The war in Ukraine: - Speculation rages after the shock of billions

For several months, work has been going on in NATO’s backrooms to find a suitable candidate to take over as Secretary General after Jens Stoltenberg.

One name that should have been on the block at some point is Mette Frederiksen, VG reported in April.

The newspaper wrote that the Prime Minister of Denmark should be particularly liked by the US authorities, the largest NATO member country, and have the necessary high-level political experience after he was the head of the Danish government since 2019.

Jens Stoltenberg and Jonas Gahr Stoer give a press conference regarding the NATO meeting in Oslo. Video: The security and service apparatus of the ministries. Correspondent: Anabelle Bruun / Dagbladet TV
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Not spending enough money

Next week, Mette Frederiksen will visit US President Joe Biden at the White House. There, the two sides will discuss, among other things, NATO cooperation and the upcoming NATO summit in July.

Danish TV 2 He wrote last week that the visit fueled speculation about whether Frederiksen could be a candidate for the top manager job.

Putin made two big mistakes

Danish NATO and defense expert Jeppe Trautner, a lecturer in the Department of Politics and Society at Aalborg University, dismissed the speculation.

Denmark is not spending enough money on defence. Denmark has failed in 14 of the 17 force objectives that we agreed with NATO. Denmark has a collapsed defense. This ends the saga of whether Mette Frederiksen can become general secretary, Trautner told Danish TV 2.

Then something happened in Denmark.

NATO President Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a panel discussion with Foreign Minister Anken Huitfeldt in connection with the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Oslo. Video: Reggeringen.no.
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NATO targets reached overnight

Out of the blue, the Danish government has suddenly given double digits of billions to the Ukraine Fund that the Folketing – the Danish Parliament – decided to create in March.

The money comes in addition to money allocated in March, and will amount to DKK 14.5 billion this year. Next year, an additional DKK 10.4 billion will be added to the fund.

Ready to fight tonight

And suddenly, Denmark suddenly reached the NATO target that each country should spend 2% of its GDP on defence.

At least this is what the Danish government claims Danish TV 2 Monday.

Russia summoned a US senator for making anti-Russian remarks. Video from the meeting reveals the truth. Video: NTB, Telegram, Reuters. Correspondent: Håvard TL Knutsen.
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– He can’t be dead

But that does not change the assessments of NATO and defense expert Jeppe Trautner, he told Dagbladet

– For various reasons, including the fact that the post of general secretary does not alternate between Norway and Denmark, the dead could not be dead, wrote Trautner in an email to Dagbladet.

New Attacks: – Uncommon

The Danish expert describes the Danish government’s allocation of flash money to the so-called Ukraine Fund as “a desperate attempt to raise the Danish defense budget from 1.38 percent of GDP to 2 percent of GDP before the NATO summit in Vilnius.”

It is highly unlikely that NATO would change its longstanding definition of “defense spending” to help Denmark camouflage that we don’t contribute, Trautner writes.

Then the expert delivers my coup de grace speech:

– The only thing Denmark contributes to the NATO buffet is our good appetite.

I was shocked: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen jumps from her chair when she hears Soren Sondergaard’s answer about Russia. Video: Folketinget
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It’s not an open discussion

During a press conference prior to NATO’s informal meeting of Oslo foreign ministers, NATO President Jens Stoltenberg and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr were asked specifically about the Danish speculation.

Neither Stoltenberg nor Store specifically wanted to comment on the rumors about Frederiksen’s future.

– There is no explicit discussion on this question. There are good reasons for that, Sture said, nonetheless praising his fellow Dane in the skies.

– I think Putin is angry

– I could spend a long session talking really well about Mette Frederiksen. She is one of the most talented Prime Ministers in Europe, and one of the people I know very well and have the closest contact. The Prime Minister added that I have nothing but good things to say about it, but we will take up the discussions on NATO’s way forward internally within NATO.

note! Before Jens Stoltenberg was appointed NATO Secretary General in 2014, it was Dane Anders Fogh Rasmussen who held the position for five years. This is precisely why many Danish experts have rejected Frederiksen’s candidacy.

– It would be like winning the European football championship every three years, says political analyst Michael Christiansen Danish TV 2.