Global Courant 2023-05-30 17:46:42
After years of scaling back, the Scandinavian nation plans to spend $21 billion on defense over the next 10 years.
The Danish government plans to invest 143 billion Danish kroner ($21 billion) in defense over the next 10 years, aiming to achieve its military and security goals as a founding member of NATO.
The Nordic nation currently spends around DKK 27 billion ($3.89 billion) a year on defence, and the government had said it would gradually increase this to DKK 19.2 billion ($2.8 billion) by 2033. , starting with an increase of 6.9 billion Danish kroner ($995 million) next year.
“We need to be able to meet to a greater extent the demands and expectations that NATO and its allies have for Denmark,” Troels Lund Poulsen, acting defense minister, told reporters.
“This requires major investments in our armed forces to take away our share of responsibility,” he added.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen — who has emerged as a contender to become NATO’s next chief — also announced that the country would provide an additional DKK 21.9 billion ($3.16 billion) in military aid to Ukraine. would allocate – a move welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
After the Cold War, Denmark reduced spending on its defense capabilities.
But since Russia invaded Ukraine, Copenhagen has acknowledged shortcomings in its ability to defend its territories and pledged last year to permanently increase its defense spending to 2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) – an integral NATO goal.
In February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also called on member states to invest more in defense as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.
“Clearly we need to spend more,” Stoltenberg said after a meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels in February.
However, the Danish government stressed that the latest defense budget announcements will only help the country meet the NATO 2030 target.
