For the first time, Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service (FE) has identified the United States as a negative factor in the country’s annual threat assessment.
According to the newly published report, Denmark faces growing uncertainty due to changing U.S priorities, including stronger economic pressure on allies and intensified geopolitical activity in the Arctic.
According to the report
The United States uses economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will, and no longer rules out the use of military force, even against allies.
Former FE chief analyst Jacob Kaarsbo described the situation as unprecedented, calling it “one of the most sensitive and striking things that could possibly come out of FE.” He emphasized that Denmark has regarded the U.S. as its most important ally since World War II.
Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard—a senior researcher on U.S. foreign policy—called the reference to the U.S. as a “significant shift,” though he stressed it was not unexpected:
The Americans themselves came out last week with their national security strategy and said quite clearly that they see the EU as a threat. So in that sense, it is not so strange that from the Danish side we are now openly acknowledging that the U.S., in addition to being a NATO ally, also in some respects poses a threat to our security.
Despite these concerns, FE chief Thomas Ahrenkiel highlighted the enduring partnership, stating that the United States remains Denmark’s closest partner and ally and the guarantor of Europe’s security.
