OPEN LETTER: Denmark, thank you — 672 million dollars and a lesson in dignity for Europe

Introduction: a letter that should have been written sooner

The 30th Danish package: what 672 million really means

Mr. Prime Minister of Denmark, ladies and gentlemen of the Copenhagen government — allow a Quebec columnist to write the letter that too many European capitals should have drafted long before now. On June 30, 2026, the Danish government approved its 30th military aid package to Ukraine, worth 590 million euros — approximately 672 million US dollars or 4.4 billion Danish kroner. This is the largest Danish package announced in 2026. It is also, for those who know how to read the signals, one of the most courageous political gestures of the year in Europe.

Your country has 5.9 million inhabitants. It does not rank among the continent's military giants. It does not carry the geopolitical weight of France, the industrial mass of Germany, or the nuclear posture of the United Kingdom. And yet it is at its 30th military aid package to Ukraine, with an envelope that exceeds what certain much larger countries have provided over two years. There is a lesson here that Europe should reflect on.

The 15,000 long-range rounds: concrete solidarity

Munitions that matter at the front

The June 30, 2026 package includes notably additional funding for long-range artillery munitions. The original documentation mentions approximately 15,000 long-range rounds, part of which was already in the process of delivery. These rounds are not abstract. On the front, every long-range artillery shell represents the ability to strike Russian positions beyond direct range, disrupt troop concentrations, and reach deep logistics depots.

Artillery warfare remains, in 2026, one of the determining factors on the Ukrainian front. The ammunition balance has been one of Ukraine's most glaring deficits since 2022. Every delivery of long-range munitions — whether from Denmark, Czechia, Poland or others — narrows that deficit. Denmark, with this 30th package, contributes to maintaining the artillery parity that conditions the holding of Ukrainian lines.

Additional undisclosed weapons

The package also includes additional weapons whose nature was not detailed publicly by the Danish government. Ukrayinska Pravda reported on June 30 that the government had briefed the Foreign Affairs Committee on the package details, but not all of them were made public. This is not unusual — operational security sometimes requires not disclosing the exact contents of deliveries before they are in transit.

What is known: 590 million euros of military aid. What can be inferred: weapons systems, equipment, vehicles, varied munitions. Denmark has a tradition of qualitative military aid — not junk, not outdated surplus, but real, operational equipment that makes a difference on the ground. The Danish F-16s already delivered to Ukraine are the most spectacular proof of that.

The Danish model: 198 million to fund Ukrainian industry

An innovation that goes beyond simple aid

The most innovative part of this 30th package is not in the munitions or weapons. It lies in what the Danes call the "Danish model": 1.3 billion Danish kroner — approximately 198.6 million US dollars — allocated directly to funding the procurement costs of the Ukrainian state from its own defense industry. In plain terms: Denmark pays for Ukraine to buy weapons made in Ukraine.

This model is revolutionary in its logic. It is no longer about sending weapons from the West to Ukraine. It is about funding Ukraine's capacity to produce its own weapons on its own territory, with its own workers and the expertise it has accumulated over four years of war. This is industrial sovereignty-building financed by an external ally. It is exactly the direction in which aid to Ukraine should be evolving.

Why this model is superior to classic deliveries

The Danish model offers several advantages over direct equipment deliveries. First, it keeps the funds within the Ukrainian economy, stimulating employment and industrial capacity in wartime. Second, it produces weapons adapted to the specific needs of Ukrainian forces, who know the terrain better than any external supplier. Third, it builds a defense industrial base that will serve Ukraine long after the conflict ends — if that day ever comes.

Reuters confirmed this funding mechanism on June 30 in its reporting on the Danish package. The Danish model approach has been cited by other Ukraine partners as an inspiration for their own aid. This may be Denmark's most lasting contribution to Ukraine's defense: not just weapons, but a support model that others can replicate.

Thirty packages: a trajectory that commands respect

From the first package to June 2026: Danish consistency

Being at the 30th military aid package means Denmark has maintained a remarkable pace of engagement since the start of the large-scale conflict in February 2022. Each package represented a renewed political choice, in the face of economic pressures, internal debates, and voices calling for accommodation with Russia. Denmark said no to those voices, thirty times.

This consistency stands in sharp contrast to the hesitations of certain allies. Hungary under Viktor Orbán regularly blocks European aid mechanisms. Italy is slowing its commitments for 2027. Several NATO countries contribute below their actual capacity. Against this uneven landscape, Danish consistency looks like a fixed line in a world that wobbles. It deserves to be named and saluted.

The Nordic example: a solidarity doctrine

Denmark is not alone in this posture. Its Nordic neighbors — Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands — have all maintained high and consistent aid levels. These countries understood something that the large central powers of Europe sometimes take time to grasp: what is happening in Ukraine is not a peripheral conflict. It is a war for the fundamental principles of the European order. And those who live closest to the danger understood that first.

Finland and Sweden, now NATO members, have joined this Nordic dynamic with an acute awareness of what a Russian victory in Ukraine would mean. Denmark, for its part, did not wait to be directly threatened to understand that the threat is real. That is a form of political farsightedness that deserves to be highlighted.

To Ukraine: what this package means for you

A letter to Kyiv

Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian soldiers at the front — this 30th Danish package is a declaration of lasting friendship, not improvised emergency aid. 672 million dollars in weapons, munitions and direct funding for your defense industry, decided by a country of 5.9 million people with no legal obligation to mobilize at this level. It is a moral choice, renewed thirty times.

I know this is not victory. I know that 672 million alone cannot close the Ukrainian sky or stop Russian tanks. But this constant commitment, this political decision renewed at the 30th package, says something important: you are not alone. Some in Europe have understood the stakes and they are not letting go. Denmark is one of them. Remember that.

What Denmark asks in return

Unlike certain partners who condition their aid on political or economic commitments, Denmark has not attached public conditions to this 30th package. It has simply delivered — weapons, funding, support for the Ukrainian industry. The implicit counterpart, if one is needed at all, is the continuation of Ukrainian resistance against Russian aggression. Which is what Ukraine is already doing every day, at the cost of blood.

This package fits into a broader mechanism: military aid to Ukraine in 2026 is increasingly taking the form of support for Ukrainian industrial autonomy. The Danish model is its leading edge. Tomorrow, if other allies adopt this model, Ukraine could become not only a country receiving aid, but a defense power that exports its know-how to its allies. The circle closes.

The Ukrainian defense industry: the partner Denmark chose

A sector that exploded in four years of war

Ukraine in 2026 is no longer a country waiting for Western deliveries with arms folded. Its national defense industry has experienced explosive growth since 2022. Long-range drones striking oil depots in Russia. Locally produced missiles. Innovative electronic warfare systems. The share of domestic production in Ukrainian military procurement reached, according to United24, 95 percent of weapons purchases in 2026. That is not a detail — it is a structural transformation.

It is in this context that the Danish model takes on its full significance. By funding Ukrainian state procurement from its own defense industry, Denmark is not merely supporting the immediate war effort. It is investing in the Ukrainian defense industrial base that will serve long after the conflict ends. It is funding the strategic autonomy of a country that aspires to join NATO and the European Union. This is industrial policy as much as military aid.

The European commissioner acknowledged it: one of the most innovative industries in Europe

International recognition of the quality of Ukraine's defense industry has come from the highest levels. European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius recently described the Ukrainian defense industry as "one of the most innovative in Europe" and called for its deeper integration into the European defense industrial base. These are not empty words — they are institutional recognition that opens doors.

The Danish model, by funding this industry, accelerates that integration. When a Ukrainian drone company receives Danish funds to produce drones for Ukrainian forces, it develops standards, certifications, and partnerships that bring it closer to the European defense ecosystem. This is an integration-through-production strategy, and it works.

The Danish F-16s: when Denmark already showed the way

The F-16 decision: a courageous precedent

Denmark is not at its first bold gesture toward Ukraine. The Danish decision to deliver F-16 fighters to Ukraine — announced in 2023 alongside other Nordic countries and followed through with actual deliveries — was at the time a decision that many allies had not dared take. Providing fighter aircraft to a nation in active war with a nuclear power seemed inconceivable to some. Denmark concluded that the inconceivable was necessary.

Those F-16s have since changed the Ukrainian air balance. They did not reverse the balance on their own, but they gave Ukraine a capability it sorely lacked. And the Danish decision opened the way for similar deliveries by other countries. That is the mechanics of leadership: someone has to go first. Denmark did it several times. The 30th package is part of this tradition of courageous first steps.

Credibility built through deeds

Denmark has a unique credibility with Ukraine because it acted before it spoke. It did not wait for polls to confirm popular support. It did not condition its aid on repayment guarantees. It did not calculate the political return on investment of each delivery. It assessed the situation, concluded that aid was necessary and right, and it acted. Thirty times.

This credibility, built from repeated acts, is precious beyond the monetary value of the packages. It tells Ukraine: there are allies you can count on, who do not retreat under pressure, who do not change position with every election or every call from Moscow. In a world of strategic uncertainty, this kind of reliable partner is an invaluable resource.

To other European governments: read this

A direct call to the capitals that hesitate

This open letter is also addressed — perhaps above all — to the governments that are not yet at their 30th package. To Rome, which is slowing commitments for 2027. To Budapest, which blocks European mechanisms. To the capitals providing symbolic but insufficient aid. The budget argument is understandable. The public opinion argument is real. But neither of these weighs as heavily as the price paid by Ukrainians while the discussions drag on.

Denmark has shown that it is possible. With 5.9 million inhabitants, with real budget constraints, with a public opinion that is not unanimous on every decision, it has maintained significant and consistent aid. If Denmark can do it, why can't others who are larger, wealthier, and more powerful? This question deserves an honest answer, not technical explanations.

European security cannot be delegated

For decades, Europe subcontracted its security to the United States. That era is over. Washington under the Trump administration has clearly signaled that Europeans must do their share — or all of it. The funding of aid to Ukraine planned for 2026 — 70 billion euros — will happen without American contribution. That is unprecedented. And it is a responsibility that Europe must fully assume.

Denmark, with its 30th package, demonstrates that this responsibility can be met. But it cannot rest on the shoulders of a few virtuous countries while others merely watch. 672 million Danish dollars cannot compensate for Roman hesitations, Hungarian blockages, and the political calculations of less committed capitals. Europe must be collectively committed in action, not just in declaration.

Conclusion: thank you, Denmark — and now

A letter that ends with a demand

This open letter begins with a sincere thank you and ends with a demand — not toward Denmark, which is already doing its share and more, but toward all those who are not yet doing enough. The 30th Danish package, with its 590 million euros, its 15,000 long-range rounds and its 198 million for the Danish model, is a standard. Not a ceiling that no one can reach — a floor that every serious country should at least match, in proportion to its size and wealth.

Ukraine holds. It holds because countries like Denmark have not let go. It will hold more firmly if other countries join this consistency. This is not a matter of pro-Ukrainian sentiment. It is a matter of documented, quantified, obvious European strategic interest. Thirty packages, 672 million, the Danish model: this is what long-term vision looks like in foreign policy.

To Ukraine and to Denmark: history is watching

Zelensky and Copenhagen — you are building something together that will outlast the tallies of 2026. A relationship of trust, a precedent of solidarity, a model of defense cooperation that will serve as a reference for the decades to come. History will record that Denmark was there, at the 30th package, when it still mattered. That simple and true sentence is worth more than all the speeches about European values.

Thank you, Denmark. And now — let the others follow.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Columnist's transparency note

My sources and my declared convictions

This open letter is based on data reported by Ukrayinska Pravda, Reuters, United24, The Straits Times and Militarnyi for June 30, 2026. The figures — 590 million euros, 4.4 billion kroner, 1.3 billion kroner for the Danish model, 30th package — are those provided by these sources. I did not have access to the confidential details of the package.

I am deeply pro-Ukraine and I consider Western military aid to Ukraine a strategic and moral necessity. This bias is assumed. The open letter format is a journalistic convention — I have not personally addressed the Danish Prime Minister or Zelensky. The genre "open letter" is a rhetorical tool here, not a real diplomatic document.

What I do not know

I do not know the exact content of all the weapons included in this 30th package beyond what was made public. The figure of 15,000 long-range rounds is drawn from the source documentation — I cannot confirm the precise caliber or the systems involved. The mention of partially ongoing deliveries is also drawn from the same sources. Should a discrepancy arise between the final figures and those reported here, responsibility lies with official communication timelines, not with any invention on my part.

My method remains the same: read the sources, cross-reference information, name the uncertainties. I do not fabricate figures, I do not create testimonies. What I know, I state. What I do not know, I indicate.

Sources

Primary sources

Denmark to allocate nearly €600mn in military aid to Ukraine — Ukrayinska Pravda, June 30, 2026

Denmark launches $672 million military aid package for Ukraine — Reuters, June 30, 2026

Secondary sources

Ukraine to receive 15,000 long-range artillery rounds from Denmark — United24, June 30, 2026

Denmark to supply Ukraine with 15,000 long-range artillery shells — Militarnyi, June 30, 2026

Denmark launches $672 million military aid package for Ukraine — The Straits Times, June 30, 2026

Ukraine in talks with France to produce SCALP missiles under license — NewsUkraine, June 29, 2026