Denmark will join Nato’s missile defence system, the Foreign Affairs Committee (Udenrigspolitisk Nævn) decided on Thursday. 

 

Denmark will contribute at least one frigate to the defence system, according to Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard.

 

“We will offer that one or more of our frigates can be outfitted with a radar that can be part of the missile defence. There was wide support for that [in the Foreign Affairs Committee, ed],” he told Berlingske Nyhedsbureau. 

 

See also: Denmark to play a key role in Nato's Russia plans

 

Although it was reported in July that Denmark plans to play a “significant” role in Nato’s response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, Defence Minister Nicolai Wammen said that joining the missile defence system was not a move aimed at Russia.

 

“That Denmark will join the missile defence system with radar capacity on one or more of our frigates is not an action that is targeted against Russia, but rather to protect us against rogues states, terrorist organisations and others that have the capacity to fire missiles at Europe and the US,” Wammen told Jyllands-Posten.

 

See also: Denmark to transport weapons to Iraq

 

The participation in Nato’s missile defence system was decided in the same five-hour meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in which Denmark agreed to transport weapons to northern Iraq. 

 

Denmark will send a Hercules C-130 aircraft carrier carrying humanitarian aid to those who have fled the forward march of the Islamic State, as well as deliver weapons and other military equipment to the Iraqi government and Kurdish forces in the area. Around 55 soldiers will accompany the mission.