US Embassy Snubs Danish Efforts To Remember Afghanistan Fallen

The US embassy in Denmark may have just made Donald Trump’s row with Copenhagen even worse after it removed flags meant to honour the Danish soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war.

A security guard was seen taking down the 44 Danish flags placed outside the embassy to remember the 44 troops who died in the conflict on Tuesday.

Danish broadcaster TV2 later shared footage of Danes placing hundreds more flags in front of the embassy in retaliation.

A US State Department spokesperson told CNN the embassy was unaware of the flags’ significance and that guards often clear prohibited flags, banners and signs at the end of their shift.

But the Danish Veteran Association still criticised the decision on Wednesday, describing it as “unnecessary and insensitive” in a social media post.

“When they go low, we go high – and we respond with calm, dignity and consideration,” the association’s chair Carsten Rasmussen said.

The spat comes after the US president rocked international relations earlier this month by insisting America must “control” Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory.

Trump insisted it was key to US security due to its strategic position in the Arctic circle, ignoring how Denmark is both a Nato ally and already a strong strategic partner to the States.

The president then threatened to slap tariffs on anyone who resisted his plan as Europeans baulked at the idea of a US invasion of Greenland.

Making matters even worse, Trump went on to claim that Nato owes him Greenland, falsely alleging the defence alliance had “never” been there for the US.

When Nato chief Mark Rutte reminded Trump that the defence alliance went to war in Afghanistan for 20 years on America’s behalf after the 2001 9/11 attacks, Trump baselessly claimed the alliance troops “stayed a little back” off the frontlines.

Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said on Sunday that the US president’s were “intolerable”.

Denmark suffered one of the highest losses per capita compared to other Nato allies during the Afghanistan war.

The row de-escalated last weekend when Trump announced he had reached a “framework” for a future deal with Rutte, though further details are yet to be confirmed.