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- [00:00]
Andrew Muller
You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first broadcast on 16 January 2026 on Monocle Radio. NATO's Nordic members prepare to defend themselves from the United States. Portugal elects a new president. And when and why did the customer stop being right? I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts. Hello, and welcome to the Monocle Daily, coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. It's Friday, so it's our weekly In House Daily. And Monocle staffers Carlotta Rebelo, Fernando Augusto Pacheco, Petri Birtzoff and Michael Booth will be here to discuss the day's stuff. Stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle.
- [00:52]
Michael Booth
D.
- [01:00]
Andrew Muller
This is the Monocle Daily. I'm Andrew Muller. Threats by US President Donald Trump over Greenland have galvanized the Nordic region, known for its calm diplomacy and cooperative spirit to close ranks and act. Trump's bellicose rhetoric is seen in the Nordic capitals as the most serious challenge to the region's territorial integrity and sovereignty since the Second World War. Monocle's Helsinki correspondent, Petri Birtsov brings us the view from the Nordic countries.
- [01:34]
Petri Birtzoff
For the Nordic countries, this is not a passing diplomatic spat or a burst of overheated rhetoric from Donald Trump. It is being treated as something far more serious in private and increasingly in public. Officials across the region describe it as the first time their territorial integrity has been openly threatened since the Second World War. That historical memory matters. The Nordic states are not simply neighbors. They form what is arguably the European Union's most cohesive regional community, bound together by shared history, closely related languages, overlapping political cultures, and even a joint institutional framework in the form of the Nordic Council. It is a region that prides itself on consensus and collective action. That is why the response to Trump's threats over Greenland has been framed not as Denmark being targeted, but as the Nordics as a whole being challenged. From Copenhagen to Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki and Reykjavik, the message has been coordinated and strikingly firm. Diplomatically, the Nordic governments are caught between a rock and a hard place. Every one of them relies to varying degrees on the United States for its security. All are NATO allies. None want a direct confrontation with Washington. Yet the tone of their response has been unequivocal and, at times, unusually blunt. Sweden's Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, went as far as to say that the United States should be grateful to Denmark, not threatening it. He reminded Trump that Denmark has been a steadfast ally and and that over 50 Danish soldiers died fighting alongside American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- [04:01]
Michael Booth
Iraq Our ever fempty dance Castle daughter the damn loyalty it's clear that the.
- [04:11]
Andrew Muller
President has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom.
- [04:20]
Petri Birtzoff
Danish leaders have spoken of a fundamental disagreement with Washington and warned that the use of force against a NATO ally would shatter the alliance's credibility. Norway, Finland and Iceland have lined up behind that position, stressing that questions of sovereignty are non negotiable.
- [04:56]
Kautha Ben Hanya
Stewards.
- [04:58]
Petri Birtzoff
Greenland's own leadership has been just as clear. Its prime minister, Jens Frederick Nielsen, has repeated a simple Greenland does not want to be part of the United States. It is not for sale. Decisions about its future rest with the people who live there. That point has been echoed relentlessly across Nordic capitals as an attempt to shift the debate away from great power geopolitics and back towards self determination and international law. Nordic leaders have also pushed back against the arguments used by Trump to justify his stance. Claims of rampant Chinese and Russian activity around Greenland have been publicly contradicted by officials with direct access to intelligence, often that of the United States itself. The idea that Greenland's mineral wealth represents an untapped strategic price has also been questioned. Several Nordic governments have pointed out that extraction remains limited, logistically complex and far less transformative than some of the rhetoric suggests.
- [06:10]
Andrew Muller
We want to work with our American friends and allies, but it must be.
- [06:15]
Michael Booth
A respectful cooperation and it must respect the red lines.
- [06:19]
Petri Birtzoff
There has been a conscious effort, too, to introduce some calm facts into the discussion. Under existing treaties, the United States already enjoys sweeping rights in Greenland. It can operate military bases, conduct surveillance and move forces with Denmark's consent. Nordic leaders have firmly noted that Washington has in fact reduced its true presence on the island in recent years. If the US Sees Greenland and as vital to its security, they argue, it has hardly behaved that way. That said, the Nordics are not relying on words alone. Denmark has reinforced its military presence in and around Greenland, increasing patrols, surveillance and logistical capacity. These are not large deployments, but they are deliberate signals. Sweden and Norway have contributed soldiers to joint exercises framed explicitly within NATO structures. Finland is set to decide on its participation soon. Iceland, which hosts a key military base for potential U.S. action, has emphasized that it will not permit any action from its territory that could pose a threat to Greenland. What is perhaps most striking is how the crisis is being felt on the ground in Greenland itself. Reports from the island suggest a growing sense of unease among the population. People are stocking up on essential supplies. Gun owners are buying more ammunition. These are not necessarily acts of panic, but they reflect a community that is suddenly aware it has become the focus of of global attention in a way it never asked for. Polling reinforces that mood. Surveys consistently show that a clear majority of Greenlanders oppose any form of US Takeover. Independence debates continue, but alignment with Washington is not popular. The prevailing view is one of wanting to be left alone, to decide their own future at their own pace. For the Nordic countries, the stakes are clear. This is about more than Greenland. It is about whether borders still matter, whether alliances still hold, and whether small states can rely on international rules when faced with pressure from a superpower. That is why the region has closed ranks. It is why the language has been unusually stern. And it is why there is a deep awareness that something fundamental is being tested. For Moniko in Helsinki, I am Petri Borzow.
- [09:22]
Andrew Muller
Thank you, Petri. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. The Voice of Hind Rajab, a powerful and moving film that won the grand jury prize at 2025's Venice Film Festival, has been released in cinemas today. The film centers on the harrowing and true story of a six year old girl trapped in a car under fire in Gaza and the first responders attempting to rescue her. Monocle Radio's senior correspondent Fernando Augusto Pacheco spoke with the film's Academy Award nominated director Kaufa Ben Hanya to why she felt compelled to tell the story.
- [10:15]
Kautha Ben Hanya
I was doing the Oscar campaign of my previous movie. It was nominated actually Four Daughters for an Oscar, but I was in middle of this red carpet and at the same time I was glued to the news following what was happening in Gaza and thinking all this is trivial, you know, what does it mean to be an artist or to be a filmmaker when the unthinkable is happening, you know, when reality is sometimes beyond imagination. And I was preparing another movie, actually about to enter the pre production that they've been writing for several years and then I heard the voice of Hindraza. It was in social media, it was small extract and she was begging for her life. And it's not like a normal thing to hear a child begging for life, you know. So when you hear it, you can't unhear it, you can't go with your daily stuff. And it impacted me in a very, very deep way. I was sad, I was angry, I wanted to shout and I needed to do something. As I said, what is this thing? You know, what can I do? I'm a filmmaker, I can maybe do a movie, but it wasn't obvious in the beginning because it's a real story about a real child. So I needed to reach out to the family, to reach out to her mother, if she's open to this idea. And I thought that I don't need only her approval, but I need also her blessing, you know, and her mother is just such a courageous, wonderful woman. She told me, listen, I want justice for my daughter. And if this movie can help in a way, because there is no accountability, you know, for the Israeli army, if this movie can make some pressure, can bring some justice to my daughter, please do it. Then I started the real work, you know, which is, you know, you have this strong emotion in the beginning. You want this emotion to be shared with the audience. But in between you have all the rational decision making decision, you know, of filmmaking, of creative choice, of technical choices to made, you know, so you can convey or share with the audience what you felt as an artist.
- [12:35]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
And the film is quite unusual. I don't think it's a very straightforward film, you know, because you do use her voice in the film. I think that was probably your way to honor the young girl as well. I never seen something like this. That's a first. Were you confident about that would work and that would be the best way to honor.
- [12:54]
Kautha Ben Hanya
No, you are never confident when you are a filmmaker, maker, making a movie or eaten by doubt. But since it's not my first movie and since I explored this kind of movie before, you know, Four Daughters was like this. I did several movies like this. I did documentary, I did fiction. So I knew, you know, at least the set of tools that cinema can give me to tell an impactful story. I needed to tell an impactful story, but I needed also to be respectful because it's a sensitive thing to tell the story of the murder of a child, you know, finally, which is. And it's. It's a war crime and it's a shame. And all those elements made it very, very tough. But for me, not doing it wasn't. Wasn't an option. So for the hybrid side, for example, since I made the choice to tell the story far from the car, since we have this, the voice, you know, I made the choice to stay with my camera, with those who did everything in their power to save this girl. For me, it was the right place to be. But to make it in a pure documentary form, it wasn't possible because not all of the first responder wanted to be filmed. So I told myself maybe the best way is to have another distance. You Know, which is to bring actor and to go back. This will give me the possibility not to tell something about, you know, story that happened in the past, but to do moving the present dance, like with the immediacy I felt when I heard her voice. So the actor gave me this, you know, impactful and also distance, you know, respectful distance. So I found the equation interesting. But also I was aware that when you bring actor on the table, maybe for the audience, it would be synonym of something fiction, you know, a thriller or something. Yeah. So that's why in the movie, I wanted the contract with the audience to be very clear. Those are actors, they are portraying real people. And even those actors sometimes stop acting in the middle of the movie and they start listening to the voice of the real person, you know, till this moment when the unthinkable happen, which is the bombing of the ambulance where the actor disappear and we see the real person on screen.
- [15:22]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Sometimes I have to say, I think some people, they might not owe all the details. They become desensitized with the new stories. And I. And that's where I think your value as a director. It is because watching this film is a completely different experience, if you know what I mean, than watching a news bulletin very quickly on the BBC or any other channel.
- [15:41]
Kautha Ben Hanya
Yeah, sure. I mean, I met, you know, people when they watch it, they often tell me the movie changed me, you know. But you have some people who tell me, like, I'm afraid to watch can be very hard, you know, and the movie is not hard. You know, you don't see one drop of blood in the movie. It's not graphic. It's about people in an office listening, you know, and talking with this little girl. It's not that hard. And I think we can't look away, like, say, ah, I don't want to watch it. We can't afford to look away. We need to bear witness, you know, and if it's hard, there are several ways to change things. You know, everyone from his perspective, what he's doing, you can always do something about it.
- [16:51]
Andrew Muller
That was Monocle Radio's senior correspondent Fernando Augusto Pacheco, speaking to the director Kautha Ben Hanya. The voice of Hind Rajab is out today in UK and Irish cinemas. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. On Sunday, Portugal will vote in a presidential election and will definitely elect a new president as the incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is term limited. Poles were comfortably topped for a while by former Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Henrique Gouvea. E Melo. But the race has tightened considerably to the extent that a second round runoff, unusual in Portuguese history, is anticipated. I'm joined with more by Monocle's senior foreign correspondent and Portugal desk chief, Carlotta Rebelo. Carlotta, first of all, where did it all go wrong for the admiral? He was cruising to victory at one point.
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Carlotta Rebelo
Oh, you were just dying to make that joke, according to you, Andrew, you know, I'll give it to you. I'll give it. Well, Eric Gove, he has been somewhat a popular but also controversial figure. His whole campaign has been anchored on this idea that he's an outsider.
- [18:04]
Andrew Muller
You know, anchored, you know, well done.
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Carlotta Rebelo
Thank you. Thank you. On the whole thing of he, you know, comes from the outside. He's not a career politician, someone who served the nation, you know, in this case, in the navy and the armed forces. And most notably, he became popular because he handled the vaccination campaign during the COVID pandemic. So it was this idea, you know, at times of crisis, that he took care of the nation. So this is where he was coming from. But the thing is with politics, when you're facing up to seasoned politicians, as the debates began, as the campaign began, the cracks began to show. Certain topics he wasn't able to properly answer fully or where he would stand, and some of that lack of experience in politics started to show. Now, as you did, it is looking very likely that Portugal's presidential election will go to a runoff after this Sunday's vote. But the big question is which two candidates will go through? We know for certain, almost for certain, that one of them will be Andre Ventura. He's the leader of the Chiga Party, the far right party. Even though we must remind listeners that for the presidential election, everyone is running as an individual and not as a member of a party. But obviously, parties put their support behind individuals. But he is very likely that he will go because his percentage points in the latest polls are at 22.5%. The big question is, who goes with him? Now, the latest polls say that Antonio Jose Suguru, supported by the Socialists, so left leaning, is second. He's trailing behind at 20.8%. But shortly behind him is Katrin, who's also on the right side of politics. So the big existential question is, is it going to be a second round between far right and the right or between the far right and the left? So will we have both sides of the political spectrum on the ballot in February or not?
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Andrew Muller
If it does end up being Andre Ventura as the next president and he is at least a decent chance. What would that actually mean for Portuguese politics?
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Carlotta Rebelo
We don't know. Which is a bit of the scary part of it all. Now we need to remember that his party, Shiga, has exponentially grown. It went from one MP to now being the major opposition force in the Parliament. It has been interesting to see how his tone has shifted when the campaign officially began, which was just last week. But obviously they've been campaigning for a while, if you get what I mean. But it went from a bit of the more outrageous statements that you can expect of someone who represents a party like his, you know, anti immigration speech, very nationalistic, et cetera, to the last week, where actually it's almost disconcerting to see him try to present a unified front and that he wants to present almost that he's this great, could be this great statesman, because he's trying indeed to bring votes from those on the right who are undecided and trying to show actually I'm not as extreme as I'm being portrayed. Now, is this just an act or not? That's not for me to say. But it's been quite interesting to see his campaign shift. And I think the, the, the. On the second round, ahead of the second round, his campaign is very much going to be centered on that. This idea of I can unite the right, I'm not as extreme as people say, you know, I'm the right candidate for the job. His whole thing is put Portugal first. Portugal. Portuguese people need to be fined before we start taking care of others. And he obviously is changing his rhetoric to sound a bit less anti immigration than that.
- [21:49]
Andrew Muller
I mean, with a presidential election in Portugal, it is not like the usual election. As you correctly point out, all the candidates run as ostensible independents, and the Portuguese president does not have executive power in any way like the French or the US President does. So what actual issues tend to swing the vote? Or is it just a referendum on the government or a way of the Portuguese public expressing what sort of mood it's in?
- [22:15]
Carlotta Rebelo
I mean, it's a bit of that, but most importantly, the president, as much of a symbolic figure as it is, it has a really important power, which is it can dissolve parliament and it can veto laws. So it is really crucial who sits on that chair, because right now we have a parliament that's led by Luis Montenegro from the Socialist Democrats, so center right, but the opposition is the far right. So having a president, let's say from the left, or at least from the center right, allows for some level of control. If it shifts towards the right entirely, you. It's a bit like when in the US the House and the president are of the same of the same party. You know, it's just about having some of those guardrails in place. And that's when you were asking what would it mean in the event that Ventura becomes the next president? And I was saying, we don't know it's exactly because of that. We just haven't had that extreme ever. You know, some argue that his party shouldn't even exist because by constitution we can't have, you know, fascist parties. But, you know, somehow he has managed to argue that his party party is not one of them. So there is a lot of nuance there. And I really think that more than a first round of a presidential election, it really is going to be a barometer of where people stand since the last legislative election, how they view the role of the president. And, you know, if the left can unite behind one candidate to get through the second round or not.
- [23:41]
Andrew Muller
Well, we'll have more on the result, whatever it may be, next week. Carlo Toribello, thanks for joining us. You're listening to the Daily with me, Andrew Muller. It is difficult to imagine that nobody listening to this has not at some point been driven to the limits of their patience by the telephone representative of a bank, utility, airline or some other entity which has made a spectacular shambles of the really very straightforward thing you have asked them to do. It is nigh certain that many people listening have, during such an interaction, huffed, puffed or resorted to profanity and then heard the company respond as if the honour of their mother had been impugned. Regular readers of the Monocle Minute and if you're not, why not? It's free. Will have this week read a disquisition on this theme by Monocle's Copenhagen correspondent Michael Booth, who joins me now. Michael, did a particular interaction inspire this?
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Michael Booth
Yeah, Andrew. I mean, we're all used to it online or over the phone where people can get away with it more easily. But I had a real life experience of this the other day when a plumber came to my house to try and fix a drain that wasn't being pumped properly. And he looked at it and said, oh, I've got to go and get another pump. Came back with another pump from the same faulty batch as the pump that was there before. And I didn't lose my temperature because since I met my wife, she's raised me to behave properly and correctly and not shout or swear or use anything profanities. But I did kind of present a diploma, a young guy called Alan with a proposition. Look Alan, if my basement floods again over the weekend, you come on Monday morning and clean up the mess or compensate me. How about that? I wasn't personal, I wasn't insulting. I just presented him with a kind of take some responsibility for what you're doing. And he left and his boss rang me and told me that I needed to behave properly.
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Andrew Muller
Is this something new, do you think? Did companies and their representatives always used to be such pearl clutching habitus of the fainting couch?
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Michael Booth
I should make it clear, I think the development in western society doesn't include me or anyone I know or my friends. But it does seem to be a recent decline and I blame several things. Andrew. The decline of Christianity, again not my fault and I include myself in it. But also the rise of equality. Equality is great, you know, it's like puppies and marshmallows. Who could possibly complain about it? And the more equal people are, the more equal people feel. And sometimes we're not equal. Sometimes you're providing a service, sometimes you should, you know, suck it up. Sometimes you should make a bit more of an effort and not try and evade responsibility. I'm going on a bit of a rant here, but I think a lot of people feel this at the moment.
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Andrew Muller
Well, on a related thought, are you paranoid enough to suspect that they're actually baiting you into a response to give them the excuse they're looking for to end the conversation and therefore not do the thing you're asking them to do?
- [27:00]
Michael Booth
Well, absolutely. In terms of customer care centre on the telephone, I think they look for the slightest excuse, don't they, to pass you on to their supervisor who haven't been across the conversation. So then find it quite easy to say I'm sorry, we're going to have to terminate the call because you're not behaving properly or because your language has become soldered without even having been listened to the conversation. So yeah, they're looking for excuses but in my column I think I recounted an incident of my wife stuck in her field being threatened by an angry bull. She rang the police and she at one point said something like in Danish and pissing scared. And the woman on the end of the line said I'm not going to tolerate that kind of language and hung up on her. Obviously the woman on the end of the line was having a bad day or was just bored of my wife's terror in the field scenario. But it does seem that people will jump upon the slightest opportunity to renege on their responsibilities and move on to the next call.
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Andrew Muller
I mean, have you developed any scorching hot tips for actually dealing with this short of losing your temper, which of course, as you've been explaining, doesn't work?
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Michael Booth
Yeah, well, I, I now always preface these kinds of conversations with the person on the end of the line will have introduced themselves by their Christian name, which I find, you know, unacceptable, but let's go with that. So they will have said, my name's Jemima, how can I help you today? And so I'll say, jemima, look, I realize this isn't your fault. You haven't created this circumstance where my suitcase has been lost by your airline or where my Internet isn't working today or whatever. But I'm, because you're the person I'm talking to, I have to hold you responsible. Do you feel okay with that? And I try and reason on a kind of simple human to human level without swearing, getting abusive, or any of the things I would have done maybe 20 years ago.
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Andrew Muller
And is it just customer service where this is a thing, do you think? Is there? I mean, your column does suggest this, that there is a wider problem spilling over into politics, politics for one realm of theatrical offense taking in order to avoid accountability, answering questions, et cetera.
- [29:15]
Michael Booth
Well, we've seen this time and time again recently. Trump is brilliant at it. In interviews, he gets huffy. If anyone just slightly probes in a sore area, he'll just explode in a kind of fake tizzy. But I don't know if it's a tendency of the right. That may be. Again, my personal budget is coming out. But Farage in the UK is expert at taking feigned offense when people dare to impugn his morality or his choices or his behavior. So, I mean, we don't expect better from our leaders anymore. Julie? Andrew, but you know, there was a time when, when hopefully the political leader would have given a better example than we do. But absolutely, it is now used as an excuse to dodge responsibility. Logical questions by political leaders.
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Andrew Muller
On that upbeat note, Michael, thank you for joining us. That was Monocle's Copenhagen correspondent, Michael Booth. And that is all for this edition of the Monocle Daily. It was produced by Christy o' Grady and Monica Lillis. Our sound engineer was Steph Chungu. I'm Andrew Muller here in London. The Daily is back at the same time on Monday. Thanks for listening.
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Michael Booth
Sa.