News Snippets from the European Press

Germany:  Less red tape Germany’s government will cut down on bureaucracy after the Cabinet agreed to a new law that would digitise paperwork and bring savings of €625 million in space, rental and storage costs. “Reducing bureaucracy is one of the federal government’s major tasks, one of our major projects,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared.

Denmark: Invader shot A hunter in Wadden Sea coastal area shot a raccoon, an invasive species which endangers native wildlife and can be legally killed year-round in Denmark. “Raccoons have spread significantly in Germany and we can expect increasing numbers here,” Jan Boge, director of the Wadden Sea National Park told the DR broadcaster.

Called up Denmark’s plans to introduce military service for women will make it one of the few countries requiring females to spend time in the armed forces. Speaking on March 13, Defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that “robust conscription, including full gender equality” would contribute to solving defence challenges.

Norway: Royal pacemaker King Harald was fitted with a permanent pacemaker at the Rikshospitalet in Oslo on March 12 to replace the temporary device that was implanted at a hospital in Malaysia after the 87-year-old monarch was taken ill while on holiday.  “The operation was successful, and the King is doing well,” the palace said afterwards.

No camping Critics condemned Bergen city hall’s decision to ban overnight camping in parks, public spaces and on roadsides, claiming this was directed at keeping the homeless off the streets. “We’re a city known for promoting human rights, but now we’re distancing ourselves from that,” the Red Party’s Mailiss Solheim Akerblom claimed.

Italy: Uniform charge A couple from Mussolini’s birthplace, Predappio, faced prosecution for dressing their small son as a member of the ONB fascist youth movement in October 2022.  Public prosecutors said they and others who were celebrating the centenary of Mussolini’s March on Rome should be tried for breaking anti-fascism laws.

Bear facts Eighteen people are under investigation for online hate crimes after blaming Andrea Papi, who was mauled to death a bear while out running in Trentino, for the subsequent court order to have it put down.  Instead, the female bear thought to be defending her cubs, was eventually reprieved and rehomed to another area.

Belgium: Picture that! L’Ami Intime (The intimate friend) by the Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte recently fetched £33.6 million (€39.37 million) at Christie’s in London. Collectors Gilbert and Lena Kaplan bought the painting in 1980 but loaned it to Belgium’s Royal Fine Arts Museums for a 1998 exhibition in Brussels.

Crane drama A crane carrying out track maintenance near Belsele collapsed onto an empty train which derailed, damaging tracks, cables and a gantry as well as an oncoming train, none of whose passengers were affected. The crane operator jumped clear although the driver of the empty train and his assistant suffered minor injuries.

Netherlands: Help needed Roughly half of the over-55s, especially the single, find it difficult to manage cooking, housework and finances, figures from the Netherlands’ Central Statistics Agency revealed.  Thirty-four per cent of people over 75 admitted that they “struggled” with at least one household chore or could not do it at all.

Time to go After the EU lifted sanctions against Arkady Volozh, the Russian billionaire can again access his European possessions including an Amsterdam mansion occupied by squatters.  As a court ruled in 2023 that they could remain while Volzh’s assets were frozen, the oligarch’s lawyers now argue that this means they must go.

France: Frog warning Scientists and conservationists said that  consumption of frogs’ legs needed stricter regulation.  Between 2010 and 2019, France imported 30,015 tons of frogs’ legs, a Nature Conservation study found, which has prompted warnings that continuing demand could “decimate” frog populations in Indonesia and Turkey.

Going for gold France’s Ministry of the Economy issued a five-year prospecting permit to Aurelius Ressources, a subsidiary of British operator Aurelius Resources.  The authorisation covers a 39.19-square kilometre area in the Limousin region where the company will seek minerals that include gold, silver, antimony, tungsten, cobalt and lithium.

Finland: Early birds Two bears at Helsinki Zoo woke from their winter hibernation in early December after only six weeks, one of the shortest hibernation periods ever seen there. After this year’s December awakening, the two females then returned for a brief seven-day sleep during the February cold nap before abandoning their dens once more.

Smoothed over Skaters are enjoying unusually smooth ice on the sea ice off Helsinki, formed after surface snow began to melt in February but froze over when the temperature dropped, creating a glassy effect.  The authorities warned skaters that the ice remained thick but to venture out only with adequate safety equipment.

Ireland: Too fast Road deaths in the European Union fell by an average of 1 per cent in 2023, compared with the previous year, but in Ireland they increased by 19 per cent with 184 people losing their lives, a 33 per cent increase on pre-pandemic 2019. Police attributed the rise to speeding and mobile phone use while driving.

Bog off Referring Ireland to the EU’s Court of Justice, the European Commission claimed it had failed to put a stop to persistent peat-cutting in protection areas for raised and blanket bogs.  The sites were continually degraded through drainage and turf-cutting activities, with insufficient action taken to restore them, the EU said.

Portugal: May date The final of the Festival da Cançao 2024 to select the song and performer that will represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest was won by Iolanda and the composition Grito.  The programme had an average audience of 486,000, which amounted to 12 per cent of all viewers but was 74,000 down on 2023.

No problem The recently-published European Social Survey (ESS) found that Portugal, along with the UK, Spain and Norway, was one of the countries where respondents were most open to immigration. The ESS study also found that the perception of immigration as a threat was lower than the average for European countries.

Sweden: Lichen fears Sami reindeer herders in northern Sweden said deforestation threatened their way of life and the animals they depend on. The herders explained that reindeer need lichen which only grows in old forests to survive, and they are on the brink of starvation as the ancient trees disappear, together with their own means of support.

Rat trap As Malmo prepares to host the Eurovision Song Contest in May, city authorities are turning to ferrets and dogs to eliminate the rats they have combatted over the past year.  “We’re putting in extra-special efforts on certain locations where the Contest will held,” the company supplying the ferrets and dogs told SVT television.