March 12th, 2023

Share

After a year of war, the Russian ordnance depots are running low on supplies, which is hardly surprising given the number of missiles, bombs, grenades and rounds of bullets they have rained down on Ukraine.

No sight of end to conflict
However, the Ukrainians are likewise running low on firepower, no matter how much their friends are delivering. 

The media may be awash with stories detailing the supply of all manner of artillery, tanks and fighter-jets (not yet, but soon apparently), but as things stand, neither side looks likely to gain the upper hand needed to finish the war off on the battlefield. 

Meanwhile, the negotiation table looks a long way off – about as long as Putin’s showpiece of a conference table in the Kremlin.

One fears this war could end up being the most unnecessary, wasteful, enduring conflict in European history. The devastation in the eastern part of Ukraine already looks like one of the earthquake zones in Turkey and Syria. One can only hope.

But if one good thing has come out of all this it is that the Ukrainian refugees in Denmark are doing well. We need their hands and they have won our hearts. 

Protests fail to land
Day-to-day life in Denmark has returned to normal, although the government has done its best to stir up irritation with its abolishment of the Store Bededag public holiday.

Several hundred thousand had signed a petition demanding it be left alone, and there had even been talk of a referendum. But the government has a majority in Parliament and last week they used it to get the bill passed. 

A demonstration outside Parliament couldn’t stop them either, as union members from all over the country arrived on buses bedecked in red banners – although nearer 5,000, not 50,000, as some media claimed!

A journalist asked many of them if they could provide the date of Store Bededag – and very few knew!  Maybe time has passed for this sort of action. 

Plenty of optimism
The turmoil caused by energy prices, inflation in general and the increase in defence spending will, in effect, lead to generous labour agreements that will restore the household allowance in a year or two. 

The learning point, however, is that an economic resilience has set in, as demonstrated by the way we drive: at lower speeds and increasingly in electric cars. 

Coping with lower temperatures in our homes, another unforeseen bonus in the fight against climate change, and discount shopping are the only paramount challenges on the horizon. But even natural gas prices are returning to normal.

And on top of all that: it is springtime!