Wide fluctuations in Danish-Russian relations

Denmark has considerable room for manoeuvre (external action space) in its Russia policy. There is no common border with Russia and no economic or energy dependency. This may sometimes result in a value-oriented approach, as displayed by wave motions in Russia policy after the Cold War. There is also likely to be continued action space in the domestic arena. The future of Danish Russia policy is therefore likely to be determined mostly by any steps taken by Russia. In relation to war events in Ukraine and forceful Russia sanctions, the Danish profile has been among the toughest in the West, not far from that of the UK.

Read Hans Mouritzen’s chapter on Danish Russia policy in the volume on ‘Russia and the Future of Europe’ (Kaeding, Pollak & Schmidt, eds.), published by Springer in July 2022.