COPENHAGEN – Denmark, which assumed its six-month presidency of the European Union yesterday, is expected to attempt to ensure Britain does not stray too far from the fold as the EU grapples with the debt crisis.
Denmark is one of nine non-euro EU countries that agreed to support euro zone members in drafting a new pact on fiscal responsibility to overcome the crisis, while Britain refused.
Prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a social democrat, who won an election in September to become Denmark’s first woman prime minister, has pledged to work to bring all 27 EU members together and avoid a split.
“We are going through the biggest crisis of recent times, and all of our actions matter,” minister for European affairs Nicolai Wammen told a news conference just before Christmas.
“Great Britain must decide its own course, but it’s no secret that we want to be a bridge over troubled waters, and we would not like to see the English Channel be wider in scope.”
Demark joined the European Community in 1973. – (Reuters)