After announcing an increase in its military spending in 2022, following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Denmark announced that it intends to allocate 2 percent of its gross domestic product to the defense sector by 2030, which is one of the goals of NATO, of which it is a member.
The Danish government announced Thursday that it will spend an additional 38 billion crowns ($5.6 billion) over the next ten years on the defense sector to meet “accumulated challenges”.
The Ministry of Defense said in a statement, “Approximately 27 billion crowns will be allocated for defense equipment, buildings, information technology and many more to deal with the accumulated challenges… and another 11 billion crowns will be invested” for new investments, considering that the geopolitical situation requires “more resources.” to ensure the current defense.
“For many years, the security policy situation has taken a heavy toll on the Danish defence,” the statement quoted Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen as saying.
“At the same time, we must admit that we politicians have taken decisions… based on hypotheses that have proven to be incorrect. This means that we now face a major task: to restore the foundations of defense before it is consolidated.”
The announcement comes after an assessment of the Danish Armed Forces with the aim of preparing for negotiations related to the defense budget starting in 2024. This assessment revealed wear and tear in equipment and barracks and challenges in the field of information technology, especially to meet the new digitization requirements.
For his part, Defense Ministry official Fleming Lintwer confirmed that there is an urgent need for new soldiers.
“The task is huge. It’s not something we can solve in a year or two,” he told a news conference.
After announcing an increase in its military spending in 2022, following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Denmark announced that it intends to allocate 2 percent of its gross domestic product to the defense sector by 2030, which is one of the goals of NATO, of which it is a member.
