As Denmark takes over the presidency of the European Union, Danes are more strongly pro-European than at any time in the past two decades \u2013 a shift in sentiment that can at least partly be attributed to US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n
An eye-opening survey published in March by Berlingske, a Danish daily newspaper, said 41% of Danes now see the United States as a threat. It also said 92% of respondents either \u201cagree\u201d or \u201cmostly agree\u201d that the Nordic nation needs to rely more on the European Union than the US for its security. <\/p>\n
Given the recent tensions between Washington and Copenhagen, those statistics may not be surprising. <\/p>\n
Since his return to the White House, Trump has spoken frequently and aggressively about Greenland, an autonomous crown dependency of Denmark, saying he would like the US to own it. <\/p>\n
Vice President JD Vance and members of the Trump family have made what many see as provocative trips to and statements about the world\u2019s largest island. <\/p>\n
After Vance\u2019s visit to the US military\u2019s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland in March, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back on his claim that Denmark isn\u2019t doing enough for defense in the Arctic, calling her country \u201ca good and strong ally.\u201d <\/p>\n
Back in Trump\u2019s first administration, too, Greenland was a hot topic. In 2019, he reportedly accused Frederiksen of making a \u201cnasty\u201d and \u201cabsurd\u201d statement in discussions about the island. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have a different Denmark,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThings have dramatically changed in Denmark and our attitude toward Europe,\u201d she said, without mentioning the president\u2019s name directly. <\/p>\n
She was also very clear that Denmark feels a sense of disappointment in its longtime ally. <\/p>\n
Denmark would still like to have a strong relationship with the US, Bjerre said, \u201cbut in a situation where the US is closing itself more around itself\u2026 is threatening us with tariffs and also criticizing Europe, our freedom of expression and all sorts of other things. Of course, in that situation, we have to be stronger on our own.\u201d <\/p>\n
She added, \u201cThe world order, as we have known it since the Second World War, is changing and we have to deliver to that geopolitical new situation that we are standing in.\u201d <\/p>\n
The minister also referenced the historic ties and shared past experiences of both nations, expressing a degree of frustration, if not anger, about how that relationship has changed. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou could not put a paper in between the US and Denmark, we have always supported the US. We went into war with our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan\u2026 Seeing us, as a country, being criticized for not being a good ally, of course, that does affect our opinion,\u201d Bjerre said. <\/p>\n
Per capita, Denmark lost the second-highest number of soldiers of all the US-led coalition partners fighting in Afghanistan. In total, 43 Danish soldiers died, equating to 7.82 deaths per million citizens. The US, by comparison, lost 7.96 soldiers per million. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to be a very, very transatlantic country\u2026 that has plummeted,\u201d said Friis. \u201cThere is now the feeling\u2026 we simply cannot trust him,\u201d she said \u2013 the \u201chim\u201d being Trump. <\/p>\n
The shift in Danes\u2019 opinions coincides with Denmark taking up the rotating, six-month EU presidency. <\/p>\n
Denmark has long worried about the EU wading into Danes\u2019 lives, fearing in particular for its relatively unregulated labor market. It has various opt-outs on EU policy, including not joining the EU\u2019s single currency, the euro. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do things differently to other European nations,\u201d said Bjerre. <\/p>\n
Politicians and citizens used to fear that the EU \u201cwould become too dominating and too powerful,\u201d Friis said, but now \u201cthe fear is the complete opposite.\u201d Danes feel the bloc is \u201ctoo weak\u201d to deal with Putin to the East and Trump to the West, she said. <\/p>\n
Friis also described the prime minister\u2019s shift in tone as \u201chuge,\u201d saying Frederiksen used to be \u201cvery skeptical towards the EU.\u201d <\/p>\n
In June, Frederiksen announced that Denmark was quitting the so-called \u201cFrugal Four,\u201d an informal group of EU nations that had pushed to limit common spending, saying that \u201cthe most important thing is to rearm Europe.\u201d <\/p>\n
Laying out Denmark\u2019s priorities for the EU presidency later that month, she reiterated that view, saying: \u201cNow more than ever Europe needs to step up and stand together. We have to build an even stronger Europe, a more secure Europe where we are able to protect our democracies.\u201d <\/p>\n
EU-commissioned, biannual polls show a clear trend of increased trust in the EU over the past two decades, rising from 46% in spring 2005 to 74% this past spring. Steeper increases can be seen during Trump\u2019s first term, after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and as Trump\u2019s second term began. <\/p>\n
The war in Ukraine has had a significant influence on Danish views on the EU, Friis said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe very fact that you had a war in our backyard has sort of created a completely new sort of atmosphere around security in Denmark, people are worried. People are prepping now because they\u2019re scared about what could happen also to our own security,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Bjerre said Copenhagen\u2019s EU presidency would prioritize a \u201cstronger Europe and a changing world,\u201d with Europe having a real focus on security. <\/p>\n
Denmark takes the European helm, then, at a time of increasingly pro-European sentiment among its own population and a wider recognition in Europe that it must do more to stand on its own. The problem is that some of Europe\u2019s most pressing issues \u2013 Ukraine, trade tariffs and security \u2013 mean talking to the US and Trump. And at the moment, there may not be much love lost between the two. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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