Denmark to boost defence by $5.9 bln over next five years

Denmark will increase spending on its own defence by 40.5 billion Danish crowns ($5.9 billion) over the next five years, its government said on Wednesday as it presented the NATO member's plans to bolster its military. "We are not rearming in Denmark because we want war, destruction, or suffering.

Denmark will increase spending on its own defence by 40.5 billion Danish crowns ($5.9 billion) over the next five years, its government said on Wednesday as it presented the NATO member's plans to bolster its military.

"We are not rearming in Denmark because we want war, destruction, or suffering. We are rearming right now to avoid war and in a world where the international order is being challenged," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters. The money comes in addition to the 155 billion crowns Denmark last year pledged to invest in defence over the next 10 years.

A founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Denmark scaled back its military capabilities after the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s and has acknowledged major shortcomings in the ability to defend its territory. ($1 = 6.8220 Danish crowns)

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