In the wake of the Paris terror attack on Friday night, the foreign minister, Kristian Jensen, has revealed that he aims to redeploy Denmark’s fighter jets against Islamic State (IS) as soon as possible.
The Danish F-16 squadron was only recently pulled back temporarily for some rest and maintenance and is scheduled to be sent back sometime in the late spring next year. That timeline might be pushed up now.
“I’m ready to send the Danish fighters back as soon as possible, because they are an important part of the efforts against IS,” Jensen told TV2 News. “And I hope that their development is going quickly. If necessary, we might also need to consider using the fighters in Syria.”
Until now, Denmark’s military efforts have been concentrated in Iraq only.
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EU discussions
Today, Jensen will take part in a meeting in Brussels concerning the dispersal of refugees in Europe, and he didn’t think the Paris terror attacks would have a bearing on those discussions.
“But I think we need to focus on the irregular migrants and the conflict in Syria today. It requires greater focus from a political and military standpoint,” Jensen said.
“Even if a terrorist has entered Europe on a Syrian passport, most of them are nationals of France and Belgium. How do we stop people from becoming radicalised to the point that they do something as insane as was the case on Friday.”
