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Russia, terrorism and cyber-attacks highlight annual risk assessment

Christian Wenande
January 4th, 2017


This article is more than 7 years old.

Danish Defence Intelligence Service unveils key concerns looking head in 2017

The DDIS report is available for perusal (photo: DDIS)

The annual Intelligence Risk Assessment from the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) has unveiled the biggest threats to Danish national security in the coming year.

This year, friction with Russia, terrorism and cyber-attacks were named among the principal threats in the report (here in English).

“The main assessment is that Russia is engaged in military build-up and modernisation in western Russia and that the Baltic Sea region has become a key area of friction between Russia and NATO,” the report found.

“The terrorist threat continues to be among the most important threats against Danish national security. The cyber threat against Denmark is severe, and Danish authorities and companies are facing a persistent threat involving regular cyber espionage attempts.”

READ MORE: Terror threat to Denmark due to Mohammed cartoons reduced

Lone-wolf attacks
The report indicated that Islamic State posed the greatest terrorism threat and that lone-wolf attacks – as was seen in Copenhagen in 2015 – can be expected to become more common in the future.

The report also named a number of other “high-priority” issues that will be faced in 2017, including the ongoing instability in the Middle East, and the roles of Russia and China in the Arctic Region.

DDIS also believes that the situation in parts of Africa, including Mali, will deteriorate further in the coming years.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”