On 14 December 2022, Prime Minister
Mette Frederiksen proposed abolishing the holiday in 2024 as a means of increasing Denmark's
defence spending. The government estimated that cancelling the holiday would provide an extra three billion
Danish kroner to be used toward's Denmark's defence budget. The proposal did not include removing the holiday from the
Faroes and Greenland. This proposal was received negatively by
the opposition parties, trade unions,
the national church, and the general public, with a petition to keep the holiday receiving more than 477,000 signatures as of 28 February. In early February 2023, ahead of the government's vote on the matter, around 50,000 protesters gathered outside the
Danish Parliament to protest the proposal. On 28 February 2023, the Danish Parliament voted 95-68 to abolish Store Bededag, effective from 2024. Store Bededag was celebrated in Denmark as a public holiday for the last time on the 5 May 2023. ==References==