Source: ZeroHedge.com
A month ago, the Danish ambassador to Ukraine vowed that Kiev would receive F-16 fighter jets from Denmark this summer. “Don’t worry; there will definitely be airplanes for Ukraine,” Ambassador Ole Egberg Mikkelsen told Ukrainian media at the time. As of 2023, Denmark had 44 total F-16AM and F-16BM fighters, and intended to decommission its entire fleet, in a plan that would see all of them in the end transferred to Ukraine.
But already, at the start of the summer when the aircraft are being prepped for delivery, Denmark is signaling further escalation against Russia. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on Thursday announced that Ukraine is authorized to use Danish-supplied F-16 fighter jets to strike targets inside of Russia territory.
Rasmussen was fielding questions by reporters in Brussels and was asked whether his government would greenlight this. “The short answer is yes,” Rasmussen responded.
“This is not a new position, it is part of the transfer. We made it clear from the very beginning when we discussed this with our Foreign Affairs Committee in the Danish Parliament that this is part of self-defense so that it would also be possible to attack military targets on the aggressor’s territory,” the Danish foreign minister explained.
Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands are among other NATO allies who have pledged their US-made F-16s to Ukraine as well, pending an ongoing training program for Ukrainian pilots – part of which is taking place in the US. Belgium, for example, will deliver 30 total aircraft and recent reports have indicated deliveries could start “within weeks”….