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US-Danish Nuclear Relations
The history of US-Danish
nuclear relations is a case study of how nuclear weapons affect close
relations between allies countries and nuclear and non-nuclear nations. During
the Cold War the relationship was tested many times in
disputes over US nuclear weapons deployments on Danish territory, nuclear
weapons policy and deployments in Europe, and port visits
by nuclear-capable warships.
Since 1957, essentially every Danish government
has reaffirmed an opposition to nuclear weapons on Danish territory yet at the
same time endorsed a role for such weapons in its own defense and NATO strategy.
As these issues played themselves out in the debate, Denmark's non-nuclear
policy became more and more specific. One of the most contentious issues
concerned whether the US violated Denmark's non-nuclear policy and to what
extent Danish governments knowingly "turned a blind eye" to violations. The
official line in Copenhagen was that there was no indication that the US brought
nuclear weapons in and that allied countries in any case trust each other.
Over the years, however, persistent researchers
and retired US military personnel gradually provided sufficient evidence to
suggest that the nuclear operations did occur on Danish territory despite the
governments' claim. Some of these cases have been substantiated others remain to
be documented:
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Nuclear
operations in Greenland
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Nuclear warship visits to Danish ports
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