2005 in Denmark - Events

Events

• 8 January - Denmark is hit by the storm called Erwin, the most powerful storm since the 1999 storm called Anatol. Some areas are flooded as the wind causes very high seawater levels, but overall the damage is limited.
• 15 January - The new Copenhagen Opera House is inaugurated.
• 18 January - Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls for parliamentary elections, scheduled for 8 February.
• 8 February - 2005 Danish parliamentary election: The coalition of the Liberal Party and the Conservative People's Party is reelected. The Danish Social Liberal Party almost doubles their seats from 9 to 17, while the Liberal Party loses 4 and the Social Democrats loses 5. Following their failure to gain enough votes, Mogens Lykketoft steps down as leader of the Social Democrats, Holger K. Nielsen steps down as leader of the Socialist People's Party, and Mimi Jakobsen steps down as leader of the Centre Democrats. The Centre Democrats and the Christian Democrats fail to get above the 2-percent limit, the Centre Democrats for the second time in a row.
• 18 February - Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen presents his updated cabinet.
• 3 March - At 19.17 the 3500-ton freighter, M/V Karen Danielsen, crashes into the Western bridge of the Great Belt Bridge, 800m from Funen. All traffic across the bridge is closed, effectively splitting Denmark in two.
• 4 March
  • - The Great Belt Bridge is reopened shortly after midnight after the freighter M/V Karen Danielsen was pulled free, and inspectors found no structural damage to the bridge.
  • - The coldest day so far in Denmark this year. -20.2 degrees Celsius measured at Tune Airport near Roskilde. This is also the coldest day in the month of March since 1987. Source DMI.
• 12 April - The Social Democrats elect a new leader to replace Mogens Lykketoft who resigned after losing the 2005 Danish parliamentary election. Helle Thorning-Schmidt is elected ahead of Frank Jensen with 24,261 votes (53%) against 21,348 votes (47%).
• 28 April - Villy Søvndal is elected as the new leader of the Socialist People's Party.
• 8 June - An arson attack destroys Minister for Refugees, Immigrants and Integration Rikke Hvilshøj's car and part of her house.
• 7 July - Security in Denmark is stepped up after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The London attack is seen as connected to threats which Al Queda had made against the countries supporting USA in the occupation of Iraq, to which both the United Kingdom and Denmark contributed.
• October 15 - Crown Princess Mary of Denmark gives birth to a healthy boy, expected to be named Prince Christian of Denmark. As the first child of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark the boy is expected to become king one day. Prior to the birth there had been some speculation as to what would happen if the child was a girl; the Danish constitution says that any younger boys would be above this girl in the line of succession, while the present-day consensus in Denmark is that the girl should become Queen. There had been a good deal of speculation that this birth of a baby girl would be an opportunity to change the constitution with regard to both the line of succession and a number of other areas like human rights; but as the child was a boy this is no longer relevant.
• October 27 - The police arrests 4 persons suspected to be part of an Islamic extremist terrorist cell planning suicide attacks. The arrests are reported to be connected to other arrests made in Bosnia; weapons and explosives have been found in Sarajevo . The following day two more Danes were arrested in Denmark .
• November 15 - Elections are held at the municipality and regional levels.
• November 16 - First snow of winter, after an unusually warm autumn.