Danes to go for referendum on Wednesday on EU defence amid Ukraine war

Copenhagen: Voters in Denmark will make a crucial polling on Wednesday in a referendum on whether to move away from the country's decision three decades ago to opt out of the EU bloc's common defence policy.

Danish are historicaly known for being skeptical about European Union efforts to strengthen cooperation and the voting will see if their country will join co-operation in the defence domain.

The Danish referendum comes particularly in the context of the Ukraine war, and is the latest case of European countries seeking closer defence links against Russia in the background.

It follows Sweden and Finland's historic bids to join NATO which will come up for consideration at the NATO summit next month. - something to be taken up at a summit next month.

However, when compared to the bid of Sweden and Finland to join NATO, the move for Denmark to join the EU defence policy would have a relatively modest impact on Europe's security architecture.

But Christine Nissen, a researcher with the Danish Institute for International Studies, said both moves are "part of the same story" and would strengthen military cooperation on a continent stunned by the war in Ukraine.

She said the main effect of abandoning the opt-out decision would be that Danish officials could stay in the room when EU colleagues discuss defence topics and Danish forces could take part in the bloc's military operations.

Denmark, a founding member of NATO, has stayed on the sidelines of EU efforts to build a common security and defence policy in parallel with the trans-Atlantic alliance. It was one of four opt-out moves that Danes insisted on before adopting the EU's Maastricht Treaty, which laid the foundation for political and economic union.

The 1992 waiver means Denmark hasn't participated in the EU's discussions on defence policy, its development and acquisition of military capabilities and its joint military operations, such as those in Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Danes also opted out of EU cooperation on justice and home affairs, the common currency and citizenship. The opt-out decision on citizenship, which said European citizenship wouldn't replace national citizenship, has since become irrelevant as other members later adopted the same position. But the other provisions remain intact despite efforts by successive governments to overturn them.

In a 2000 referendum, Danish voters decided to stay outside the eurozone, and 15 years later they voted to keep the exemption on justice and home affairs.

This time, however, observers read the Danish mood as being in favour of overturning the old decision and joining the EU's common defence.

(Based on PTI feed with minor edits)