Denmark boost defense spending
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 US support for the trans-Atlantic 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 US 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, European defense contractors like BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo, and Saab have shot up since Trump was elected, outperforming US giants like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
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Europe is responding to the Russian threat and that should be seen as a positive for the West as a whole. The US also should be boosting its defense.
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“Russia is not winning in Ukraine. They’re not losing but they’re just not winning,” says Kallas, a senior officer in a specialist brigade that deploys across much of the 1,300km front line. “The enemy are making very small gains for an enormous cost in men and equipment. They’re not having any operational successes of any significance and they’re definitely not able to use anything like the amounts of artillery and armour that we saw a few months ago.”
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