Christian Wenande
October 1st, 2018

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It was a busy weekend for the police (photo: KBH Politi)

Tens of thousands of commuters were left stranded across Denmark on Friday evening as an unprecedented manhunt closed down a number of the country’s main traffic arteries, including the Great Belt Bridge and the Øresund Bridge.

The public could only speculate as to the reason as the tight-lipped police refused to give out any information pertaining to the massive operation except to say that they were searching for a black Volvo on Swedish plates.

Was there a terror connection? Had a psychotic killer escaped from prison? It turned out to be nowhere near as dramatic.

READ MORE: Legendary singer Kim Larsen dead at 72

By the book
Later during the weekend it emerged that the police had launched the manhunt after a young man displayed suspicious behaviour and fled the police in the Volvo with two others, apparently because he had smoked cannabis and didn’t have a drivers licence.

The car was eventually found in Zealand, but there were reports it had been seen near Ringe in Funen, which spurred a considerable police response in that area. The young man in question eventually reached out to his attorney to explain the situation.

The police have been criticised in the wake of the drama, but according to Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen, a former operative head of the national intelligence agency PET, there was nothing else they could have done.

“The moment it becomes apparent that it’s about that kind of serious threats, there’s only one thing to do and that’s to use all resources available,” Bonnichsen told DR Nyheder.

However, the former PET head was critical of the lack of information provided to the public by the police. He believes that they should have communicated better and earlier considering the scope and impact of the operation.

Bear of a victory
Golf enthusiasts in Denmark had good reason to rejoice this weekend following Europe’s resounding defeat of the US in the Ryder Cup in Paris. Not only did veteran Thomas Bjørn captain the European side, but Thorbjørn Olesen played a considerable role in the win, despite playing poorly early on. Olesen initially teamed up with Rory McIlroy in the foursomes to lose to their US foes on day 1 and he was subsequently dropped for the fourball event on Saturday. But, in his first Ryder Cup, Olesen rebounded by pummelling world star and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth in the singles on Sunday as the Europeans romped to victory.

Eagles performing in Copenhagen
The legendary US rock band, the Eagles, will land in Denmark next summer to perform at the Royal Arena on June 10. Don Henley, Joe Walsh and company will visit Copenhagen has part of their European Tour to perform classic hits such as ‘Hotel California’, ‘Desperado’, ‘Heartache Tonight’ and ‘Taking It Easy’. The concert will be all seating and tickets go on sale this Friday at 10:00 at Livenation and Ticketmaster. The Eagles is one of the best-selling bands of all-time, selling over 150 million albums worldwide. Their ‘Greatest Hits 1971-1977’ album recently became the best-selling album in history – going platinum 38 times. The band was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

National football team inks agreement
The farce involving the national football team and a collective agreement looks to be finally over for now after the players agreed to a new agreement with the Danish football association DBU over the weekend. The new deal, which will last for six years, will allow the players and DBU to both increase their earnings through individual sponsorship partnerships and better travelling and dietary conditions for the players when on leave with the national team. The situation reached fever pitch last month when Denmark fielded a team of amateurs to face Slovakia in a friendly. The agreement comes just two weeks before Denmark take on Ireland in Dublin in the Nations League.

Wind power park locations revealed
The energy and climate ministry has unveiled four potential locations for Denmark’s next massive wind turbine park late last week. The 3,200 sqkm park, which must be located at least 15 km offshore from the Danish coast, will be established in either the North Sea off the west Jutland coast, in Jammerbugt bay near Hesselø, or near Kriegers Flak in the Baltic Sea. The park is to be established by 2030 and is part of the energy agreement the government landed in June. The consultancy company Cowi is behind uncovering the four options, which will be presented to Parliament in the future. The park, which will become the biggest in Danish history, will provide 800 MW of wind power.