Denmark has announced that it will triple its defense spending over the next 10 years to reach the NATO target of 2% of GDP.
" The government wants to significantly strengthen Denmark's security and defense with a budget of around 143 billion kroner ($20.5 billion) over the next 10 years," Denmark's acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said today.
According to the plan, spending on equipment, personnel and defence infrastructure will be around 6.9 billion kroner in 2024 and should reach 19.2 billion kroner by 2033. The extra budget will be partly financed by the abolition of the Store Bededag holiday, which will be introduced from 2024, despite opposition from many Danes.
Store Bededag is a religious holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter. Store Bededag this year is on May 5.
Acting Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen speaks to the media in Brussels, Belgium on March 20. Photo: AP
The plan would help Denmark reach the NATO target of 2% of GDP for defense spending. Copenhagen's defense spending currently stands at 1.38% of GDP.
"The goal is to ensure that the Arctic and the North Atlantic are areas of low tension. We will protect Denmark and fulfil our obligations and take joint responsibility for security in the Baltic region and the Baltic Sea," Lund Poulsen added.
The plan to increase defense spending comes as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has emerged as a possible candidate to succeed Jens Stoltenberg, who is expected to step down in September. Frederiksen has received further media attention since the White House announced that she will meet with US President Joe Biden in early June.
Ms Frederiksen became Denmark's youngest prime minister in history in 2019, when she took office at the age of 41. She would have to give up her role as prime minister if she became NATO leader, which political commentators said would put the Danish government at risk.
Nhu Tam (According to AFP, Reuters )
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