Danish PM: Europe should be able to defend itself in 3-5 years

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has stated that Europe must achieve full self-sufficiency in defence within the next 3-5 years to deter a "very aggressive" Russia that could potentially attack an EU country.

"I'm totally in favour of rearming Europe and I want us to put a very ambitious goal on the table, saying that in three to five years we need to be totally able to defend ourselves in Europe," Frederiksen said in an interview with Politico.

She believes that rearmament is currently the "most important" issue for the EU, given the ongoing threat from Russia, which could attempt an invasion within a "very short perspective" if nations fail to implement measures to deter it.

"If you see what they are doing on sabotage, hybrid attacks, using migrants... trying to destabilise our countries with disinformation, fake news and so on, the willingness in Russia to have a fight against Europe is quite big. I'm not sure it will change, unfortunately," Frederiksen noted.

Frederiksen's remarks come as US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. They did not reach an agreement but said they intend to continue discussions.

Frederiksen is sceptical about Putin's interest in ending the war.

"I'm not very optimistic about Russia because when I look at their behaviour, it's so much against humanity and against Europe and everything we believe in, they have to prove that they want to live a normal neighbouring life with us in Europe," she said.

Frederiksen stated that Denmark, a key ally of Ukraine, supports the idea of acquiring more weapons from the EU, though it still seeks the flexibility to "cooperate with other partners" like Norway and the United Kingdom.

"The potential in Europe is very big but some barriers have to be changed and pushed aside because we are not producing enough yet," she added. "We are still having this peacetime mindset ... I don't think we have a couple of months to take decisions," Frederiksen said.

In early March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled ReArm Europe, a five-stage plan for rearming the European Union and supporting Ukraine, with a stated cost of up to €800 billion.

During an extraordinary defence summit of EU leaders on 6 March, all EU leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, unanimously voted in favour of the ReArm Europe proposal.