Tens of thousands of Danes demonstrated against the government’s plan to abolish a public holiday to finance the defense budget during the war in Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of Danes demonstrated on Sunday against the government’s plan to abolish a public holiday to finance the defense budget during the war in Ukraine.
“It’s a totally unfair proposal,” said Lizette Risgaard, leader of the FH union, which promoted the demonstration and has 1.3 million members in Denmark, a country of 5.9 million people.
According to the police and the protest organization, at the Copenhagen demonstration Between 40,000 and 50,000 people participated, from various parts of the country.
Protesters gathered outside parliament, holding banners reading “Hands off our holidays” and “Say no to war.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, in power since December, plans to end the religious holiday known as the Great Day of Prayer, observed since the 17th century.
The Danish government wants to use the money thus generated to increase the defense budget until reaching the NATO target of 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, instead of 2033, as previously planned.
The executive defends that the acceleration of the calendar is necessary due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia almost a year ago.
But unions say ending vacations could violate collective agreements.
Source: Observadora
