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MILITARY

Denmark boosts Ukraine military aid by 4.4 billion kroner

Denmark's government is to add 4.4 billion kroner ($630 million) for military aid to its Ukraine aid fund as Kyiv pleads Western allies for more support against Russia's invasion.

Published: 26 April 2024 09:03 CEST
Denmark boosts Ukraine military aid by 4.4 billion kroner
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes Danish Minister for Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs Morten Bødskov, right, before a bilateral meeting at the Mariinsky Palace, April 23, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Ukraine Presidency/Zuma/Ritzau Scanpix

The fund was set up to distribute aid to Ukraine between 2023 and 2028, with the latest commitment bringing the total of military aid Denmark has pledged to 64.8 billion kroner.

“Denmark has since the start of the war been one of the most active donor nations,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement.

“We will continue to do so and therefore I am pleased that a large majority of the parties of the Folketing (Denmark’s parliament) are supporting us adding a further 4.4 billion kroner for military aid in 2024 to the Ukraine fund.”

The government listed previous aid supplied to Ukraine, such as artillery pieces and ammunition, missiles, tanks, drones and anti-air systems.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s defence minister says threat from Russia calls for more military spending

It said the purpose of the fund would be to continue to supply “direct military support to Ukraine in the form of among other things weapons, other military equipment and training programmes”.

Denmark, one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, signed a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine at the end of February, following similar agreements between Kyiv and Berlin, London and Paris.

It is the fourth largest donor of military aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s 2022 invasion, according to the German-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The announcement comes after US President Joe Biden signed a bill providing $61 billion in military and economic aid to Kyiv — after it was passed by Congress following months of negotiations.

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MILITARY

US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

US troops are planning to take part in a military exercise on the island of Bornholm next month, marking the third time in three years US soldiers have trained on Danish soil.

Published: 27 April 2024 10:38 CEST
US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, revealed the planned exercise, which will take plance between May 1st and May 7th in a briefing to the Danish parliament’s defence committee.

As part of the exercise, US troops will ship an unnamed weapons system to Bornholm Airport, and then set it up in a military exercise area, but would not then fire any shots or missiles. 

“The exercise has a military training aspect, but also sends a signal about the solidarity of the alliance, about American commitment to security in Europe and in our own immediate area,” Lund Poulsen said in the briefing.

US troops took part in similar exercises in 2022 and 2023 on the strategically placed island, which lies 360km away from the Russian and controls access to the western Baltic. 

The US had requested permission to train on Bornholm, which the Danish government then accepted. There is no change in Danish armed forces’ assessment of the threat against Bornholm or Denmark, Lund Poulsen stressed. 

In December, Denmark entered into an agreement with the US, which permits US soldiers and equipment to be kept permanently on Danish soil, with hte US granted access to the Karup, Skrydstrup and Aalborg air bases.

When US troops held a similar exercise on the island in 2022, with a large missile system deployed to the island, the Russian ambassador to Denmark sent an official warning. 

“This can be seen as taking a step towards changing Bornholm from an island of peace to a potential military bridgehead,” Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, told the Danish broadcaster TV2.

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