Danes ‘furious’ over plan to abolish public holiday to fund defence budget

Union leader says cancelling religious holiday dating from 1600s is ‘a threat to the Danish model’

The Danish government’s plan to abolish a public holiday to help fund the defence budget amid the war in Ukraine is putting Denmark’s cherished welfare model at risk, the country’s biggest trade union confederation has warned.

“It’s a big threat to the Danish model”, said Lizette Risgaard, the head of the FH confederation, which has 1.3 million members in a country of 5.9 million inhabitants.