The Danish parliament, on Tuesday (28/2/2023), passed a controversial law to abolish public holidays to provide more revenue to its military. The bill has been met with protests for weeks.
In early February, around 50,000 people even took part in a demonstration outside the parliament in Copenhagen. This is a rare sight in a country that normally seeks consensus.
However, in reality, 95 Danish MPs voted in favor and 68 against the passage of the policy.
The Danish government led by Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is known to have announced plans to abolish the High Day of Prayer in January.
The Great Prayer Day is a Christian holiday which falls on the fourth Friday after Easter. This public holiday has been going on since 1686.
The holiday abolition was proposed to help increase tax revenue for greater defense spending after the Russian-Ukrainian war erupted in February 2022.
According to the Danish Government, abolishing the High Day of Prayer holiday would provide an additional 3 billion kroner to the state coffers, thanks to an additional 7.4 hours worked per worker.
The government wants to use the money generated to raise the defense budget to NATO's target of 2 percent of GDP by 2030, not 2033 as previously planned.
“I don't think it's a problem having to work an extra day,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in January.
“We are facing enormous spending on defense and security, health care, psychiatry and a green transition,” he added while presenting the government's program to parliament.
