Danish gov't vows to improve common welfare

The Danish government is planning to further spend 39 billion Danish kroner (5.71 billion U.S. dollars) over the next five years on improving common welfare, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Smidt announced Tuesday.

"We are a government that will both create jobs and growth, and also want to improve our common welfare," said the prime minister at a press conference presenting a major welfare initiative.

"There are prospects for further growth in the coming years in Denmark, and we want to use part of the growth to more welfare," Thorning-Smidt added.

Specifically, the government will spend 15 billion kroner in the period from 2016 to 2020 on better health for cancer patients, the elderly, chronically ill and so on.

The objective is that three out of four cancer patients in 2025 must be alive five years after diagnosis, according to the plan.

Another 15 billion kroner will be allocated for increased security, the socially vulnerable and contingencies.

The government will also spend 5 billion kroner on children, education and social mobility, and 4 billion kroner on research, green transformation and growth.

This week marks Thorning-Schmidt's last chance to call an election if she wants Danes to go to the polls before summer holidays.

Under the Danish law, a general election must be held every four year. The prime minister has the power to call an early general election.

A latest Voxmeter poll for Danish news agency Ritzau indicates the opposition parties, led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen, would win 96 seats if an election was held Tuesday, against 79 for the governing coalition. (1 U.S. dollar = 6.83 Danish kroner) Endit