New international schools planned, Greenland’s government sworn in, Løkke comments on EU tariffs and more news from Denmark this Tuesday.
New IB school places planned as part of bid to attract skilled foreign workers
Three new English-language schools in Denmark could offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes for schoolgoers in a move intended to make it easier for skilled foreign workers to bring their families to Denmark.
Demand for schooling in English is growing in Denmark and the size of the international workforce grows, according to the Ministry of Children and Education, which has announced a tender for three IB schools.
The location of the schools will be announced by the end of this year once the tender process has been completed, according to a ministry statement.
“We need this tender to be able to retain international labour,” schools spokesperson with the Liberal (Venstre) party, Anni Matthiesen said to newswire Ritzau.
The IB is a two-year education programme equivalent to Denmark’s gymnasium or Upper Secondary School, and prepares students for university study and higher education.
Denmark currently has 13 public and 3 private IB schools.
Advertisement
Greenland’s new government takes office
The new government (Naalakkersuisut) in Greenland was formally approved in Nuuk on Monday afternoon by the territory’s Inatsisartut parliament.
Demokraatit leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen becomes government leader, which means Greenland’s premier is not from either of the the traditionally dominant Siumut or IA parties.
Nielsen was the clear winner of the March 11th election in Greenland as his party took around one in three votes. He was sworn in as Greenland’s new PM, succeeding outgoing premier Múte B. Egede of IA, who remains part of the coalition government.
“It has never been more important to stand united for our country. And it has never been more important to ensure stable leadership,” Nielsen said in a speech.
“That’s why I’m pleased we’ve formed a broad coalition and succeeded in bringing together 75 percent of the vote behind it,” he added.
Advertisement
Løkke says EU agrees on response to Trump tariffs
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen says the EU’s countermeasures to US tariffs on European goods must match the intensity of the US and need not be limited to trade in goods.
“You have to try to keep the volume at the same level and with the same amount of financial backing,” Løkke said after attending an extraordinary trade ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg yesterday.
“I’m pleased that we’re all on the same page here. None of us want a trade war with the US,” he added in comments reported by Ritzau.
The EU is not yet ready to announce a formal response to US President Donald Trump’s measures, the Danish foreign minister also said.
“There mustn’t be a single person in the room left in any doubt that we are prepared, and that there is strong unity on the need to respond forcefully,” he said.
Countermeasures from the EU could go beyond goods and also apply to services, Løkke said.
“We have to reserve the right in our response not to say our response is only about goods. That would be playing on Trump’s turf,” he said.
Government gets boost in support since Trump return
Support for Denmark’s government has risen significantly since the return of Trump to the White House in January, but it remains some way short of the 2022 election result.
Backing for the government, a coalition of the Social Democrats, Liberal and Moderate parties, was at an all-time low on January 20th, the day Trump was inaugurated for his second term as US president.
At the time, the three parties mustered a total of 31.8 percent of public support according to a poll conducted by the Voxmeter institute for news wire Ritzau.
The latest poll by Voxmeter, released Monday, puts the governing parties at a combined 37.2 percent – but that remains a long way off the 50.1 percent share gained in the election.