Vladimir Barbin, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, has warned that Danish-American military activity on Bornholm today risks transforming Denmark’s Baltic Sea island from a “peaceful oasis to a potential military bridgehead”.
In a speech to TV2 prior to the arrival of a transport plane loaded with missiles to Bornholm today, Barbin claims that the exercise, albeit a simulation, is a provocation that will “increase tensions” in the Baltic Sea.
The military exercise, Defender-Europe 2022, will shed some light on the long time it may take to secure the maritime area around Bornholm. It will also send a strong signal to the Russians, says Minister of Defense Morten Bødskov to TV2.
“It is a simulation, but also a signal. And the signal is deterrence. We are cooperating and standing shoulder to shoulder, and Putin must understand that, “he said.
The US reveals details about Denmark’s latest arms donation to Ukraine
Bødskov has in related news refused to go further into a new Danish arms delivery to Ukraine, which according to the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, contains Harpoon missiles.
The shipment, Austin revealed yesterday, would help Ukraine better defend its shores.
Anders Puck Nielsen, military researcher at the Defense Academy at the Center for Maritime Operation, called it a “large and sensational donation … a relatively long-range naval missile, which is intended to shoot ships with”, it reads from DR.
– It is no secret that we donate weapons to Ukraine, and we also coordinate this with, among others, the USA and Ukraine, says Bødskov to DR. “I do not want to go into details about specific donations.”
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was just as reluctant, adding: “These are some of the weapons that Ukraine has called for and which are quite important in the fight they are fighting.”
Source: The Nordic Page