Denmark officials took over a six-month leadership of the European Union on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that improving European defense and security will be the primary objective of the country over this round. The Danish EU turn that is just beginning is at the point when Europe is facing numerous challenges in terms of security. The history of war in Ukraine with Russia has made the continent uncertain, and the current issues mentioned by US President Donald Trump on Greenland have brought about new issues among European leaders.
Thank you Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen for our excellent talks this morning in Copenhagen on Denmark’s final preparations for the Presidency of the EU Council.
Focusing on our shared priorities of security, competitiveness and democracy, we can now hit the ground running… pic.twitter.com/3FO8RQjw33
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) June 3, 2025
Denmark EU Presidency Prioritizes Defense Spending and Military Capabilities
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasized that the Denmark EU leadership is going to put a lot of emphasis on having European nations spending more of its militaries. She repeated that European security is presently both unstable and frightening and provided that EU countries join their efforts in the field of defense.
The government of Denmark desires to accelerate with EU plans that were issued in March 2024. These plans are supposed to ease the process of purchasing the military equipment by the European countries and provide loans to the European countries to invest into European defense industry. The Denmark EU presided believes that easy breezy attitude in these procedures will make Europe get stronger as well as safe.
Recently, the military alliance known as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), comprised of most European states and the US, has settled on new spending quotas. The member countries will now be required to invest 3.5 percent of their national income on a core or actual military expenditure level and 1.5 percent in wider areas of security, such as infrastructure, by 2035. Nevertheless, others, such as Spain, have argued that the set targets are too high and they requested more flexibility.
Even Denmark has already risen its defense expenditure to above 3 percent of its national income thus making it among the nations which conform to the new requirements of NATO. It has also been among the greatest donors to the country, particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, as it has been donating military and financial resources to it.
European Security Challenges Drive Denmark’s EU Leadership Strategy
The Denmark EU presidency is taking place at a time when the European security is rather tense. Prime Minister Frederiksen stated that wars that would brew in the European continent would have a tendency to spread and that the situation as it currently exists has high tensions and may cause additional difficulties.
“If we look at the history of Europe, we know that conflicts tend to spread. There is so much tension today and that on its own can generate more tension,” Frederiksen said in a recent interview.
Particularly what troubles the Danish government is the hurting of Greenland, a Danish area of strategic interest in the Arctic area. The recent statements of the US President Trump regarding the possible acquisition of Greenland by the US has made Denmark redefine its security relations and start paying attention to the European relations.
In addition to providing military defense, the Denmark presidency of the EU will also look into ways of dealing with the illegal migration problems. Throughout the years, Denmark has formulated stringent migration laws, and such strategies have been adopted by other countries in Europe. The Danish government is interested in establishing consensus among EU members to process asylum claims outside of Europe and capping some court rulings regarding migration.
The Danish presidency program indicates that European cohesion cannot be at risk because of irregular migration. Denmark also just joined Italy and the rest of the seven nations that have requested the European human rights laws to be changed by stating that the human laws, at times, are protecting individuals, who do not deserve protection.
European leaders will be eager to notice the extent to which Denmark manages to achieve consensus on these complicating security and migrant matters as the Denmark EU presidency undertakes its half-year mandate. These attempts might determine future European policy within several years.
