersson says her party would also like to see much tougher sanctions against Russia.
🇺🇦
The Ukrainian government has followed a little in Russia’s footsteps as it has passed a law allowing people in prison serving time for less serious crimes to have the option to join the army. Inmates serving time for murder, sex crimes, and national security crimes are not being given the option to fight.
Ukraine is desperate to bolster its ranks as it continues to fight a bloody war of attrition with Russia, which is throwing away tens of thousands of lives on the battlefield for incremental gains. The Ukrainian Minister of Justice estimates that some 26,000 inmates may opt to become soldiers.
Russia is also tapping its prison system for soldiers, albeit without the restrictions on crimes committed, in order to feed bodies into the meat grinder of the front lines of the war.
🇷🇺🇧🇾/ 🇸🇪
Russia is playing mind games again. Russia’s Defense Ministry says in response to what it calls “provocative threats” from the West, it will hold military exercises with tactical nuclear weapons. The ministry did not say when this would take place.
Belarus has also reportedly begun checking the readiness of its tactical nuclear weapons, according to Russian state news agency Tass. In April, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced that "several dozen" Russian tactical nuclear weapons had been deployed in Belarus under an agreement between Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Tobias Billström calls Russia’s announcement nothing more than mind games.
“We will not be influenced by increased Russian rhetoric.”
🇩🇰🇳🇱🇺🇦
The Netherlands says it will begin delivering F-16s to Ukraine after Denmark begins transferring its donated fighter jets. Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren made the announcement at a recent press conference. If everything goes to plan, Denmark will begin transferring the first of the 19 F-16s it will donate to Ukraine by this summer. The Netherlands would then follow with 24 more in the fall. Norway, Belgium, and other countries have also pledged to send F-16s to Ukraine.
However, the delivery schedule balances on the edge of a knife. The fighter jets cannot fly themselves, so it is contingent on getting Ukrainian pilots trained to fly them and support crews trained to maintain them. Another potential wrinkle is the delivery of new F-35 jets to countries like Denmark. Currently, Denmark has just seven of the 27 next-generation fighter jets it has on order. Of those, only four are actually in Denmark. Lockheed Martin is struggling to get the planes delivered as promised. It is a big question whether Denmark is willing to just give away its existing Air Force if there are not enough F-35s to replace them.
🇸🇪🇩🇰
Ministers of Defense for both Sweden and Denmark signed a letter of intent on Wednesday to deepen military cooperation between the two countries.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson:
“The Nordic countries contribute to a safer Europe. We are increasing our defense investments to over 2% of GDP and increasing our support for Ukraine. We have also signed Defense Cooperation Agreements with the United States and are deepening bilateral defense relations. There is a strong foundation to stand on for further defense cooperation between Sweden and Denmark. Both through the new NORDEFCO vision we signed last week and through bilateral matters like cooperation on CV90 vehicles for Ukraine and our armed forces.”
In concrete terms, the letter of intent will see the two countries jointly procure weapons, military vehicles, and ammunition, “whenever possible.” This includes working together on the purchase of more CV-90 armoured vehicles. It will also see joint training and military exercises.
The two Nordic nations will also expand joint air patrols over the Baltic Sea, and each will allow the other access to their respective airspace and air force bases “for the benefit of the NATO alliance, including security on Bornholm, Gotland, and elsewhere.”
The cooperation extends from the air to the sea, as they will also increase naval cooperation in the Baltic Sea and in the Øresund, the strategically important gateway to the Kattegat Strait linking the North and Baltic Seas.
Denmark and Sweden will also cooperate when Canada leads the next rotation of NATO forces to stand guard and protect the alliance’s eastern flank along the Russian border from its bases in Latvia. Both Sweden and Denmark are expected to send a battalion of troops and armour to the Canadian led effort. With Sweden being a new member of NATO, it will likely need to use Denmark’s Camp Valdemar in Latvia as it doesn’t have its own facilities.
🇨🇿🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺
Russia is working on disrupting the flow of ammunition to Ukraine. In an interview this week, Czech President Petr Pavel said the Czech Republic’s ammunition initiative is moving more slowly than hoped because, in part, it was made public.
“The more sides know about the initiative, the more competition arises. On the one hand, it was necessary to make the initiative public in order to get the support of other countries, but on the other hand, we have also revealed our cards, which Russia is now, of course, taking advantage of. This is also why the initiative is not progressing as quickly as we would have liked.”
Pavel says the first ammunition delivery, some 180,000 artillery rounds, will arrive in Ukraine in June. He also criticized the West for moving too slowly to recognize the threat Ukraine was facing and for acting to get it the weapons and ammunition it needed right away.
“Throughout the war in Ukraine, the West has been very cautious in its support. Right from the start, there was an effort not to escalate the conflict. There were long debates about each new stage before it was finally delivered. If we had skipped this period of reflection and risk assessment, Ukraine would have received this aid months, perhaps even years earlier, and the situation could have been different. We should learn from the past and provide assistance now to the fullest extent and as quickly as possible to prevent Ukraine from losing more territory and lives.”
🇩🇪🇺🇦
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on Thursday that it would buy three M142 HIMARS systems from the United States and then, in turn, would donate them to Ukraine.
🇩🇰
Denmark’s Radikale Venstre Party is pushing for Danish military personnel to be deployed to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers.
Defense Spokesman Christian Friis Bach
“Both France, Great Britain, and Lithuania are talking about it, and I think it is an important conversation to start, and Denmark should take the lead in the discussion.”
Bach acknowledges that it is much more dangerous for Danish soldiers to train Ukrainian troops in a war zone. But the party thinks it would be more efficient for Ukrainians to be trained with their own equipment and on their own terrain.
“There are certainly a number of serious issues that we must have discussed before we do so, because the safety of Danish soldiers is crucial. But you just have to say that Ukraine is in a very difficult situation, and therefore I think we should look at the possibilities.”
🇩🇰🇫🇮
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo began the week by paying his first state visit to Denmark. He met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to discuss increasing support for Ukraine, the security situation in the Nordics, and migration challenges at the borders. Finland has closed its land borders with Russia due to waves of illegal migrants being channeled to the border by Russian authorities.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo:
“We agree that Ukraine is the most important security problem, and we both see the urgent need to strengthen the European defense industry and increase our production of ammunition.”
🇸🇪 NATO
More than 800 soldiers, weapons, and artillery platforms rained down on a Swedish military base this week. In the largest military aerial exercise ever conducted on Swedish soil, NATO forces flew from Italy and simulated a military air drop including hundreds of paratroops, equipment, and artillery platforms at a military base in Småland.
The aerial exercise, part of the NATO Steadfast Defender training program, is the first of its kind on Swedish soil. The goal of this particular exercise was to practice seizing an enemy air base.
Eleven paratroopers were injured during the jump, but none of them were seriously hurt.
🇸🇪🇺🇸
A Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) reached between Sweden and the USA last year has finally made its way to the Swedish parliament. Debates and a vote on the DCA in the Swedish Riksdag (parliament) are expected to happen in mid-June.
Defense Minister Pål Jonson
“This agreement is important for Swedish security, we can simplify the conditions for being able to receive support from the US in the event of a crisis or war.”
Among other things, the agreement gives the United States access to Swedish military bases, while also allowing it to train and deploy soldiers in Sweden, and store defense equipment in the country.
Critics of the DCA say the deal opens the door to the possibility of the U.S. placing nuclear weapons on Swedish soil. Jonson denies this, saying the agreement is contingent on Swedish consent and “no one will force us to do this.”
Another concern is that American soldiers serving in Sweden will operate under American law, not Swedish law.
“The primary legislation is the American one, but the [U.S.] government also has the option of withdrawing the legislation in cases of great importance.”
🇸🇪🇺🇦
The Swedish government is looking to streamline the pathway for Ukrainian refugees to integrate faster into Swedish society. That would mean getting them employed, enrolled in social security, and access to health care and dental benefits. According to a bill tabled this week, the fast track pathway would open after a Ukrainian refugee has spent a minimum of one year in Sweden.
🇪🇪/ 🇷🇺
The Baltic states continue to be among a handful of European countries that continue to take a no-nonsense stance in opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Estonian Parliament declared the Russian Orthodox Church a “sponsor of Russian military aggression” this week.
The leader of the Estonian Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Yevgeniy, left Estonia in February after his residence permit was not extended on the grounds of his public support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, is a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine. He has been accused of using the church’s network and its members to spread Russian propaganda and even gather intelligence for Russia.
🇵🇱/ 🇧🇾
A Polish judge who had access to state secrets has defected to Belarus. The defection has prompted an investigation by both NATO and Polish authorities to determine if the judge was a secret agent. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also called an emergency meeting with his intelligence service. He says the meeting focused on "alleged Russian and Belarusian influence on the Polish power apparatus.” The judge in question has been holding press conferences in Belarus and appearing on Russian TV.
🇪🇺🇨🇳
European politicians seem to continue to think that China will intervene to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine. This despite China pledging its unfettered support to Russia and the steady stream of equipment and materials from China to Russia that continue to help fuel Putin’s war machine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was on a tour through Europe this week, meeting with, among others, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said that she made it clear that the EU is counting on China to put pressure on Russia.
“We expect China to use all its influence on Russia to get the country to end its hostilities against Ukraine. President Xi has played an important role in de-escalating Russia's nuclear threats, and I am sure that the president will continue to do so based on the current threats.”
🇫🇮🇸🇪/ 🇷🇺
The former leader of Finland’s Green Party has lost the opportunity to be granted an honorary doctorate after she attended a pro-Russia seminar in Russian Kaliningrad. The seminar held last month was on the subject of justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and weakening pro-NATO sentiment in the Baltics. After the news came to light, the University of Eastern Finland withdrew its offer of an honorary doctorate it was planning to award to Tarja Cronberg.
Cronberg's visit to the pro-Russia seminar is also a matter of concern in Sweden. She serves as a Distinguished Associate Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent resource on global security. Swedish media are reporting that the government plans to discuss the matter with the institute. The institute receives a large amount of funding from the Swedish government.
Sweden's Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell:
"We have an aggressive Russia that intentionally spreads propaganda and disinformation whenever it can. We must be alert to these issues and aware of the danger of becoming a tool of this propaganda.”
🇪🇸🇺🇦
Spain has delivered an unspecified number of Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine. Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed the delivery, per Spanish media outlet El Mundo.
🇬🇧/ 🇷🇺
The British government has expelled a Russian defense attaché. UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said the attaché was an undeclared spy posing as a military intelligence officer.
“Russia thinks they can divide Europe through continued hostile action. They are wrong. Today, we have announced we are expelling an undeclared Russian military intelligence officer and are placing limits on the amount of time their diplomats are able to stay in the UK.”
A number of Russian properties will also be stripped of their “diplomatic representation” designation.
🇬🇧
Hackers have obtained the names and banking information of a number of past and present defense personnel, according to the BBC. The database used to pay employees of the British Navy, Army, and Air Force was maintained by a private company, which is how the hackers gained access. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says there are "signs that a malicious actor" is behind the cyber attack. The malicious actor has not been identified.
Odds & Ends
🇩🇰🇩🇪
The massive project to build a highway under the Baltic Sea to connect Germany and Denmark is a step closer to being completed. The first massive tunnel element has been fabricated and will be lowered underwater. The concrete structure is 217 meters long and weighs a whopping 73,500 tonnes. Femern A/S says it took ten months to make the first section, a time it is hoping to reduce to nine weeks, with 89 more concrete structures to come.
The Fehmarn-Bælt tunnel is the single largest construction project in Danish history. It will also be the world’s largest immersed tunnel. Once completed in 2029, people will be able to go from Rødby in Denmark to Fehmarn in Germany in about ten minutes by car, or seven minutes by train.
🇩🇰
Danes are having fewer and fewer children, and the consequences of a plummeting birth rate are beginning to come home to roost. In Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, 33 daycare centers will close their doors because the number of children has vastly diminished. The municipality estimates that there are roughly 3,000 fewer children in Copenhagen today than there were just four years ago.
-
The Danish island of Fyn will have a major new attraction showcasing Denmark’s history and drawing in more tourists. After being all but dead in the water for the last four years, the Danish government has found a way to revive the massive renovation work at Denmark’s oldest royal castle in Nyborg.
The castle renovation began seven years ago and came to an abrupt halt when a complaint led to the project’s environmental permits being rescinded. The government has finally decided to get around this by simply legislating the project forward. But all the delays and shenanigans have also driven the project costs up to 458 million Danish kroner (about $90 million Cdn), about 100 million kroner more than its initial price tag.
All that aside, once the work is completed and the castle and surrounding grounds are restored, it should add a new tourism jewel for people to visit. The Nyborg castle dates back to 1200 and was the center of the Danish Royal Court for many years before royal power eventually moved to Copenhagen. It was at Nyborg Castle in 1282 that Denmark’s first constitution was signed.
-
A prankster in Denmark has jumped the shark, or rather, let people walk and bike by one. Police were called in Ringkøbing after a small dead shark was left on a bicycle path. The incident lit up the community chat boards, and police eventually tracked down the man responsible. He told the police he spotted the dead shark in the harbour and thought he would have some fun, and left it on the bike path. It was a pricey laugh as the police said they would levy a fine.
🇩🇰🇸🇪
Denmark and Sweden have signed a declaration of intent to simplify tax rules for Danish and Swedish commuters using the Øresund bridge. The current tax rules were put in place in 2003 and haven’t been updated since. The plan is to have an updated tax system in place by 2025. Approximately 17,000 people commute over the bridge from Sweden to Denmark annually, while about 1,400 people commute the other way.
🇸🇪
Want to watch the great moose migration? Swedish national broadcaster SVT is live streaming a river crossing where a record number of moose have been caught on film as they swim across. The broadcast called ‘Den stora elgvandringen’ will remain live until midnight on May 12. The camera is set up on a river near Kullberg, which is near the Norwegian border and about a three-hour drive from Oslo.
As of Tuesday morning, 37 moose have been seen making the crossing.
You can watch along HERE.
🇪🇺🇩🇪/ 🇨🇳
An European Union parliamentarian from Germany had his offices in parliament searched by police because his assistant is suspected of being a covert agent for China. The prosecutor’s office in Brussels confirmed the search to German media organization Spiegel.
The parliamentarian in question is Maximilian Krah, who is an MEP from Germany’s far right AfD party, which is accused of being in Vladimir Putin’s pocket. His assistant has been arrested and is suspected of passing on privileged information from the European Parliament to Chinese intelligence.