Denmark says 'yes' to EU common defense policy

COPENHAGEN, June 3 ------ An overwhelming majority of Danes — almost 67 percent — voted on in favor of joining the European Union's common defense policy 30 years after opting out, results showed with all ballots counted.

The vote comes on the heels of neighboring Finland's and Sweden's historic applications for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership as Russia's invasion of Ukraine forces countries in Europe to rethink their security policy. "Tonight, Denmark has sent a very important signal. To our allies in Europe and NATO, and to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. We're showing that when Putin invades a free country and threatens stability in Europe, we others pull together," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told cheering supporters. "Denmark now can partake in the European cooperation on defense and security. And for that I'm very, very happy," she said. Denmark's defense opt-out has meant that Copenhagen, a founding member of NATO, has since 1993 not participated in EU foreign policy where defense is concerned and does not contribute troops to EU military missions.

Earlier in the day, Frederiksen said as she cast her ballot that Denmark, a country of 5.5 million people, was "too small to stand alone in a very, very insecure world." "There was a Europe before February 24, before the Russian invasion, and there is another Europe after," she said after the results came in. "When there is once again war on our continent, you can't be neutral." A total of 66.9 percent of Denmark's 4.3 million eligible voters voted in favor of scrapping the opt-out, while 33.1 percent voted against. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel welcomed the result.

Denmark's decision was a "strong message of commitment to our common security," von der Leyen tweeted, saying Denmark and the EU would benefit. "This decision will benefit Europe and make both the EU and the Danish people safer and stronger," Michel wrote on Twitter. The traditionally euro-skeptic country has often said "no" to greater EU integration, most recently in 2015, when it voted against strengthening cooperation on police and security matters for fear of losing sovereignty over immigration.

Denmark has been an EU member since 1973, but it put the brakes on transferring more power to Brussels in 1992 when 50.7 percent of Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty, the EU's foundation treaty. It needed to be ratified by all member states to enter into force. In order to persuade Danes to approve the treaty, Copenhagen negotiated a series of exemptions, and Danes finally approved it the following year. Since then, Denmark has remained outside the European single currency, the euro — which it rejected in a 2000 referendum — as well as the bloc's common policies on justice, home affairs and defense. Copenhagen has exercised its defense opt-out 235 times in 29 years, according to a tally by the Europa think tank.

Lykke Friis, the think tank's director, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that there was "no doubt that Ukraine was the major reason for calling the referendum." Frederiksen announced the referendum just two weeks after the invasion and has reached an agreement with a majority of parties in Denmark's parliament, the Folketing. At the same time, she also announced plans to increase defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product, in line with NATO membership targets, by 2033.

Source: manilatimes.net