The mayor is still on "uncertain ground" according to the police report after the meeting.

With a clear intention, the mayor of Tønder gathered the municipal council behind closed doors on Thursday:

To restore the trust of his colleagues after it was revealed that he has been reported to the police eight times since 2019 regarding matters on his pig farm.

>

> I haven't really gotten much out of it.

> Bjarne Lund Henneberg (SF), member of the municipal council in Tønder

He has indeed considered continuing as mayor and candidate for the Slesvig Party for the municipal election in November.

- You don't just do that by folding your hands. But it's a step on the way, says Jørgen Popp Petersen from the Slesvig Party.

However, for many of his colleagues, the meeting where the mayor informed them about the case, did not change anything. In advance, the DF and SF in Tønder had clearly stated that they had lost trust in him due to the case.

Read also: Municipal politician on police report: 'The mayor should resign' ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/byraadsmedlem-om-politianmeldelse-borgmesteren-boer-traekke-sig )

And that is still the case for SF's candidate and member of the municipal council.

- I haven't really gotten much out of it. It doesn't change anything about my stance. I still think he would do the commune a great service if he left the ship and let someone else take the helm, says Bjarne Lund Henneberg.

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'Trust is on shaky ground'

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The Social Democrats have also been skeptical about pointing to Jørgen Popp Petersen as mayor after the municipal election - without wanting to exclude anything. And that is what the party's candidate in Tønder, Torben Struck, still thinks.

- Trust in Jørgen is still on shaky ground. But there are still two months until an election, so a lot can change. One should never exclude anything. But if you ask me today, if I would point to him as mayor if I couldn't point to myself, then he is not my first choice.

When Jørgen Popp Petersen became mayor after the municipal election in 2021, it was with almost all parties behind him. Also the Liberals. But whether the party's member of the municipal council and candidate will point to him again after the election in November, he will not answer.

- There is an election in two months, so we'll see what the voters say. We are going to the election with our own candidate, and we should not talk about constituent assemblies now. We'll see what the election brings, says Martin Iversen.

Jørgen Popp Petersen, had otherwise hoped to regain trust on the meeting.

- It's up to each individual to decide how they perceive it. I can only try to convince them that I am the same person.

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The voter's verdict falls in November

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In a period from 2019 to 2024, the Food Authority has eight times found conditions on the pig farm so serious that the Authority has chosen the toughest possible sanction, which is a police report. What the police reports specifically concern, we do not know, but it is about matters within animal welfare, medicine and approvals.

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> Even though we are in the storm, I still want to continue, and so the voters

> will have to take a stance on what they want.

> Jørgen Popp Petersen, mayor of Tønder Municipality for the Slesvig Party

Jørgen Popp Petersen has previously stated that he will stop his pig production. He does not want it to take focus from his political work. On the 18th of November, the voters in Tønder Municipality - and the rest of the country - will go to the ballot box and let their verdict fall on the mayor.

And he acknowledges that it looks difficult.

- I am fully aware that my trust has suffered a blow due to this case. It looks chaotic at the moment. And even though we are in the storm, I still want to continue, and so the voters will have to take a stance on what they want.

In three police reports, Jørgen Popp Petersen has received a fine. The five other cases are still being looked at by the prosecution.

And there is, as it looks now, no plans for further meetings between the mayor and the municipal council about the case.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.