Following King Frederik’s first New Year’s Eve speech on Tuesday, it was Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s turn to address the nation on January 1st.
The New Year’s Day speech was the sixth for Frederiksen, who was first elected in 2019.
She used the speech in part to reinforce recent comments she has made about the deteriorating security situation in Europe and Denmark’s need to spend more money on its defence capabilities.
That marks a notable departure from earlier New Year’s Day speeches in which she has concentrated on domestic matters.
“Unfortunately, I fear the coming years will bring more threats to our country and way of life,” she said in the speech.
“When the world is burning, we come together in Denmark and find our way. This time as a leader,” she also said.
Denmark was obliged to take a leadership role “because we know much is at stake,” she said.
“This year marks the 80th anniversary of liberation [from Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, ed.]. Europe is facing greater challenges than it has seen ever since those five cursed years,” she said at the start of the speech.
The message is not a new theme for the PM who has repeatedly painted a bleak image of Europe’s near future in recent comments.
In interviews given last month to major newspapers Politiken, Jyllands-Posten, Berlingske and Kristeligt Dagblad, she warned of the need for Denmark and other Western countries to arm themselves – literally and figuratively – against “dark forces”.
She named Russia, North Korea and Iran as the “dark forces” in question, and also pointed the blame at China, which has not condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, as an enabler.
“In the world we’re looking at now, you can win or you can lose. If you don’t have the will to win, you’ll lose,” she said at the time.
In the New Year’s speech she went on to say that “Moscow, Pyongyang and Tehran” are “three capital cities in three countries which are working more and more closely. Against us”.
That is most obvious in Ukraine, according to Frederiksen, who said that the Ukrainians are “bravely defending themselves” not just against the Russians, but also against “soldiers from North Korea and drones from Iran which are working on the side of the Russians, here on European soil”.
“And China is standing backstage. Without Chinese support, Russia would not be able to attack Europe the way they are. That is clear. The war was never only about Ukraine,” she said.
The PM said she does not believe Russian president Vladimir Putin wants peace, even if he signs a peace agreement.
“We must not be naive. Even if Putin signs a peace deal with Ukraine, we mustn’t believe he’ll stop there. That he’ll be satisfied. Because Putin does not want peace. He wants a Europe on Russian terms,” she said.
What appears to be a decision by Frederiksen to drive home a point about the threat from Russia and its allies is in line with a recent decision by the Danish government leadership, which includes Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen alongside Frederiksen, to spend billions of additional kroner from state coffers on defence in the coming years.
The government is of the view that war in Europe obliges Denmark to arm itself to prevent more conflict and preserve peace.
That is also exemplified by comments made by Poulsen in November, in which he said that Denmark will need to spend an extra 300 million kroner on defence to comply with NATO reinforcement targets.
The New Year speech was Frederiksen’s sixth as prime minister. The traditional speeches are usually recorded at the official residence of the head of government, Marienborg, just before the end of December and broadcast on January 1st.
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