Frederiksen to attend Paris meeting amid Starmer’s ‘once in a generation’ moment
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will be among several European government leaders to attend a meeting in Paris today to address the shock US policy shift on the war in Ukraine.
That comes after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was prepared to deploy troops to Ukraine if needed to protect Europe from Russia.
Describing a “once-in-a-generation moment”, Starmer said he was willing to put “our own troops on the ground if necessary”.
“Any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph late yesterday.
US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its European backers last week by calling his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to talk about beginning negotiations to end the conflict.
With Trump saying he could meet Putin “very soon”, European leaders are hastening to Paris for top-level talks on the continent’s security.
Leaders from the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark are expected at the Paris meeting, news agency AFP reports.
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Weather: cold to continue before milder end to the week
The current biting cold is set to continue for the next three days before a shift which could bring temperatures to as much as ten degrees Celsius.
“Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be pleasant days with sunshine and dry weather – but also chilly. Today starts around freezing, and then temperatures will slowly rise to three, four, or even five degrees in some areas,” Klaus Larsen, meteorologist at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), told news wire Ritzau.
“It will still be below freezing at night with possibly some patches of freezing fog,” he added.
No rain is expected in the coming days, nor any significant wind.
Denmark is currently experiencing winter cold with temperatures dropping as low as minus 14 degrees on Sunday night, making it the coldest night of the winter so far according to Larsen.
Fire causing disruptions at key traffic junction in Odense
Fire services responded to a blaze in Odense early this morning which resulted in the intersection of Tietgens Allé and Læsøgade being partially closed while firefighters work to extinguish a fire in an adjacent building.
Funen Police confirmed the road closure at 5:19am in a post on social media platform X. Officers are asking motorists to respect the barriers and consider alternative routes during the morning commute.
“The intersection is completely closed to traffic heading east toward Rosengårdscentret and south on Læsøgade,” police officer Christoffer Petersen said according to Rizau.
Traffic can still move west toward Odense University Hospital and north on Læsøgade, but heavy congestion is expected as rush hour begins. Petersen said he expects the intersection to remain closed for several hours.
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Danish police likely to stop posting on X
The Danish National Police (Rigspolitiet) are reconsidering their presence on X (formerly Twitter), citing concerns over misinformation and algorithmic changes, according to reports in Danish media and the trade publication Journalisten.
Danish police districts have used Twitter to provide real-time updates on incidents and emergencies going back a number of years, but comments from the police suggest that is coming to an end.
“When it comes to misinformation and changing algorithms, X has developed in a way that makes it clear that we in the police need to own our own communication,” René Gyldensten, head of communications with the National Police, told newspaper Børsen.