It is not easy these days to read what is currently happening in the small but jovial kingdom of Denmark. All the more so, as important events are changing rapidly and especially as it is difficult to predict which direction everything will go in the future. Current politicians, largely surprised, and even frightened, are trying to find balance in a situation where the security levers of the world that lasted from the end of World War II onwards and seemed solidly based on numerous charters, treaties and conventions, are breaking. By all accounts, they must be replaced by new and more adequate ones for the newly emerging situation that occasionally threatens to get out of control, given the numerous war conflicts that are difficult to contain and give them the direction desired by the Western world of which Denmark is an inseparable part.
Although no one directly blames older politicians, such as Anas Fogh, former Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO, for the current situation, they themselves feel that they misjudged the situation on the world political scene, and thus directly led to the deplorable state in which the defense potentials of Western countries are currently located. The disbelief that the US is moving away from the leadership position of that same Western world drives both old and new politicians to despair, who, it seems, are almost all under the impression of emotions of shock and surprise at what is happening around them. Obviously, such a scenario could not have been predicted even in the darkest forecasts. Warnings that, above all, it is necessary to understand in which direction American military-strategic thinking will move and how to find a way to re-enter the US into the paradigm of the Western world led, as before, by the American policeman who maintains not only his own, but also the world domination of the West in general.
Peter Mogensen, one of the popular and widely listened to political analysts here, seems to be largely right when he warns that until we understand the direction in which American politics is really moving, we cannot create our own politics. We are at the bottom and in a dead end, as he says.
Historical parallels
It is quite natural that in such complex situations, when world peace is at stake, one seeks a foothold in some historical events, from which one can again read in which direction one wants to direct current events. As far as the entire West and Denmark itself are concerned, the first was the current emphasis on the Crimean War (1853-1856), which was quite naturally supposed to give a boost to those who firmly believed that a united coalition of Western powers could defeat Russia in Ukraine, just as it had once been defeated by a coalition led by the British Empire and the Second French Empire. And then, when things in Ukraine took a somewhat different turn, the Munich Agreement of 1938 was highlighted as an example that peace at all costs is not at the same time a stable peace, given the global war that nevertheless followed it. As for Denmark itself, these days there are frequent documentary programs about the general strike from the end of the Second World War, in general documentaries about the resistance that gained momentum in 1944 and 1945 after the Allied landings in Normandy took place in close-up and after the Soviet troops on the eastern front made a huge advance. The undertone of resistance is evident even today when Denmark is faced with multiple challenges on the foreign policy front, both from Russia and China, but no less from America, yesterday's loyal ally, as it was repeated until yesterday. And how it became popular not only in the circle of politicians and the intellectual elite, but also by the ordinary world.
Welfare state and armament. Transition to a war economy?
Europe and Denmark are undoubtedly in a state of tension, dissatisfaction with this is intertwined with the search for possible action and finding a way out of such a situation. The recently signed agreement between Ukraine and the USA on minerals brought a little optimism for a moment, given that it was understood as something that offers some kind of security guarantees not only to the Ukrainian side, but also to the whole of Europe that has aligned itself behind it. Future mineral exploitation, and even the very prospect of it becoming a reality, requires American presence, which is exactly what Western Europe desires and seeks. The aforementioned Anas Fogh, who was also one of President Zelensky's advisors, emphasized that this is an important moment in the current situation because the previous American approach of the Trump administration to the entire complex of events surrounding Ukraine was tantamount to a request for capitulation. Something that you can always do without making any diplomatic efforts. The political style of showing the cards to the opponent and openly showing weak points has been somewhat remedied by this agreement, as this experienced politician emphasized.
While on a large, European and world scale, a battle is being waged to preserve Western domination in some form, just as a way to keep the Americans in Europe is being frantically sought, numerous changes are being prepared on the national level. Or, more precisely, they are being desired, given that it is proving to be not so easy to accelerate the process of transforming a society that has for decades strived for a welfare state as an ideal, into a state and society that almost has the characteristics of a war economy. The introduction of military conscription, further reinforced by its extension to women, and the permanent criticism of previous efforts when it comes to the defense and arming of the country, not to mention the feverish travel of Prime Minister Metta Frederiksen, who has become a must-see at every gathering related to Ukraine and the Ukrainian war. Incidentally, who has become a kind of Joan of Arc, as is somewhat ironically said in the rare criticisms of her activities in this area.
Here we should also mention the news about the possible resumption of the Barcelbek nuclear power plant, a 2027 symbol of resistance against that same nuclear energy. In order to please important players on the domestic and European scene, the green lobby and opponents of the use of Russian gas in one fell swoop, a grand plan has been promoted for Europe to be zero dependent on Russian gas from XNUMX, a plan authored by Dane Dan Jorgensen, the European Commissioner for Energy. There is, of course, also the ambition to raise the country's combat readiness through an express procedure in coordination with other, primarily Nordic, countries, which indicates that some kind of Plan B is in circulation, given that it is already proving difficult to achieve complete unity on the European level due to the different individual interests of the member states.
A case in point is Greenland, which is of enormous importance to Denmark and the Nordic countries, but increasingly to the US, given the increased importance of Greenland if there is a greater turn inward, as announced by Donald Trump. Failure to achieve this with a blitzkrieg in the first 100 days does not mean giving up on these efforts. Asking Denmark to be able to openly spy and lobby for American interests in Greenland from American bases in Denmark, which is more than contrary to Danish interests, is a real slap in the face to the Danes and especially to Danish diplomacy, whose Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was summoned by the US ambassador to be informed of this. Something that was rightly experienced as another humiliation by yesterday's most important ally.
In the end, it should be said that the nation, when it comes to feelings of self-awareness, as well as reactions to everything that happens, is slowly consolidating, that daily and current problems are coming to the fore. For example, the appearance of wolves in populated areas, the exorbitant prices of minced meat, and incredible stories from nursing homes, filling TV news programs, which is of course good and which is the strength of this, small in terms of numbers, but great in many ways, nation.
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