The Danes should refrain from a public holiday in the future. The corresponding increase in gross national product is intended to benefit the rearmament of the army. In Germany, the idea meets with approval from the Union. Skepticism prevails in the government camp.
The Danish parliament’s decision to cancel a national holiday in order to use the additional income to strengthen the army has triggered mixed reactions in German politics. The parliamentary manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, expressed his approval or openness to the idea: The Danish decision is a “strong signal,” he told RTL/ntv.
Doing this in Germany “would help to make it clear that the turning point in time needs a change in priorities,” Frei said.
Green leader Ricarda Lang expressed rejection. She told RTL/ntv that she was in favor of additional spending in the Bundeswehr. But: “To do it on the backs of the employees would not be the right way.” The chairwoman of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann from the FDP, was also skeptical: “I don’t see that in Germany.”
The Danish parliament approved a controversial bill on Tuesday that would eliminate a public holiday in favor of financing the defense budget. 95 MPs from the Folketing voted in favor of the project, 68 against. The project of the government of Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has caused a lot of criticism and protests in Denmark in recent weeks.
The government announced in January that it wanted to abolish the so-called Great Day of Prayer, which has been celebrated in Denmark since the 17th century. According to government calculations, the additional working day would bring an additional three billion Danish kroner (400 million euros) into the state coffers. At the beginning of February, around 50,000 people demonstrated against the government’s plan in front of the parliament in Copenhagen – a rare sight in a country accustomed to consensus.
