Danish veterans protest outside US embassy over Greenland and combat contributions

Hundreds of Danish veterans, many of whom fought alongside U.S. troops in the Middle East, held a silent protest Saturday outside the U.S. embassy in Copenhagen in response to the Trump administration’s threats to seize Greenland and belittling his combat contributions.

“Denmark has always stood by the United States, and we have appeared in the world’s crisis zones when the United States has asked us to. We feel disappointed and ridiculed by the Trump Administration, which deliberately ignores Denmark’s fight side by side with the United States,” Danish Veterans & Veteran Support said in a statement.

“There are no words to describe how much it pains us that Denmark’s contributions and sacrifices in the fight for democracy, peace and freedom are being forgotten in the White House,” he said.

Danish veterans are furious at White House rhetoric that ignores the right of Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark, to self-determination. They also strongly oppose President Trump’s claim that Denmark is incapable of protecting Western security interests in the Arctic.

On Saturday, veterans first gathered at a memorial honoring fallen Danish servicemen, then marched to the nearby U.S. embassy, ​​where they held five minutes of silence: one each for Denmark’s army, air force, navy, emergency management agency and police.

“We also want to tell Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values ​​we stood for together,” Soren Knudsen, vice president of Denmark’s veterans association, told Agence France-Presse.

He added that the organizers were pleasantly surprised by the support they received.

“It all started within the association and grew into a big event,” Knudsen said.

Danish combat veteran Martin Aaholm, who served in Afghanistan alongside U.S. troops and lost both legs to an improvised explosive device, told News themezone earlier this week that he feels “angry and betrayed” by Trump’s comments about Greenland and Denmark.

“I have sacrificed many friends, family and girlfriends, all because they put me on the path to helping America after 9/11,” he said, adding that helping America was worth it. “I was surprised that we answered the call, us little Denmark. I was surprised that we could fight with the big ones.”

“I think America has lost its soul. It’s not the America I grew up in, where I was the champion of peace in the world and wanted to spread democracy,” Aaholm added.

Forty-four Danish soldiers died in Afghanistan, the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces. Eight more died in Iraq.

Tensions escalated further on Tuesday when embassy staff removed 44 Danish flags, one for each Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan, that had been placed in front of the embassy.

The embassy apologized and replaced them.

“We have nothing but the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our shared security. There was no ill intentions behind the removal of the flags,” he said in a post on his Facebook page.

The State Department later said that, as a general rule, guard personnel remove abandoned items after demonstrations and other “legitimate exercises of free speech.” The flags were returned to those who abandoned them, he added.