Today, Denmark witnessed the largest demonstrations since 1985. Upwards of 50,000 people gathered before Christiansborg with a further 50,000 in the rest of the country, to protest against the governments plans to reform the welfare system (specifically unemployment benefits, pensions and student funding). Several thousand marched past our apartment and headed up towards the University. Looking down on them from above I couldn't but help note how subdued they were compared to the students from last week.
The most prominent politician to meet the demonstrators (in Copenhagen) was leader of the Social Democrats, Helle Thorning-Schmidt. This didn't hue the government who criticised Thorning-Schmidt for taking part in demonstrations against the very negotiations she was taking part in.
At the same time, the nationalist Danske Folkeparti partially pulled the rug out from under the protestors by refusing to back some of the governments plans and thus removing the majority needed to pass them. This didn't faze the demonstrators though who marched on regardless.
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