In Denmark, on the eve of a referendum on June 1 on whether to maintain an independent defense policy from the EU, more than 65% of the 4.3 million voters in the country are in favor of giving up autonomy in this area.
This is stated in the publication Euractiv.
At the same time, analysts' forecasts about the voting results are cautious, given the low turnout.
After Denmark has not participated in the European Union's common defense policy for 30 years, the country will vote Wednesday, June 1, in a referendum on whether to reverse that policy in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Denmark has been a member of the EU since 1973, but stalled the transfer of more power to Brussels in 1992 when 50.7 percent of Danes rejected the Maastricht Treaty, the EU's founding treaty. For it to take effect, it had to be ratified by all member states.
To convince the Danes to approve the treaty, Copenhagen negotiated a series of exceptions, and citizens finally approved it the following year.
Denmark is the only country that has agreed to waive the common defense policy, although Malta also remains de facto on the sidelines. Denmark does not participate in the Common Security and Defense Policy, EU military operations or EU decision-making processes related to military operations.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the referendum just two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine and after reaching agreement with a majority of parties in the Danish parliament.
At the same time, she announced plans to increase defense spending to 2 percent of GDP as required by NATO membership by 2033.
