The removal of Danish flags from the front of the US embassy in Copenhagen has drawn sharp criticism from veterans who see the move as disrespectful to the fallen. The flags were finally returned to their original place.
Danish war veterans criticized the US embassy in Copenhagen on Wednesday for removing Danish flags raised in front of a mission to honor Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan. TASR writes about it according to AFP.
- Veterans criticized the US embassy for removing the flags.
- The flags were in honor of fallen Danish soldiers in Afghanistan.
- The embassy claimed it did not know their true purpose.
- Trump’s statements about NATO have outraged some allies.
- Finally, the flags were raised again and they are to stay there.
The embassy later told Danish media that the intention was not to deliberately deface the flags and that it would not have removed them if it had known their true purpose.
Trump’s statements about NATO
US President Donald Trump angered some allies last week by downplaying the role of non-US NATO troops in the war in Afghanistan. In an interview, he said NATO troops “stayed a little behind, a little off the front line.”
In response, 44 Danish flags with the names of the 44 Danish soldiers who died in Afghanistan appeared in the flower beds outside the embassy in Copenhagen.
The reaction of veterans
“If the American ambassador is fully aware of what is happening in Denmark, then he will know what it is about. He will know that it looks like a provocation,” said the chairman of the Danish Veterans Association, Carsten Rasmussen.
He added that many saw Trump’s comments as a “betrayal” of their brothers in arms. That is why they are also planning a silent march towards the embassy on Saturday.
Flags raised again
The embassy initially said the flags were placed without coordination with it and therefore removed them. “It was a needless act that many Danes saw as a provocation,” Rasmussen said.
“We fought alongside the Americans in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, and we lost a lot of soldiers in Afghanistan – as many per capita as the Americans lost,” Copenhagen official Jens-Kristian Lutken told broadcaster TV2.
Later, the flags were re-positioned in front of the building and are to remain there.
