(Bloomberg) --
Denmark will within months hold a referendum on joining the European Union’s defense pact as Russia’s war looks to push the Nordic country, often skeptical about its EU membership, closer to the bloc.
A vote would be held “before summer,” local media, including broadcaster TV2, reported, without saying how the information was obtained. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and opposition leaders are due to present a new defense deal later on Sunday in Copenhagen.
Denmark, also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has since 1993 had an opt-out which excludes it from the EU’s defense partnership. Denmark is also outside of the euro and the bloc’s partnerships on justice and home affairs.
The prime minister’s office said on Thursday that a majority in parliament had talks about strengthening Danish defense and security. The new defense deal would also include a target year for reaching NATO’s Wales Summit Declaration of spending 2% of GDP on defense as well as a financial boost to help improve the Danish military immediately, according to media reports.
In the past 29 years, both the opt-outs on the euro and on justice have been put to a vote, with the anti-EU side winning both times. A recent poll by TV2 shows 49% of Danes support joining the defense pact with 27% against. Denmark will have its next general election no later than June 2023.
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