By NANNETTE CAZAUBON – European News Journal, Paris
The Danish Ministry of Defence announced that Denmark will step up defence investments next year. The Danes will set aside an additional 10bn kroner (€1,34bn) in their 2026 budget to reinforce Denmark’s defence capabilities and the support for Ukraine. This increase will bring the Scandinavian country’s defence spending to over 3% of GDP, with the aim of reaching the 5% mark requested by US President Donald Trump before the 2032 deadline set by NATO.
“As the geopolitical situation demands that we reinforce building our defences, I am happy that we are allocating once again more money to do so,” Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement (afp). “When we support Ukraine, it’s not only about their security – it’s about that of the whole of Europe,” he added.
Denmark has come a long way
A rather impressive change of mentality from the once strongly pro-Atlantic Nordic country, which joined the European Community in 1973 but voted for several opt-outs, including that of European defence in 1993. However, shaken by the geopolitical instability since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Danes voted in a referendum to abolish this defence exemption in 2022.
By taking over the Council Presidency from Poland, which had adopted a tough stance towards Russia in the first half of the year, the once “eurosceptic” Denmark has placed European solidarity and cooperation at the heart of its presidential programme entitled “A strong Europe in a changing world”. Stronger support for Ukraine, a capable and independent European defence within the next five years and accelerated EU enlargement are among the priorities of the Danish Presidency.
“Europe is facing a fundamentally changed security landscape, marked by war and heightened geopolitical tensions. It is therefore essential that Europe strengthen its ability to defend itself by 2030 at the latest, also as a credible contribution to Euro-Atlantic security. This requires the development of critical defence capabilities, a more robust and resilient European defence industry, including enhanced production and supply chains, and deeper EU-NATO cooperation. Excerpt from Denmark’s EU Presidency programme
Contain Russia and learn from Ukraine
Support for Ukraine and the question of how the EU can continue to reinforce Ukraine’s armed forces was one of the top points on the agenda of the last informal meeting of EU defence ministers on 29 August 2025, hosted in Copenhagen.
The meeting also addressed an interesting question: how can Europe learn from Ukraine’s experience in defence production? The Danish Defence Minister said that “Denmark and Ukraine have already signed an agreement to support the establishment of Ukrainian defence companies in Denmark.” He added that across Europe, “we can learn much more from Ukraine as we develop stronger European defences”.
Senior Editor Nannette Cazaubon is a co-founder of European News Journal. Previously, she was part of the editorial board of the magazine The European – Security and Defence Union for 15 years.
Write to Nannette: n.cazaubon@european-news-journal.com
© Jean-Claude Martinez
