Denmark confronts familiar foes on Ukraine and Moldova’s push to join the European Union

BRUSSELS – Denmark has taken over the rotating presidency of the European Union, vowing to tackle Europe’s top and most politically sensitive topics: strengthening Europe’s defences and preparing Ukraine for eventual EU membership.

“The world that secured our freedom and made us prosper can no longer be taken for granted,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told EU leaders at the opening ceremony of her country’s presidency, held on July 3 in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city.

“We have to rearm Europe, and we have to boost our support to Ukraine,” Ms Frederiksen added.

The 47-year-old leader, who is her nation’s youngest-ever prime minister and has led the northern European state since 2019, has a strong record on such matters.

Ms Frederiksen’s government spends more than 3 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product on its military, way ahead of most other European nations.

It also recently decided that Danish women should join men in being liable for compulsory call-ups to national military service.

Ms Frederiksen wasted no time in showing that the determination she displayed at home now also applies to the EU as a whole.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was invited as a special guest at the opening ceremony of the Danish EU presidency, where he was told by Ms Frederiksen that “Ukraine belongs to the European family”, and that Denmark is thinking about the “best way forward” to ensure that Ukraine becomes an EU member.

And on July 4, the EU under the Danish presidency also reaffirmed its determination to beef up Ukraine’s security by holding a summit with Moldova, another former Soviet republic which borders Ukraine and feels equally threatened by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“EU leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to Moldova’s sovereignty, security and resilience, in the light of the consequences of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine and Russia’s continued hybrid attacks against Moldova,” read the post-summit joint statement released in the early hours of July 5.

But as the Danish Prime Minister knows only too well, the powers of her presidency of the EU are limited. And the obstacles of admitting Ukraine and Moldova into the EU remain formidable.

Historically, the presidency of the EU, which rotates between the Union’s 27 member states every six months, played a vital role as a broker in all key decisions. Yet due to various treaty changes, the presidency now fulfils more basic tasks such as staging the EU summits and other meetings, and chairing them.

This does not mean that Ms Frederiksen’s role for the rest of this year will be purely ceremonial. Since most of the EU meetings end up in heated debates about the allocation of resources, a determined, resourceful but tactful leader can make a great deal of difference. Still, the reality remains that while Ms Frederiksen can suggest compromises, she cannot enforce them.

Moldova’s path to EU membership encounters few difficulties. The country is among Europe’s poorest. But at 2.3 million, its population represents a negligible economic challenge for the EU.

Indeed, most Moldovan citizens are already EU citizens, since Moldova was formed out of territory the Soviet Union seized from Romania, so the overwhelming majority of Moldovans are ethnic Romanians and therefore qualify for Romanian passports, which grant automatic right to work and live throughout the EU.

To make matters better still, President Maia Sandu of Moldova endeared herself throughout Europe with her determined stance against Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, and her defiance of Russian efforts to bribe Moldovan voters when she faced re-election in November 2024.

So, although Moldova still has to work hard to adapt its laws and governance procedures to EU standards, the country’s bid to join the EU is largely unopposed.

The snag is that Moldova’s EU membership makes no strategic sense unless that of Ukraine accompanies it. And Ukraine’s EU membership is now a hot political potato in Brussels.

Unlike Moldova, Ukraine is a vast state. If it were to join the EU, its 37.7 million-strong population would rank it fifth in the Union, granting Ukraine a significant influence within EU institutions.

Ukraine is also a big agricultural producer and exporter of food products, so its EU membership will directly affect farmers throughout the Union.

And although millions of Ukrainian refugees were welcomed with open arms in 2022 when the Russian invasion began, many in Europe are now – more than three years after the start of the conflict – getting tired of them.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, often an opponent of EU projects, claims to have conducted a “national consultation” in June 2025 over Ukraine’s potential EU membership.

Turnout was poor, and the Hungarian government has not released audited figures of the number of voters who cast ballots. But Mr Orban has claimed that 95 per cent of those who did participate opposed Ukraine’s EU membership, and believes this gives Hungary the right to veto any Ukrainian membership application.

“The problem is the war. If we were to integrate Ukraine into the EU, we would integrate the war. We wouldn’t want to be in the same community as a country at war,” Mr Orban explained.

Meanwhile, the people of Poland – central and eastern Europe’s most populous state – elected as their new president on June 1 a far-right politician whose main promise is to oppose Ukraine’s EU membership.

The feeling in many European capitals is that Poland’s newly elected president will relent when faced with arguments that Ukraine’s EU membership is the only way Europe can safeguard Ukraine’s independence.

But Hungary’s opposition is more entrenched, and nothing would please Mr Orban more than to hold Europe to ransom, for decisions on admitting new members must be made by unanimity.

Since Hungary is already embroiled in a number of longstanding disputes with the EU, Ms Frederiksen has hinted at the possibility of using provisions in the EU founding treaties to suspend Hungary’s voting rights in the Union. That would mean that a decision on Ukraine could be held without the threat of a Hungarian veto.

Denmark is “willing to look at all political and practical solutions for us to move forward”, Ms Marie Bjerre, the country’s European Affairs Minister, told journalists.

However, it is not clear if Denmark can secure the support of other EU member states for such a radical confrontational step.

And Denmark has another problem on which it prefers to remain silent. In the 47-page document summarising the priorities of the Danish EU presidency, Greenland – the Danish-ruled territory President Donald Trump wants to annex to the United States – is not mentioned even once.

The Danes evidently hope Mr Trump will not notice who is now in charge of the EU.