Danish officials address media regarding an increased defense spending plan (Danish MoD)
BELFAST — Based on a strategic assessment that Russia could rearm faster than NATO should the war in Ukraine end or turn into a frozen conflict, Denmark says it plans on injecting an additional 50 billion DKK ($7 billion) to its defense budget over 2025-2026.
The uplift will see the Nordic nation exceed 3 percent GDP on military spending. In a translated statement from Wednesday, the government said the extra money will speed up the “building of the Armed Forces’ combat power,” and be drawn from an “Acceleration Fund.”
Copenhagen did not specify which weapon systems the new fund will be used to acquire, but laid out its security fears in clear terms.
The Danish Ministry of Defence “assesses that when the war in Ukraine stops or freezes and NATO does not arm itself at the same pace, Russia will be able to free up significant military resources and, within about 2 years, pose a credible threat to one or more NATO countries in the Baltic Sea region, if the US does not get involved,” it said.
The warning that Russia could rearm within two years is not out of step with comments from other regional officials. During a recent trip to Washington, Lt. General Carl-Johan Edström, Sweden’s Chief of Defense Staff, told Breaking Defense that it will take only a few years for Russia to rearm itself if the Ukraine conflict freezes.
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“If you’re a country with the border to Russia, then you say two to three years. And if you’re really far away, then you say maybe five to 10 years,” he said. “You have to look at that perspective, maybe five years, maybe less. Not more.”
European powers are still struggling to come to terms with the reality of urgently having to do more to protect the continent without relying on the US for renewed support.
US President Donald Trump labelling Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and speculating that “he is not going to have a country left” have only heightened concerns in the region that Washington is prepared to negotiate a peace deal along pro-Russian lines and without any involvement from Kyiv or NATO allies.
“The current security situation demands political action from European allies,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said during a Wednesday press conference, according to a post on X.
Washington also continues to test bilateral relations with Copenhagen through its push to buy Greenland, which has included hints from Trump that he would be open to military action to take it over. The island is a self-governing territory that remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
In January, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen quashed the US military takeover idea, telling local broadcaster TV 2 “I don’t have the imagination to imagine us getting there.”
Copenhagen’s latest spending pledge comes after it also committed last month to spend $2.04 billion on new naval vessels, long-range drones and improved space capabilities in a bid to strengthen Arctic security.
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