Denmark’s Premier Faces Probe Over Controversial Mink Cull

(Bloomberg) -- Denmark’s parliament begins hearings on Thursday on whether Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen knew she was issuing an illegal order last year when deciding to cull the country’s entire mink population to prevent Covid-19 mutations.

Frederiksen and several key ministers and government officials will be testifying in court in the coming months for the parliamentary probe, which seeks to establish if the minority government knowingly broke the law when it decided to cull 17 million mink in November. The move damaged the reputation of the government that otherwise is perceived to have handled the crisis well.

The center-right opposition is hoping that the probe will eventually lead to an impeachment trial against Frederiksen, whose decision followed warnings from health authorities that Covid-19 mutations could spread among the mink and potentially undermine vaccination efforts. Most of the parties in parliament still think the decision at the time was right.

The probe will also seek to uncover how the government acted when it discovered it didn’t have the necessary laws in place to order culling of the entire stock. Mink farmers later received $3 billion in total compensation.

Frederiksen is scheduled to testify on Dec. 9. Several other ministers are also due to appear on the witness stand, including Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen.

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