A new defence agreement between Denmark and the United States, which is expected to be adopted by parliament this spring, can be broken if the US decides to quit the NATO military alliance.
Under the terms of the deal, neither country can leave the agreement within the first ten years.
But that would not apply if the US were to leave NATO, according to Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen in a response to the Danish parliament.
Løkke was asked by opposition MP Sascha Faxe of the Alternative party to confirm whether the deal prevents Denmark from quitting the agreement in its first ten years, ‘even if the United States leaves NATO’.
The minister said he could not confirm this and noted that a treaty can ‘be terminated by means other than cancellation or mutual agreement’ in cases of ‘exceptional circumstances,’ citing a treaty convention signed by Denmark in 1976.
This can cover a significant change in the fundamental conditions for the treaty being brought about as a result of actions by one of the parties.
‘As far as the defence cooperation agreement between Denmark and the US is concerned, the continued NATO membership of both countries must be considered a fundamental condition,’ Løkke states in the written response.
‘Therefore, the assessment is that a full and explicit withdrawal by the US from NATO would justify Denmark terminating the defence agreement,’ he added.
The minister also noted that there ‘are no signs of the US leaving NATO’.
The defence agreement, which will permit the US to station soldiers in Denmark, received its first reading in parliament on Friday after the government tabled the bill which will see it passed into law.
The deal, which was agreed with the US during the administration of former president Joe Biden, is expected to be adopted given it has majority support.
A central element of the agreement permits the US to station soldiers at three Danish airbases and establish their own bases at the sites, which are all located in Jutland.
It could also allow private US companies to place armed security guards in Denmark near the locations of the US bases.
The agreement was first announced in December 2023 and was initially seen as relatively uncontroversial.
Events since, notably President Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland and statements on the war between Ukraine and Russia, have resulted in a shift in relations between Washington and Copenhagen.
That has led to the deal being questioned by some opposition politicians.
The government has however not moved on its support for the deal and tabled it as a legislative proposal at the end of March.
Only two parties, the left-wing Red Green Alliance and Alternative, are expected to vote against it, giving it strong support in parliament.
A poll by the Voxmeter institute at the time showed that public support for the defence agreement is split, with 41 percent saying Denmark should go through with it and 33 percent wanting it to be scrapped.
27 percent said they didn’t know.
image source from：https://www.thelocal.dk/20250414/denmark-can-end-us-defence-agreement-if-washington-leaves-nato
