Eliot Wilson Eliot Wilson

Why Denmark is sending all its artillery to Ukraine

(Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Munich Security Conference has been nicknamed the ‘Davos of defence’. Every year, politicians, security analysts, military leaders and campaigners assemble at the five-star Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Germany’s third city for a couple days of schmoozing, networking and lecturing. When this year’s conference concluded on Sunday, the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen played an ace. She announced that Denmark would donate all of its artillery to Ukraine.

‘I’m sorry to say friends, there is still ammunition in stock in Europe,’ she told delegates. ‘This is not only a question about production because we have weapons, we have ammunition, we have our defences that we don’t have to use at the moment, that we should deliver to Ukraine. We have to do more.’

Frederiksen’s announcement and her observations are timely. Last week, the Ukrainian Army withdrew from the besieged city of Avdiivka in the eastern Donbas region, allowing Russia to claim its first major territorial gain in nearly a year.

Written by
Eliot Wilson

Eliot Wilson was a clerk in the House of Commons 2005-16, including on the Defence Committee. He is a member of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

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