US ambassador criticises Denmark’s military budget, despite increase

US ambassador criticises Denmark’s military budget, despite increase
US Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands. Photo: Thomas Lekfeldt/Ritzau Scanpix
The United States’ ambassador to Denmark wants politicians to allocate more money to defence than is currently earmarked.

Parliament this week decided to increase the national defence budget by 4.5 billion kroner (600 million euros) by 2024, but the move was described as “far from enough” by the US ambassador Carla Sands, newspaper Børsen reports.

The 4.5 billion kroner-figure incorporates an additional 1.5 billion kroner into already-planned defence budget increases, the newspaper writes.

That means that Denmark’s defence budget will, by 2023, constitute 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP, compared to 1.3 percent today.

Sands said the amount was not enough, noting that Denmark pledged in 2014 to work towards a level equivalent to 2 percent of GDP.

“A discussion is required amongst Danish politicians as to how they will reach the targets they themselves have set. How will we get there?”, the ambassador said to Børsen according to the newspaper’s report.

Minister of Defence Claus Hjort Frederiksen did not wish to be interviewed in response to the ambassador’s comments, but told Børsen in an email that the increased money spent on defence “is a good development which ought to please our allies”.

Denmark has desired to reach a similar level of defence spending as countries like Germany, according to the report.

That would give Copenhagen a response to pressure from US president Donald Trump, who has repeatedly voiced his view that Nato member countries should increase the proportion of GDP spent on defence.

Although Sands criticised Danish politicians, she praised the country’s soldiers as “brave and skilled”, Børsen writes. Their presence in areas of conflict “where few would engage” made Denmark a “formidable ally”, she said.

Sands, a former chiropractor, board chairperson and actress with no previous diplomatic experience, was appointed ambassador to Denmark by Trump in 2017.

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