Denmark votes in referendum on defending EU amid Ukraine war

About 4.2 million Danish voters are entitled to vote in the referendum. The “yes” side – the supporter of getting rid of withdrawal in 1992 – has been at the fore in recent months. Opinion polls showed her support at around 40% and the “no” side at 30%.

“The world is changing, and not in a good way. Handing out flyers on Wednesday, Jakob Elleman Jensen, head of the opposition Liberal Party, said in a last-minute attempt to persuade undecided voters to vote “yes,” we need to stand together and strengthen the cooperation that It enhances our security.”

Recent opinion polls have shown that about 20% of voters are still undecided.

Denmark’s accession to the EU defense policy will have a relatively modest impact on Europe’s security architecture, particularly compared to the accessions of Sweden and Finland to NATO. But Kristin Nissen, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said the two steps were “part of the same story”, and would boost military cooperation on a continent stunned by war in Ukraine.

The main effect of abandoning the withdrawal would be that Danish officials could stay in the room when their EU colleagues discuss defense issues, and Danish forces could participate in EU military operations.

Denmark, one of the founding members of NATO, has remained on the sidelines of the European Union’s efforts to build a common security and defense policy in parallel with the transatlantic alliance. It was one of four withdrawals the Danes insisted on before adopting the EU’s Maastricht Treaty, which laid the foundation for a political and economic union.

The waiver meant that Denmark did not participate in EU discussions on defense policy, its development and acquisition of military capabilities and its joint military operations, such as those in Africa and Bosnia.

In a referendum in 1993, Denmark also opted not to cooperate in EU justice and home affairs, the common currency and citizenship. The withdrawal from citizenship, which said that European citizenship would not replace national citizenship, became irrelevant since then as other members later adopted the same position. But other items remain unchanged despite the efforts of successive governments to overturn them.

Danish voters decided in 2000 to stay out of the eurozone, and 15 years later voted to keep the exemption on justice and home affairs.