COPENHAGEN The year 2022 has also been historic in Denmark’s defense policy and citizens’ attitudes.
The researchers from the Danish International Research Institute DIIS interviewed by mention three significant things that have changed since Russia invaded Ukraine.
First, Denmark has compacted defense cooperation (you move to another service) with the United States. The countries agreed in the spring that from now on, American soldiers and aircraft can come to the island of Bornholm, located in an important location in the Baltic Sea, or to other parts of Denmark.
Senior researcher Hans Mouritzen DIIS says that US fighter jets may have flown over Denmark in the past and military exercises have been organized on the ground, but otherwise US soldiers have not been seen in Denmark.
– So far, the option has not been used, but it is possible in the future.
Analyst at DIIS Jakob Linnet Schmidt says that cooperation between Denmark and the United States has gradually increased since the end of the Cold War, but this year’s decision is historically large.
A complete turnaround in the approach to EU defense cooperation
Another key defense political decision is Denmark’s accession to the European Union’s defense cooperation. Previously, Denmark was one of the few EU countries that was not part of the Union’s defense cooperation, but after the start of the Russian war of aggression in the country, it was decided to hold a referendum on joining it.
Almost all parties in the People’s Assembly started campaigning for the accession, and in the end the people agreed.
– Citizens’ opinions regarding the EU’s defense cooperation changed in the same way as in Finland and Sweden regarding NATO. Before the war, joining was very unlikely, says Linnet Schmidt.
According to the Danish Defense Forces, the strength of the country’s army is 7,000–9,000 professional soldiers. Mouritzen says that the Danish defense forces are mainly suited to international interventions, and the country’s soldiers have been in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, for example.
For example, Finland has a larger national defense force than Denmark. Defense cooperation is a vital condition for securing one’s own country.
– Finland could manage without NATO, but Denmark would not be able to defend itself without allies, says Mouritzen.
The people were horrified: Archive leave for a working day and salary for the defense budget?
The third major decision in Denmark is to increase the country’s defense budget. The budget was increased once in the spring, and now the new government formed in December decided to increase the budget even more.
The governing parties Social Democrats, the center-right party Venstre and the moderates in the middle outlined that the country intends to increase its defense budget in accordance with NATO’s goal from the current approximately 1.4 percent to 2 percent of the gross domestic product by 2030. This would mean around six billion euros.
Jakob Linnet Schmidt says that Denmark has been under pressure to increase its defense spending to the NATO target for years. Especially since the occupation of Crimea in 2014, politicians have talked more about the goal, but the transition to it has been slow.
– From the spring of 2022, for example, Germany has put both direct and indirect pressure on Denmark to reach the two percent goal. Now both countries have decided to speed up the pace, says Linnet Schmidt.
In its first press conference, the new government said that money will be taken for the growing defense budget, for example by changing one day off for a working day (you switch to another service). This caused confusion among the people and the journalists present at the press conference. So do the Danes do one day of work for free for the country’s defense spending?
It is still not entirely clear what the relationship between the extra working day and the defense budget is, but the government partners will later insured (you switch to another service), that citizens get full pay for their work. One possible solution is that the employees receive a normal salary, and the increase from the public holiday would go to the state’s defense budget.
– It may be that we start talking in such a way that in this world situation all Danes should take responsibility for the country’s defense budget. It will be interesting to see if citizens buy this sales pitch, says Linnet Schmidt.
Denmark has been hoping for Finland and Sweden to join NATO for a long time
The researchers interviewed by state that, in general, the political atmosphere and speech in Denmark has changed this year.
In Denmark, one of NATO’s founding countries, NATO has so far received support from the people and most parties, and this year the support has increased even more.
According to Mouritzen, Denmark has also eagerly hoped to include Finland and Sweden in the defense alliance.
– Denmark has always worked for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. But before the war of aggression, the countries themselves had not wanted it.
And when the countries then applied to become members of the defense alliance, Denmark was the first to ratify the applications together with Canada. Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO is also mentioned by Denmark’s new government in the program (you switch to another service).