Two-thirds of the country’s citizens voted for Denmark’s participation in the defense policy of the European Union (CSDP) in a referendum, based on election commission data based on the results of 100% of the votes being counted. This idea was supported by 66.9% of Danes, while 33.1% opposed.
Today Denmark is a NATO member and participates in the alliance’s operations, but is also the only EU member not participating in the CSDP.
The country has been in this position for 30 years since the establishment of the EU. He withdraws from participating in all EU discussions on defense policy and the acquisition of military equipment, as well as joint military operations of the contingent, for example, in Africa or Bosnia and Herzegovina. Danish representatives leave EU meetings if they touch on security discussions.
This is due to the position that the Danes have held so far. At one time, they rejected the Maastricht Treaty on the creation of the EU in a referendum. It was approved only in 1993, after an agreement was reached on the independence of the kingdom in four areas: currency, citizenship (now this item has lost its relevance), justice, home affairs and defense.
The Danish authorities have already twice tried to change the situation with the help of referendums, but in 2000 the Danes refused to join the eurozone, and in 2015 they refused to change the judicial system.
This time, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced her decision to hold a referendum in early March, after the five leading parliamentary parties agreed to change the country’s security policy and presented an agreement called the National Accord on Danish Security Policy.
In addition to the need to hold a referendum on the country’s participation in EU security policy, this document includes provisions such as increasing defense spending from 1.44 percent of GDP to 2 percent, $1 billion in urgent defense investment, and “permission”. For a budget deficit that will arise as a result of increased military spending.
Commenting on the referendum results, he said he was “happy and proud”. “We made the right decision for ourselves and the continent we are a part of. “This is a strong signal for our allies,” he said.
Europe split into “before” and “after” February 24
Announcing the decision to hold a referendum, Frederiksen noted that within a few days the world had changed and Europe was divided into “before and after February 24 (the start date of the Russian special operations in Ukraine)”.
Indeed, after the start of special operations in the European Union, only Denmark decided to reconsider its defense policy. The most controversial and worrying thing for Russia was the reaction of Sweden and Finland, which decided to give up the neutral status protected by the states since the Cold War and join NATO.
On February 27, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that defense spending will reach 2% of the country’s GDP in the coming years.
In addition, it was announced that a special fund of 100 billion Euros was created for the rearmament of the Bundeswehr in Germany. A coalition of three German ruling parties and an opposition bloc from the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions agreed on the foundation’s legal framework on 30 May. To create this, it will probably be necessary to amend the German Basic Law and change the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, this needs to be supported by two-thirds of the deputies of the Bundestag.
Conversion to a military unit?
After February 24, the European Union as a whole became more concerned about its military strength, and in March approved for the first time a defense strategy called the “Strategic Compass”.
EU countries decided to form a rapid response force of 5 thousand people ready to take part in the solution of “various types of crises”. As EU Foreign Policy High Representative Josep Borrell stated at that time, European countries should be able to speak the language of power.
“There is now an opportunity to strengthen the military component of the EU until a joint power of the European Union is created, and the Danes frankly do not want to stand aside.”
Oleg Barabanov, Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of World Economy and World Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told socialbites.ca.
According to him, in this case the issue is not as critical or even important for Russia as the participation of Finland and Sweden in NATO, because the EU defense system already exists, but it does not make the greatest contribution in the military sense.
“Denmark is among the countries that harshly criticize Russia. But within the framework of the common defense policy of the European Union, Russia already has a lot of critics, so Denmark’s decision is unlikely to have a significant impact on the situation, ”the statement said.
“The transformation of the EU into a military alliance is not worth talking about, it is impossible as it is completely dependent on the US for foreign policy and security matters.”
Timofei Bordachev, program director of the Valdai Club, attracted attention for his role.
“Furthermore, the involvement of Denmark, one of the reliable allies of the United States, shows that there will be absolutely no more independence,” he told socialbites.ca.