Denamrk: Growing Opposition to the Government’s Billion-Kroner Support for Ukraine

If the Danish population had been asked a year ago whether Denmark should continue to spend billions of kroner, again and again, on military support for Ukraine, the answer would most likely have been very clear. Support for using Danish money on weapons for Ukraine was high, and those who opposed this policy often felt isolated.

But this trend is beginning to change, at least if we look at the latest Megafon poll on the subject conducted for TV2. Half of Danes still support Denmark being one of the largest military contributors to Ukraine, but another figure is particularly noteworthy.

The proportion of Danes who oppose sending additional billions to Ukraine has risen from 22 percent to 30 percent since the previous poll conducted about a year and a half ago.

Although a majority of respondents still support the aid, a clear trend can nevertheless be identified: a growing, simmering dissatisfaction with Denmark spending such large sums of money on the war in Ukraine.

And this is also overdue. At Arbejderen, we have long opposed the Danish government sending military support to Ukraine.

There are many reasons for this, including the general principle that sending weapons into a war zone rarely creates good conditions for peace, the fact that Ukraine has openly Nazi battalions within its army, and the extensive corruption that has taken place in the country for many years.

This is beginning to dawn on Danes, and therefore it must be emphasized even more clearly that the real choice is between welfare and weapons-;- it is not possible to have both on the scale the government desires.

This has also been seen recently in the corruption scandal that led to the resignation of President Zelensky’s chief of staff. He had held a central position in the Ukrainian government and in the negotiating team with Russia, but has now also become a central figure in the country’s decades-long struggle against widespread and deep-rooted corruption.

The arguments against military support remain valid, but why the shift in public opinion is beginning to happen now is a more complex question. The corruption scandal has certainly influenced some, but as is often the case with issues of foreign policy, the domestic political situation plays a major role.

Over the past four years, the government has avoided the largest cuts to the already strained welfare system, despite massive rearmament and support for Ukraine. Heavy use has been made of the so-called “economic leeway.”

But the funds in this leeway are close to being exhausted, and new financing must be found. This means reforms and cuts elsewhere in society, and this is being felt.

For example, through the cash-benefit reform, which has put more recipients out on the street because they can no longer afford their rent.

When those in society who have the least see their situation deteriorate even further, while billions flow to the military and to Ukraine, it creates a stark dissonance.

This dissonance is becoming evident to more and more Danes, as suggested by the aforementioned poll.

Therefore, all opponents of war, peace activists, and defenders of welfare must hold their ground. Public sentiment is beginning to shift-;- uncritical support for war, weapons, and gunpowder cannot continue.

This is becoming clear to Danes, and therefore it must be emphasized once again, and even more clearly, that the real choice is between welfare and weapons-;- it is not possible to have both on the scale the government wants.

Source:
https://arbejderen.dk/leder/stigende-modstand-mod-regeringens-milliardstoette-til-ukraine/

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