Amid threat of US & Russian invasions, Denmark to raise defence budget by $7 bn

As Denmark faces dual threats of invasions from the United States and Russia, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced a hike of $7 billion in the country’s defence budget over the next two years.

The hike will take Denmark’s defence spending beyond 3 per cent of the GDP — beyond Nato’s aspirational threshold of 2 per cent.

At a press conference with her defence and foreign ministers, Frederiksen said that $7 billion will be spent to procure air defence systems among other urgently-required military systems. She admitted that years of negligence had led to the requirement of “massive rearmament” of Danish military at the earliest and that such a situation “must never happen again”.

Denmark is facing dual threats from US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Now that Putin feels he has already won in Ukraine, thanks to Trump, Putin has eyes on most of Europe. At the same time, Trump has also threatened to invade Denmark's Greenland and annex the island .

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Acknowledging the dual challenges, Frederiksen said that Denmark was facing its most “dangerous situation” in a very long time.

Experts have said that a long period of downsizing and no procurement has led to Denmark having a diminshed military with no air defence systems.

3rd defence package in 2 years

Frederiksen said that the usual lengthy processes will not be followed in procurements under the $7 billion fund.

“There is one message for the chief of defence: Buy, buy, buy…If we can’t get the best equipment, buy the next best. There’s only one thing that counts now and that is speed,” said Frederiksen at the press conference on Wednesday.

This is at least the third tranche of defence spending hike that Frederiksen has unveiled in recent years. Last year, she allocated an extra approximately $26 billion to be spent on defence for a period of 10 years. However, it was felt it was not sufficient and the timeline was too long. That’s why the latest tranche has been announced with a shorter timeline. In another tranche, $1.5 billion were allocated to be spent on Greenland's defences in December .

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Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said at the press conference that the plan would hike defence spending from 2.4 of the GDP in 2024 to 3.2 per cent in 2025. It was just 1.37 per cent in 2022, the year Russia invaded Ukraine.

‘We’re in most dangerous situation’

Amid dual threats from Trump and Putin, Frederiksen said that the country was facing the most dangerous situation in a very long time.

“We have had to pay attention to a lot, both here in Denmark and in Greenland, and in general as Europeans. We are in the most dangerous situation in many, many years,” said Frederiksen.

Frederiksen said that there was no option other than beefing up the military at the earliest.

“Does the world look uneasy? Yes. Is there reason to believe it will be over soon? No. There is one message for the chief of defence: Buy, buy, buy,” said Frederiksen.

Later in a post on Facebook, Frederiksen said that it was time for the country to face the reality in the face of threats to both Denmark and Greenland. She said that there was no guarantee that the situation would improve soon and the country would prepare accordingly.

Flagigng the gap with Russia, Frederiksen said that the Nato’s assessment is that Russia produces more ammunition in three months than Nato does in an entire year.

“We’re facing an aggressive Russia which is reinforcing and who may be getting ready to attack in other countries and the reality is, unfortunately, we are behind. According to Nato, Russia produces more ammunition in three months than Nato does in an entire year. That’s why speed is becoming a crucial factor. We need to invest more in our defense and it shall go fast,” said Frederiksen in a post in Danish.

Denmark has been taking the threat from Trump seriously. Following a telephonic conversation, a person briefed on the conversation said that Trump is very serious about annexing Greenland and “it is serious, and potentially very dangerous”, according to Financial Times.