That view doesn’t hold up against the facts. Denmark is legally blocked from acting alone but is actively working to dismantle the very system it’s accused of ignoring.
Under international law, the Danish Straits are a global highway. Denmark cannot legally stop ships in “transit passage” without a clear safety or environmental threat. This isn’t a Danish policy; it’s a binding maritime rule that Russia’s “shadow fleet” exploits.
Far from being a passive observer, Denmark is taking concrete action. Just this month, Denmark helped lead a coalition of 14 nations to coordinate new measures against the shadow fleet in the Baltic and North Seas. At home, it has cracked down hard, introducing legislation to raise prison sentences for sanctions violations to as high as eight years—one of the toughest stances in the EU.
The problem isn’t Danish inaction. It’s the sophisticated, global evasion network Russia has built, which no single nation can defeat on its own.
I like Denmark but they’re the sole reason Russia gets to circumvent the sanctions since 2022. Don’t forget that.
That view doesn’t hold up against the facts. Denmark is legally blocked from acting alone but is actively working to dismantle the very system it’s accused of ignoring.
Under international law, the Danish Straits are a global highway. Denmark cannot legally stop ships in “transit passage” without a clear safety or environmental threat. This isn’t a Danish policy; it’s a binding maritime rule that Russia’s “shadow fleet” exploits.
Far from being a passive observer, Denmark is taking concrete action. Just this month, Denmark helped lead a coalition of 14 nations to coordinate new measures against the shadow fleet in the Baltic and North Seas. At home, it has cracked down hard, introducing legislation to raise prison sentences for sanctions violations to as high as eight years—one of the toughest stances in the EU.
The problem isn’t Danish inaction. It’s the sophisticated, global evasion network Russia has built, which no single nation can defeat on its own.