Danish government split after European drama

Governing partners off message after weekend's EU clash puts Denmark in a dilemma

by Anna Meera Gaonkar

A statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Socialist People's Party leader, Villy Søvndal now signals conflict within the Danish government, reports Seven59.dk and Jyllands-Posten.

Søvndal claimed that Denmark should not accept everything in the fiscal pact proposed by Eurozone countries to rescue the joint currency and combat the debt crisis.

In an interview with TV2 Søvndal declined to name which parts of the pact he finds unacceptable, but expressed concern that it could get in the way of the government’s plan to kick-start the economy by bringing forward planned infrastructure investment.

Søvndal stands alone

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, however, has declined to make any decision on the pact until it’s discussed in parliament this week.

Søvndal’s eagerness to exclude Denmark has been seized upon by the opposition as confirmation that he’s unable to separate government policy from partisan party politics.

The Liberals' policy spokesperson, Ellen Trane Nørby, expresses that it’s not in Denmark’s best interests to have a Foreign Minister who's more interested in satisfying his left-wing political base than thinking about what’s best for Denmark.

Danes now against euro

In a parallel development, Danes are now against the Euro more than ever, writes Danish newspaper Børsen.

The paper recently conducted a survey showing that 69 per cent of respondents are against the Euro, while only 24 per cent are for it replacing the Danish Krone.

In September 2000 the Danes were asked to vote for or against the Euro at a general election. A majority of voters, 53.1 per cent were against, while 46.9 per cent of the Danes were for the Euro.

anna.m.gaonkar@adm.ku.dk

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