MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Danish politicians’ claims about an alleged Russian threat smack of surrealism and are detached from reality, Russian ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin said in his comments to Berlingske, a Danish daily newspaper.
"Surrealism has become the norm for the West in its political assessments and Danish politicians are just painting such gloomy pictures while focusing discourse on the new defense budget [of Denmark]," the newspaper quoted the Russian diplomat as saying on its website on Thursday.
On January 28, the Danish parliament adopted a plan to beef up the country’s defense budget by another 12.8 billion crowns ($2.14 billion) over the next six years. This move is the first since the end of the Cold War and it will allow Denmark to increase its defense spending from 1.17% to 1.3% of the country's GDP, although NATO demands to raise this figure to 2% by 2024. As Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen noted on Sunday, it is now necessary to allocate additional funds for defense, including the fight against cyber threats, because "the threat from Russia is real and growing."
According to Vanin, setting the size of the defense budget is Denmark's internal issue, nevertheless, the arguments, cited by supporters of increased military spending, compel the Russian side to comment on the issue.
"Russia is now the root of all evil in the world, in Europe and in the Baltic region," the ambassador remarked.
"However, it is quite obvious that Russia has never harbored any designs of aggression against European capitals and NATO member states ... Europeans are being regularly slaughtered by terrorists on the streets of European cities, yet not one Danish citizen has ever been murdered by the "evil Russians", and our countries have never fought with each other. So, who really poses a threat to Denmark and the Danes then? "
Vanin recommended that Danish politicians and experts "spend at least an hour on studying Russia’s military doctrine." This will allow them to understand that Russia has no intention of attacking those "poor Baltic states", but takes all necessary steps in the event any aggression from a foreign state emerges. The ambassador pointed out that for several years the United States has been voicing "extremely provocative and groundless statements" about an allegedly imminent war on the European continent, the aim of which is to create instability and an atmosphere of distrust in Europe, and incite a conflict.