‘Crazy, foolish, totally wrong’: Denmark scraps 300-year-old holiday to pay for Nato defence budget

The loss of the holiday - created more than 300 years ago when a Danish bishop merged several minor holidays - has triggered a backlash throughout the country

(AFP)

Danish legislators have voted to abolish a springtime public holiday in order to use the savings and boost defence spending, despite harsh criticism from the opposition, trade unions and the country’s bishops.

In a 95-68 vote, the 179-seat Folketing approved the centrist coalition government’s Bill to scrap Store Bededag, or Great Prayer Day, that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter. Some 16 legislators were absent.

Savings from the holiday’s scrapping are estimated at around three billion kroner (£353 million) annually.

The ruling coalition of the Social Democrats, the centre-right Liberals and the centre Moderates is seeking to achieve the Nato target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence by 2030, in part as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In Denmark, where political consensus is the norm, both the left and right-wing opposition united to heap scorn on the government’s move.

Opposition legislators called the Bill “foolish”, “crazy” and “totally wrong” but failed to agree on calling a referendum on the issue. In Denmark, 60 legislators can demand a plebiscite.

“Stop the thief,” Karsten Honge, a member of the Socialist People’s Party, said during a three-hour parliamentary debate. “The government is ordering people to work one day more.”

Several legislators expressed concern that getting rid of the holiday will complicate negotiations later this year between employers and trade unions about wages and working conditions.

In Denmark, the government traditionally stays away from these matters.

Workers in Denmark currently have up to 11 public holidays; the figure is lower in years where Christmas and New Year fall on weekends.

The loss of the holiday - created more than 300 years ago when a Danish bishop merged several minor holidays - has triggered a backlash throughout the country of nearly six million where more than 73% of the population belong to the State Lutheran Church, although fewer than 3% of people are regular churchgoers.

Trade unions launched an online petition that gathered nearly 500,000 signatures, while Denmark‘s 10 Lutheran bishops spoke of a “breach of trust”.

The government controls 89 seats in parliament and is supported by four legislators representing the semi-independent Danish territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.