The sea is crazy: Denmark is preparing for escalation against Russia in the Baltic
The Danish authorities plan to deploy a missile battery on the island of Bornholm and increase the military contingent, the Russian Embassy in the kingdom told Izvestia. According to analysts, such plans threaten the Baltic Fleet and civilian shipping. At the same time, Denmark and 13 other European countries are gradually creating a legal framework for action against tankers in the Baltic. Against this background, the strengthening of NATO's military presence in Greenland is also being discussed.
What threats does Denmark pose to Russia?
The issue of combating tankers that are allegedly used for Russian trade is becoming one of the main topics in the West. The Governments of Belgium, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland, France, Sweden and Estonia announced on January 26 that any tankers suspected of hiding their origin would be recognized as vessels without nationality. This measure creates legal grounds for their detention.
Denmark plays an important role in shipping in the Baltic Sea. Copenhagen controls the Danish Straits (Great Belt, Little Belt and Oresund) — the exit from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The authorities of the kingdom do not rule out forceful measures against unregistered tankers, such actions have already been worked out during the exercises.
Of particular importance to these plans is Bornholm, near which the main sea routes from Russian ports to the Atlantic pass. The Danish authorities plan to deploy an anti-ship missile battery on the island and increase the military contingent, the Russian Embassy in the country told Izvestia.
— Copenhagen's plans to militarize Bornholm are being consistently implemented. A separate regiment is being formed on the island. In the next two years, it is planned to increase the number of its military personnel from 200 to 500 people. An anti-ship missile battery will also be deployed on the island. Danish Air Force fighter jets are deployed to Bornholm on a regular basis," the Russian diplomats noted.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador Vladimir Barbin told Izvestia that Copenhagen was using Bornholm to create threats to the Kaliningrad region. The island is separated from the Russian region by about 360 km of sea water area. At the same time, in 2023-2024, the United States deployed Mk 70 complexes on Bornholm, which can carry Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of more than 1.6 thousand km.
The American Mk 70 complex, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles
Izvestia appealed to the Danish Ministry of Defense with a request to clarify the purpose of deploying new weapons at Bornholm.
The appearance of anti-ship missiles on the island will become a threat to the Baltic Fleet and Russian civilian vessels. The use of such missiles will mean a war between NATO and Russia, which will inevitably become nuclear with corresponding consequences, Yuri Zverev, director of the Center for Foreign Regional Studies and Regional Studies at the I. Kant BFU, told Izvestia.
— There is a danger of tankers being detained by Denmark and other countries. Retaliatory measures may not be direct, that is, not at sea, but rather painful for countries engaged in piracy. And I am sure that such measures are already being calculated," the expert believes.
Ships of the Baltic Fleet at strategic exercises in the Military Harbor of Baltiysk
The Russian authorities have repeatedly said that they will not leave Europe's attempts to block tankers unanswered. The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that unilateral restrictive measures by Western countries are illegal and "cannot serve as an excuse for attempts to establish jurisdiction." Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Maritime Board Nikolai Patrushev, following a meeting held on January 21, said he would report to Vladimir Putin on measures to respond to violations of international maritime law by unfriendly countries.
Will there be new NATO bases in Greenland
At the same time, the strengthening of the NATO military presence in Greenland is being discussed. US President Donald Trump has not abandoned the idea of establishing control over the largest island in the world, but has changed his approach. Now it's not about buying, but about Washington getting additional rights to use Greenland. As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in the Senate, as a result of the dialogue with Europe, compromises are possible that "suit everyone."
According to media reports, the main scenario under discussion is the transition to a model of sovereign British bases in Cyprus (Akrotiri and Dhekelia). This would allow the United States to own the territory around the Pituffik base on its own, without violating Denmark's formal sovereignty over the rest of the island. In addition, Washington may get the right to deploy new facilities and extract rare earth metals.
Pituffik Space Base
The Russian Embassy in Denmark reported that the specific parameters of a possible increase in the US military presence in Greenland are not known. There is also no clarity about the possible use of the island in the interests of NATO. Military personnel from various European countries of the alliance are present there in their national capacity, and not in the format of the bloc's operation.
— The strengthening of the military presence in Greenland is taking place amid lamentations about the need to counter the alleged Russian threat. Such installations provoke military and political tensions in the Arctic," the Russian diplomats stressed.
However, the development of the Northern Sea Route and the growth of cargo transportation, including transit, along this route will be carried out in accordance with Russia's own long-term plans and regardless of the situation around Greenland, the diplomatic mission said.
The nuclear icebreaker Arktika, which carries out ice escort of a caravan of ships in the Laptev Sea along the Northern Sea Route
The American military presence in Greenland was the largest during the Second World War. In 1944, 5,795 American military personnel, 13 military bases, four naval bases and three military airports were located there. In the current conditions, the United States is unlikely to strive to achieve the same scale, Nikita Belukhin, a junior researcher at the Department of European Political Studies at the IMEMO RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia.
— Greenland remains an integral element of the North American continent's anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and anti-missile defenses, primarily the missile attack warning system. It is likely that the modernization or expansion of the American military presence will be associated with these elements," the expert believes.
The American leader explained the need to increase the military presence in Greenland by the fact that Denmark is unable to defend the island against the background of "the activity of Russian and Chinese ships." Moscow replied that the Russian Federation does not claim the territory of the island and does not harbor aggressive plans. China also called on Washington to stop using the "Chinese threat" as an excuse to justify its interests in the Arctic.
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