Denmark has been ramping up defense spending quickly as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds toward its fifth year. As Moscow repeatedly violated NATO airspace in September 2025, concerning moves reminiscent of Russia’s initial 2014 invasion of Ukrainian territory, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced Copenhagen would buy long-range precision weapons capable of hitting targets in enemy territory. Frederiksen said the decision to buy such weapon systems was prompted by Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere. “There is no doubt that Russia will be a threat to Europe and Denmark for years to come,” Frederiksen told reporters on September 17, according to Reuters.
Neither Frederiksen nor Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen disclosed how much the government would spend or what systems it would buy. Denmark, a founding member of NATO, announced earlier in September that it would buy more than $9 billion in air defense systems, its largest arms purchase ever. The Ukrainian war “shows the importance of having the ability to strike back or strike deep, as well as having an integrated layered air defense together with ground-based air defense,” Poulsen said, according to Reuters. Frederiksen identified the likely target: Russia. She said the change in Moscow’s behavior in recent years forced a “paradigm shift in Danish defense policy,” according to The New York Times newspaper. “We are not the ones attacking,” she said. “Russia is.” Russian diplomats responded with veiled threats. “No one, anywhere, ever in the world has considered threatening a nuclear power publicly,” Vladimir Barbin, Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, said in a statement, according to the Times.
Denmark has been increasing defense spending since 2023, committing earlier this year to a $5.1 billion increase that came on the heels of last year’s boost to a 10-year government plan inked in 2023 to spend $22.5 billion. Copenhagen isn’t the only Nordic country boosting defense coffers. Norway recently announced it would buy a new fleet of frigates from the United Kingdom for $13.5 billion, its largest military arms acquisition ever. Finland and Sweden, NATO’s newest members, also have strengthened their military capabilities, especially in the Arctic region and its maritime approaches.
The latest missile and drone purchases are a requirement to keep Denmark safe, its top military leader said in a statement released by the Danish Ministry of Defence. “Long-range precision weapons are crucial for us to be able to deliver credible deterrence and ensure a robust defense of Denmark. And it is necessary for the Armed Forces to be able to counter threats before they reach our territory,” Chief of Defense Gen. Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard said in the release.