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Wednesday, June 25, 2025

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https://nordictimes.com/world/uk-invests-billions-in-new-arms-factories/

World

UK invests billions in new arms factories

The new cold war

Published 2 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
BAE Systems, based in the UK, is Europe's largest arms manufacturer, employing more than 83 000 people and producing, among other things, the Challenger tank.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The UK will invest $2 billion in new arms factories as part of a major military buildup, Defense Secretary John Healey announces ahead of the government’s Strategic Defense Review tomorrow.

The investment includes at least six new ammunition and explosives factories, as well as the purchase of over 7,000 domestically produced long-range weapons, including drones and missiles.

– The hard-fought lessons from Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it, said Healey.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer also underlines the need to respond to alleged threats from states with advanced military capabilities – singling out Russia, Iran and North Korea in particular.

– We are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, so we must be ready to fight and win, he declares.

The investment is also said to be aimed at stimulating the economy, and will see the UK spend a total of around £6 billion on munitions during the current parliamentary term.

AI to improve decision-making in combat

– We welcome investment in new munitions factories, but we don’t know when they will be ready – only that these orders should have been placed months ago, said James Cartlidge, defense spokesman for the Liberal Conservative opposition.

The UK, one of Ukraine’s most generous funders, has decided to raise its defense budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with a long-term goal of 3% by 2034.

Meanwhile, Moscow warns of rising tensions and accuses former prime minister Boris Johnson of sabotaging the 2022 peace talks and pressuring Ukraine to leave – a claim he denies.

Meanwhile, the UK government has announced it will invest billions in artificial intelligence to improve decision-making on the battlefield and has committed to spending an additional £1.5 billion to improve the country’s military housing.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/world/denmark-signs-defense-pact-enabling-us-military-presence-in-greenland-and-faroe-islands/

World

Denmark signs defense pact enabling US military presence in Greenland and Faroe Islands

The new cold war

Published 12 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen looks forward to enhanced cooperation with the US.
3 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Danish Parliament has voted through an agreement granting the US access to Danish military bases – including military infrastructure in the autonomous regions of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Critics warn of a slide in Danish sovereignty, while the government describes the agreement as a necessary step.

With a broad majority – 94 votes in favor and 11 against – the Danish parliament this week adopted a new defense agreement with the US. The agreement gives US forces the right to use several military facilities on Danish soil, including Karup, Skrydstrup, and Aalborg, as well as access to areas in the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

According to the Danish government, the agreement aims to strengthen Denmark’s cooperation with the US within the framework of NATO. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen emphasizes that the agreement does not imply a permanent troop presence, but rather logistical capabilities and operational flexibility.

The Ministry of Defense emphasizes that the US military presence is seen as a way to be ready to respond quickly to crises in the Arctic and North Atlantic – areas that have become more important militarily as the security situation has changed.

The agreement has also attracted criticism from several quarters. Particularly controversial is the clause stipulating that US military personnel will be subject to US jurisdiction, even if they commit crimes against civilians in Denmark. Several opposition politicians have pointed out that this undermines the rule of law and goes against Danish legal tradition.

Shortly before the vote, the leader of the Unity List, Pelle Dragsted, said that the agreement is “harmful to the country”.

– It is an agreement that means that we will have areas in Denmark that are under American jurisdiction. Where Danish authorities cannot exercise control. And where mistreatment of prisoners can occur. It is a gigantic failure towards the Danish population.

With the country’s new DCA agreement with the US, Danish soldiers can expect to see a significant increase in the American presence in Denmark. Photo: 7th Army Training Command/CC BY 2.0

Superpower logic guides decisions

Others believe that the agreement represents a step toward Denmark effectively ceding parts of its territory to a foreign power.

Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which have extensive self-government, have been formally informed of the agreement, but neither the Faroese Lagting nor the Greenlandic Inatsisartut have had the right to block the decision. This has led to further criticism, as many see it as Copenhagen bypassing local interests in favor of superpower logic.

In the background is also the geopolitical shift underway in the Arctic, where Russia, China, and the US are all trying to strengthen their positions. The US has previously shown interest in Greenland – not least after Donald Trump’s much-publicized proposal to buy the island – and considers it to be of strategic importance for surveillance and control of the North Atlantic.

The Danish government sees the agreement as a necessary adaptation to a new reality.

– The problem is not too much involvement from the US in Europe. On the contrary, the risk is that the US will withdraw and move troops away or stop donations to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this week.

At the same time, there are growing concerns that Denmark is also making itself more vulnerable – both politically and militarily – in the event of a future conflict between major powers.

The Folketing’s decision therefore marks not only a deepening of cooperation with the US, but also a change in Denmark’s attitude toward military alliances and sovereignty—a choice that is far from comfortable for all Danes.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/tulsi-gabbard-the-warmongers-are-driving-the-world-to-nuclear-holocaust/

World

Tulsi Gabbard: The warmongers are driving the world to nuclear holocaust

The new cold war

Published 11 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Tulsi Gabbard has previously accused NATO leaders of being "insane" and of trying to drag humanity into a third world war.
3 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

US National Intelligence Officer Tulsi Gabbard warns in a grim video message of the risk of a full-scale nuclear war.

She sharply criticizes “the political elite warmongers” and accuses them of pushing the world “closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before”.

In the three-minute video clip, Gabbard talks about her recent visit to Hiroshima, Japan, where she studied the aftermath of the US nuclear attack on the city in 1945. The video mixes images from the trip with archive footage of the victims of the bombing and shows Gabbard speaking directly to the camera about the consequences of a modern nuclear attack.

Gabbard points out that today’s nuclear weapons are significantly more powerful than those used in World War II.

– A single nuclear weapon today could kill millions in just minutes, she explains, continuing:

– This is the reality of what’s at stake, what we are facing now. Because as we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers.

“Up to us – the people”

Gabbard further suggests that powerful people are convinced that they would have access to “nuclear shelters” and therefore believe themselves to be protected from the consequences of a nuclear war.

– It’s up to us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness. We must reject this path to nuclear war and work toward a world where no one has to live in fear of a nuclear holocaust, she concludes.

It is unclear exactly when the video was recorded, but Gabbard visited Japan last week, including an American military base together with the US ambassador to the country. However, according to her staff, she did not visit Hiroshima during her first visit to Japan as director of intelligence in March.

When asked to clarify her statements, Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff, Alexa Henning, responded that President Donald Trump also shares her concern about a future nuclear war.

“President Trump has repeatedly stated in the past that he recognizes the immeasurable suffering, and annihilation can be caused by nuclear war, which is why he has been unequivocal that we all need to do everything possible to work towards peace”, Henning said in a written statement, adding that Gabbard supports Trump’s goal of lasting peace and stability.

“Trying to drag us into World War III”

This is not the first time the former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate has warned that a nuclear war could be imminent – and she has also strongly criticized politicians and military leaders for their warmongering.

During her 2019 presidential campaign, she said the world was “on the brink of nuclear war”, and in Congress she was a strong advocate for nuclear disarmament and renewed international agreements.

As recently as 2023, she also accused leading representatives of the US, NATO, and Ukraine of having ambitions to start a third world war and risk the survival of all humanity.

“The warmongers are trying to drag us into World War III, which can only end one way: nuclear annihilation and the suffering and death of all our loved ones. Zelensky, Biden, NATO, congressional and media neocons are insane. And we are insane if we passively allow them to lead us into this holocaust like sheep to the slaughter”, she warned on X.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/denmark/welfare-may-be-sacrificed-as-denmark-ramps-up-military-spending/

Denmark

Welfare may be sacrificed as Denmark ramps up military spending

The new cold war

Published 3 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has pledged to invest billions of euros in upgrading the country's military forces.
3 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Denmark is preparing to significantly increase its defense spending to meet NATO’s new targets – but the bill will be steep.

According to estimates from Aarhus University, the upgrade will require an additional 90 billion DDK (€12 billion) on top of current levels. The question now is where the money will come from – and what will have to be sacrificed in return.

– This will be something that individual Danes will actually notice, Bo Sandemann Rasmussen, professor of economics at Aarhus University, told TV 2.

After a summit in Vilnius, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that Denmark is ready to increase its defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP and allocate an additional 1.5 percent to other security-related activities such as cybersecurity, border protection, and coastal defense.

In total, five percent of the country’s gross domestic product would go to security – more than double the current target of two percent.

But according to the professor, this would require an additional DDK 90 billion (€12 billion) in the budget – money that can hardly be found in the so-called economic reform space.

– It seems increasingly unlikely that we can count on covering 90 billion, he estimates.

Cuts in welfare?

Denmark has already significantly increased its defense spending since the war in Ukraine began, reaching around 2.4 percent of GDP in 2023 – equivalent to €9 billion. But to reach five percent, significantly more is needed – and that will have consequences.

– The population is aging, which requires more resources for public services. If we want to maintain today’s level of service, we will probably need to find new sources of funding, says the economist.

He believes that the political choice now is between cutting public spending or raising taxes, for example by introducing a special war tax.

– It’s hard to see how we wouldn’t need a tax increase to reach 90 billion. After all, it’s a very large sum.

“Other things we can’t afford”

To put the figure into perspective, Denmark spent an equivalent of €21 billion on education and €2 billion on the police in 2023. A €12 billion upgrade is therefore equivalent to six times the entire police budget.

– If the amount is lower than that, it may be more realistic to finance it, but then there are other things we cannot afford, explains Rasmussen.

A formal decision on the new defense targets is expected at the NATO summit in The Hague at the end of June. Until then, the question remains as to which areas of welfare will be cut back – and how much Danish households themselves will have to pay.

Demands from the US

It should be noted that Denmark is not the only NATO country currently spending billions on military buildup – investments that in many places are being financed by cuts in welfare.

The Trump administration is demanding that Europe and Canada take greater “responsibility” for the continent’s defense, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that he wants member countries’ military budgets to amount to approximately five percent of GDP.

– Two percent is a start, as President Trump has Trump has said, but it’s not enough, nor is three percent, nor is four percent. More like five percent, he emphasized earlier this year, calling on NATO countries to make “real investments”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/europe/german-chancellor-aims-to-build-europes-largest-army-may-reinstate-conscription/

Europe

German chancellor aims to build Europe’s largest army – may reinstate conscription

The new cold war

Published 15 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz (CDU).
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Christian Democrats’ new chancellor in Germany, former BlackRock executive Friedrich Merz, has set the tone for his government by declaring the goal of making the Bundeswehr Europe’s strongest army.

In his first speech to the Bundestag, he emphasized the need for increased military spending – and at the same time opened the door to reintroducing conscription in Germany.

When Merz recently took over as Germany’s chancellor, he quickly made it clear that the military is high on his political agenda, according to reports by Euroactiv, among others. In his first speech to the German Bundestag, Merz emphasized that Germany must “take greater responsibility” for Europe’s security and that the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, should become the continent’s most powerful force.

Merz explained that the government is prepared to allocate more resources where he believes Germany can no longer rely on other countries’ military protection.

– The federal government will provide all financial resources that the German Armed Forces need to become the strongest military in Europe in conventional terms, the new chancellor said in his speech.

Borrowed money to finance

To enable the increased defense spending, Merz’s government has decided to reform the so-called debt brake, a rule that previously limited the state’s ability to borrow money.

Easing these restrictions opens the door to significant investments in both equipment and personnel for the Bundeswehr.

Social Democrat Defense Minister Boris Pistorius welcomed the new investments but warned that the biggest bottleneck now is the shortage of soldiers. The Bundeswehr has struggled for several years to fill its ranks, and recruitment has not kept pace with ambitions.

If it is not possible to attract enough volunteers to the armed forces, the reintroduction of conscription may become a possibility – something that the Merz government is now investigating in more detail.

However, the defense spending plans have met with some resistance from critics who argue that increased military spending risks crowding out other important areas of society, such as healthcare, education, and social security. Others warn that rearmament could lead to increased tensions in Europe and that Germany should prioritize diplomacy and cooperation over military spending.

Merz and his government, however, argue that a strong defense force is essential to safeguarding both the country’s security and its independence.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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