- Denmark will spend 70% more on defense over the next two years, bringing its outlays to 3.2% of GDP, as President Donald Trump has called on NATO countries to boost their militaries. The planned increase also follows a Danish intelligence report that said Russia may start a war in Europe within years.
NATO member Denmark will pour billions more into its military as Europe reckons with the risks of wavering U.S. support for the transatlantic alliance and continued aggression from Russia.
Over the next two years, Denmark will spend an additional $7 billion on defense, representing a 70% increase and lifting its outlays to 3.2% of GDP from 2.4% last year.
On Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen signaled urgency in its procurement plans, which will also be aided by waivers and a restructuring of the defense ministry.
“There is one message for the chief of defense: Buy, buy, buy,” she told reporters, later adding, “If we can’t get the best equipment, buy the next best. There’s only one thing that counts now and that is speed.”
The infusion of funds will enable Denmark to buy cutting-edge weapons and send more equipment to Ukraine. It also comes a month after pledging $1.9 billion to reinforce Greenland’s defenses as Russia has raised its military profile in the Arctic while Trump has said the U.S. should own the island.
NATO members have backed a target of spending 2% of GDP on defense, but several have fallen short, and President Donald Trump has said they should increase their goal to as much as 5%.
Meanwhile, stock prices of European defense contractors like BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo, and Saab have shot up since Trump was elected, outperforming U.S. giants like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
That’s as he pushes for cuts at the Pentagon and a swift end to Russia’s three-year-old war on Ukraine, with the potential for European troops being deployed to Ukraine as part of a settlement.
Earlier this month, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service assessed the risk from Russia once its Ukraine war stops or freezes in place.
Russia could launch a local war against a bordering country within six months, a regional war in the Baltics within two years, and a large-scale attack on Europe within five years if the U.S. does not get involved, according to a translation of the report from Politico.
“Russia is likely to be more willing to use military force in a regional war against one or more European NATO countries if it perceives NATO as militarily weakened or politically divided,” according to the report, which was dated Feb. 9 and released Tuesday. “This is particularly true if Russia assesses that the U.S. cannot or will not support the European NATO countries in a war with Russia.”
That warning was echoed by Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, who wrote in the Financial Times on Friday that Russia is reconstituting its military to become bigger and better in five years.
And even if Russia’s Ukraine war ends and sanctions on Moscow are lifted, President Vladimir Putin will remain hostile to the West, viewing it as a “mortal enemy,” he added.
“Putin’s triumphalism, vengefulness, and desire to make a mark on Russian history, along with the glaring lack of checks and balances in the Kremlin, will prompt Moscow to start preparing for the next war while stepping up its intimidation campaign against Europe,” Gabuev said.
