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The citizens of Denmark have stated in the referendum that their country should be part of the common European defense policy. The end result is convincing because of the war in Ukraine.
A three-decade European Union special regulation for Denmark will soon be just history. In a referendum, almost 67 percent of Danish voters voted in favor of removing the so-called EU defense reserve, as officially announced in Copenhagen.
Denmark thus sends a “very important signal” to its allies in NATO and Europe, but also to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “We show that when Putin invades a free and independent country and threatens the stability of Europe, then the rest of us get even closer together.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was among the first to congratulate Danes on the referendum: “I am convinced that Denmark and the EU will benefit from this decision,” she wrote on Twitter. “The people of Denmark have made a historic decision,” wrote Charles Michel, President of the Council of the European Union.
There is no interest in military missions
A founding member of NATO, Denmark has been a member of the EU since 1973 (originally the European Community). However, in 1992, about 51 percent of Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty, which, in addition to a European economic and monetary union, also provides for a common foreign and security policy for the EU.
But in 1993 the Danes agreed to the treaty in the second ballot, as they were given a number of special rights. Among them was the guarantee that Denmark should not cooperate with other EU countries on defense policy issues. The northern European country has so far stayed away from joint EU military operations.
However, the Russian occupation of Ukraine on February 24 changed the attitude of many Danes and their government. Frederiksen announced the referendum just two weeks after the Russian occupation. Since then, the Social Democrats have campaigned for the repeal of the special rule. Eleven of the 14 Danish parties have called on their supporters to vote “yes” in the referendum. Only two right-wing extremist parties and one left-wing extremist were in favor of a “no”. In the end, the result was very convincing in favor of removing the special rule and cooperation in this field with other EU countries./DW
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