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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — With almost all votes counted from a referendum Wednesday, Denmark is headed towards becoming a member of the European Union’s widespread protection coverage that it lengthy eschewed, a brand new instance of a rustic in Europe in search of nearer protection hyperlinks with allies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The electoral fee stated that with ballots totally counted in 84 of 92 Denmark’s electoral districts, 66.9% voted in favor of abandoning the nation’s 30-year opt-out from the widespread EU coverage and 33.1% in opposition to.
“An amazing majority of Danes have chosen to abolish the protection opt-out. I’m very, very blissful about that,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated.
“We’ve despatched a transparent sign to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” she added. “With the choice we’ve got made, we present that when Putin invades a free and unbiased nation and threatens peace and stability, we are going to transfer nearer collectively.”
On Twitter, German International Minister Annalena Baerbock applauded the result of the Danish vote. “Each step every of us takes, makes us stronger within the face of those tectonic shifts.”
Ending Denmark’s opt-out would have restricted sensible impact for both Denmark or the EU. The referendum follows the historic bids by fellow Nordic nations Sweden and Finland to affix NATO — one thing to be taken up at a summit subsequent month.
For Denmark, a founding member of the 30-member protection alliance, becoming a member of the EU’s protection coverage would have a comparatively modest impression on Europe’s safety structure, notably in comparison with Sweden and Finland becoming a member of NATO. However Christine Nissen, a researcher with the Danish Institute for Worldwide Research, stated each strikes have been “a part of the identical story,” and would strengthen army cooperation on a continent shocked by the struggle in Ukraine.
The principle impact of abandoning the opt-out can be that Danish officers might keep within the room when EU colleagues focus on protection matters, and Danish forces can participate in EU army operations, comparable to these in Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It will be the primary time that one of many 4 Danish opt-outs from the EU’s Maastricht Treaty, which laid the inspiration for political and financial union, is scrapped by voters in Denmark.
”I consider folks have voted sure due to the struggle in Ukraine. The ‘sure’ aspect has tried to misuse the struggle in Ukraine to make the Danes really feel that it is vital that we stand collectively,” stated Morten Messerschmidt, the chief of the opposition Danish Folks’s Occasion and a number one opponent of eradicating the protection opt-out.
One of many founding members of NATO, Denmark has stayed on the sidelines of the EU’s efforts to construct a standard safety and protection coverage in parallel with the trans-Atlantic army alliance.
For many years, Europe’s been a supply of rivalry in Denmark. In 1992, voters set again plans to show the European building right into a union by rejecting the Maastricht treaty amid widespread opposition to a federal European authorities that might restrict the sovereignty of particular person nations.
At an EU summit in Edinburgh, Scotland, later that 12 months, European leaders agreed on a textual content with tailored provisions permitting Danes to ratify a revised treaty with 4 provisions.
They allowed Danes to remain out of a joint EU citizenship, justice and residential affairs, the financial union which allowed Danes to remain out of the euro and maintain the krone, and protection.
The citizenship concern, which stated European citizenship wouldn’t change nationwide citizenship, has since turn into irrelevant as different members later adopted the identical place.
However the different provisions stay intact regardless of efforts by successive authorities to overturn them. In a 2000 referendum, Danish voters determined to remain exterior the euro and 15 years later they voted to maintain the exemption on justice and residential affairs.
Frederiksen, who Wednesday grew to become the primary Danish prime minister to win a referendum on eradicating an opt-out, stated she was not tempted to check different opt-outs in plebiscites.
Turnout was 66.23%, based on preliminary official figures.
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Comply with all of AP’s protection of the Ukraine struggle at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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