But new threats lurk ahead – for Denmark and the rest of the European countries.
Henrik Breitenbauch, center manager and military researcher at the University of Copenhagen, points to four main challenges for Denmark after Afghanistan.
Russia’s aggression as the largest, China’s attempts at dominance, the continuing terrorist threat and, last but not least, the security cohesion of European and Western countries.
– It (coherence, ed.) Is in many ways the prerequisite for being able to handle the other three problems.
And European countries will have more to look at, as the United States turns its eyes more to China, says Breitenbauch.
– There will be an increased European role, and the situation in Kabul has pushed for that.
– The more the Americans look towards China, the more Europe will have to take responsibility for its own immediate area.
According to Mikkel Runge Olesen, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (Diis), there are indications that there may be a prioritization of joint military cooperation in Europe after the completed Afghanistan mission.
This is not to say that the United States will not continue to be the main guarantor of European security.
– You have to be a little realistic and look at where European defense cooperation is right now. There is de facto no clear alternative to the alliance with the United States through NATO – neither in the short nor medium term.
Having said that, one could imagine that some European countries are taking this as an opportunity to reconsider whether to set the pace of military defense cooperation in Europe.
Minister of Defense Trine Bramsen (S) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod (S) have addressed the matter. In a column published in Jyllands-Posten in February, the two wrote that Europe “will never again be able to sit back and leave our security to the United States”.
– We must lift a larger part of the burden by being able to defend ourselves and our common values โโand by contributing to both regional and global peace and security, it was said.
The question is what a small country with almost six million inhabitants can be significant in this respect – especially a country with a defense reservation in the EU.
Among other things, the battle for the Arctic gives Denmark a role to play in the battle between the great powers.
– Small countries do not take up much space in absolute numbers, but can sometimes be pioneering countries. They can help set an agenda for a community, whether it is within NATO or the EU, says Henrik Breitenbauch.
The debate about how much of the GDP – the gross domestic product – should be spent on defense, as well as a possible vote on the defense reservation, will therefore be in our own duck pond some of what will be discussed in the near future.
– The fact that European countries must take greater responsibility for their own security can be a very important issue when it comes to the negotiations on the next defense agreement, says Henrik Breitenbauch.
However, Breitenbauch is in line with Runge Olesen in that although the balance has shifted so that European countries orient themselves more militarily towards the EU than before, the transatlantic connection is still crucial.
– It’s not either or. We have changed the balance a little over the last four years.
– But the role of Americans in European security is still essential.
– It is difficult to imagine anything else until 2040-2050.
Source: The Nordic Page