The Great Nordic Thread

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Historic increase in defence budget



For the first time since the Cold War, the Danish defence budget will increase in the years to come. The government has reached an agreement with the Social Democrats, the DPP and the Social Liberals to increase the budget gradually until 2023, where it will be 4.8 billion DKK/0,65 billion euro higher than today. This is an increase of around 20% compared to the current defence budget. The parties in the agreement largely agreed that the defence budget had to be increased, but there were clear differences between how much. DPP and particularly the Conservatives wanted a larger increase, where as the Social Liberals and probably the Liberal Alliance wanted less significant increases. There were also disagreements about how to spend the money. Social Democrats, Social Liberals and Liberal Alliance tended to favour cyber defence structures, while the other parties looked to get more "boots on the ground" and normal military equipment. Similarly, the two Red Bloc parties wanted more funds to peace and stabilization missions, while the Blue Bloc parties tended to focus on the ability to join heavier military missions.
Finally, DPP and Conservatives wanted to double the number of conscripts (currently 4200 a year) and double the term (currently 4 months), while the Liberal Alliance in particular has made clear its opposition to the idea of conscription. The compromise ended at an increase in conscripts of 500 with the same standard term, and an intensified promotion campaign to make sure it's still almost only volunteers (currently 98% are).

If you don't mind, would you be able to talk more about the background on this issue? Is the motivation both from the SDs and the conservative bloc just about participation in international interventions?

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Historic increase in defence budget

For the first time since the Cold War, the Danish defence budget will increase in the years to come. The government has reached an agreement with the Social Democrats, the DPP and the Social Liberals to increase the budget gradually until 2023, where it will be 4.8 billion DKK/0,65 billion euro higher than today. This is an increase of around 20% compared to the current defence budget. The parties in the agreement largely agreed that the defence budget had to be increased, but there were clear differences between how much. DPP and particularly the Conservatives wanted a larger increase, where as the Social Liberals and probably the Liberal Alliance wanted less significant increases. There were also disagreements about how to spend the money. Social Democrats, Social Liberals and Liberal Alliance tended to favour cyber defence structures, while the other parties looked to get more "boots on the ground" and normal military equipment. Similarly, the two Red Bloc parties wanted more funds to peace and stabilization missions, while the Blue Bloc parties tended to focus on the ability to join heavier military missions.
Finally, DPP and Conservatives wanted to double the number of conscripts (currently 4200 a year) and double the term (currently 4 months), while the Liberal Alliance in particular has made clear its opposition to the idea of conscription. The compromise ended at an increase in conscripts of 500 with the same standard term, and an intensified promotion campaign to make sure it's still almost only volunteers (currently 98% are).

If you don't mind, would you be able to talk more about the background on this issue? Is the motivation both from the SDs and the conservative bloc just about participation in international interventions?

Well, there are different reasons for the parties, and there are significant differences in how much they want to spend.

<snip>

That was very informative, thank you!

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

I don't have anything substantial to contribute, but I would like to say (as a recent viewer of the thread) that I'm appreciating these informative updates! Do you have any recommendations for in-depth english language sources on Danish politics?