Abstract
On February 24th, Russia invaded Ukraine. The invasion is the culmination of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia which have had major implications on the Western European countries. On March the 6th the Danish government decided to cast a referendum on the Danish EU-reservation concerning the European defense policy. Surprisingly, the Danish incumbent party had a few weeks before February 24th firmly rejected that the Danish reservation had any impact on Danish security and foreign policy. This assignment investigates why the Danish government changed their policy and includes several possible factors that had an effect on the decision. To answer the question, the study uses a model of neo-classical realism that provides opportunities to investigate the Danish governments turn-around. The analysis is based on empirical data generated through the four major newspapers in Denmark. The analysis finds that several domestic and international factors affected the Danish government to cast a referendum. The systemic analysis finds that the American pivot to Asia had put pressure on the European countries to increase their military spending. The domestic analysis finds the Russian invasion of Ukraine had choked the Danish strategic culture, which influenced the Danish government to expand its security alliance with EU, which, hitherto had focused on its relations with USA.