According to the UNITED states ambassador in Denmark, Nato needs more combat aircraft, and enhanced monitoring in the Arctic.
the UNITED states calls on Denmark to buy more F-35 fighter aircraft.
It says the us ambassador in Denmark, Carla Sands, to Jyllands Posten.
at Least five of the 27 new Danish F-35 fighter aircraft must stand permanently in the UNITED states.
– part of the Danish aircraft will be in the UNITED states, because the Danish pilots need to be trained in Arizona, and around 22 aircraft will then come to Denmark.
– It is not the right number of aircraft, when to today has 38-40 F-16 aircraft. It is actually a reduction in the number of aircraft, so Denmark probably should look at it, says Carla Sands.
the Call comes nine days before the Nato’s big summit in London. Carla Sands points out that it is Nato who is looking for more fighters.
the Ambassador also believes that Denmark should meet the three-year-old promises to Betlike strengthen the defense and surveillance in the Arctic.
Here regard the Sands to a report from the ministry of Defence on tasks in the Arctic from 2016. It shows that the monitoring is so bad, that there can be Russian soldiers in the Arctic.
in Addition, it shows that the lack of satellites makes that Denmark does not monitor Greenland’s airspace and sea well enough.
In 2014 at a summit in Wales vowed the Nato countries to raise their defense budget to two percent of gross domestic product (gdp).
But earlier this year decided a political majority in Denmark only to raise the budget from 1,35 to 1,5 percent of gdp in 2023. This corresponds to 35.3 billion crowns.
the Nato-summit in London is 3.-4. december. Here, the UNITED states has requested a plan from each Nato country for how it will raise the defence budget to two percent of gdp.
It is not clear what the consequences will be if Nato countries do not follow suit.
the Danish minister of defence, Trine Team (S), says to Jyllands Posten that there are plans to buy more fighter right now.
Trump should not expect that Denmark presents a plan for an increased defense budget at a summit in London, she says.
/ritzau/
