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Denmark to vote on scrapping EU defense opt-out

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 31 May 2022 09:53
3 Min Read

More than 65 percent of the country's 4.3 million eligible voters are expected to vote in favor of repealing the exemption, according to the most recent opinion poll.

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  • The referendum results are expected around 11:00 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Wednesday.
    The referendum results are expected around 11:00 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Wednesday.

After opting out of the European Union's common defense policy for 30 years, Denmark will vote Wednesday on whether to reverse its decision in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

More than 65 percent of the country's 4.3 million eligible voters are expected to vote in favor of repealing the exemption, according to the most recent opinion poll.

Analysts have been cautious in their predictions, owing to the low voter turnout expected in a country that has repeatedly said "no" to further EU integration, most recently in 2015.

"We must always cast our ballots when there is a vote", Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen urged Danes in the final televised debate of the campaign on Sunday.

"I believe with all my heart that we have to vote yes. At a time when we need to fight for security in Europe, we need to be more united with our neighbors", she said.

Denmark has been a member of the EU since 1973, but it put a stop to more power being transferred to Brussels in 1992 when 50.7 percent of Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty, the EU's founding treaty.

To enter into force, it needed to be ratified by all member states. Copenhagen negotiated a series of exemptions to persuade Danes to approve the treaty, which they did the following year.

Denmark has remained outside the European Union's single currency, the euro, which it rejected in a referendum in 2000, as well as the bloc's common policies on justice, home affairs, and defense.

11 of Denmark's 14 parties, representing more than three-quarters of parliament seats, have urged voters to say "yes" to removing the opt-out.

Meanwhile, two far-right eurosceptic parties, the Danish People's Party and The New Right, as well as the far-left Unity List, have urged Danes to vote "no."

One of their main arguments is that the emergence of a joint European defense would jeopardize NATO, which has been the cornerstone of Danish defense since its inception in 1949.

"NATO is the guarantor of Denmark's security. It would be totally different if it were decided in Brussels," the head of the Danish People's Party Morten Messerschmitt argued during Sunday's debate.

The referendum results are expected around 11:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday.

Denmark's autonomous territories of Greenland (which is not a member of the EU) and the Faroe Islands will not vote in the referendum.

It is worth mentioning that Danes voted "no" in December 2015 to strengthen their cooperation with the European Union on police and security matters over fears of loss of sovereignty over immigration.

  • Denmark
  • European Union
  • Mette Frederiksen
  • EU defense opt-out
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