Denmark’s Billions, Defense Spending, and a Season Wrap-Up

Money, Missiles, and a Mic Drop. As Fionn and Katie—two internationals living in Denmark—wrap up the season, they reflect on the biggest shifts in the country and on the podcast itself—and what still lies ahead. But the world doesn’t stop: NATO’s new agreement for members to spend 5% of GDP on defense marks a dramatic pivot in global priorities, raising big questions for Denmark’s role. At the same time, the Danish treasury reports a surprise 58 billion DKK surplus—but will it ease everyday burdens or just patch budget holes? Alongside the headlines, the hosts share what they’ve learned from this season of conversations, questions, and community—making space to close the loop before the next chapter begins.

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Transcript

Fionn:

Did you know that the Last Week in Denmark newsletter is available in eight languages? Hey there, this is Fionn from the Last Week in Denmark podcast and every week you guys are tuning in to hear me and my fellow co-hosts talk about the top news of the week in English. But let's be real, we're all internationals, so not only are you speaking English every day, probably also speaking a bit of Danish, but you've probably also got your own native language as well, like the multilingual master you are. So why not treat yourself to the luxury of being able to read Danish news each week in your own native language so head on over to lastweekdk.substack.com, that's lastweekdk.substack.com and sign up for our newsletter delivered to you every single Sunday.

Hi. Welcome to the Last Week in Denmark podcast. I'm Katie and I'm here with Fionn this week. How are you doing, Fionn?

Fionn:

Hello, I'm pretty good. It is... I'm gonna strike the podcast off by...being disgusting!

Katie: 

As always!

Fionn:

It is sweaty enough and humid enough that I absolutely had to take a shower before we started this podcast because it's just been been a long day of running around after a sick child in the humidity. So, yeah, that's how I am. This so often sounds like your life.

Katie:

I'm not surprised by the subject. Yeah, it's a glamorous world.

Fionn:

It's very sticky and humid in Aarhus too.

Katie:

And it's like, you know, in the morning you're like, oh my God, it's so bright. And then you get halfway through the day and you're like, I am human sludge.

Fionn:

So, yeah, definitely feel your pain. I live like, I don't know, 100 meters from the sea. And I feel like that should give a little bonus too, you're guaranteed a nice refreshing sea breeze, but apparently not.

Katie:

No, the wind is warm and I don't understand what's happening. But anyway, so what are we talking about this week? These are the three topics. So first, the next Last Week in Denmark newsletter is going to be on August 10th. So it's just to kind of give everybody a heads up on us taking the usual Danish break over the summer. Then we're going to talk about NATO agreeing to spend 5% of GDP on defence, that's all the NATO countries. And then the 58 billion DKK extra in the National Treasury. Very exciting times.

Fionn:

Very exciting.

Katie:

So yeah, first and foremost, we wanted to let everybody know of course that we are taking a break over the summer because nothing works in Denmark over the summer in July. So this is the season three finale. Of Last Week in Denmark. 

Fionn:

It is. 

Katie:

I know, crazy. Obviously we have only been on the podcast for this season, and I can't believe it's already over.

Fionn:

Well, it's not over over. I mean, the season's over, but the podcast isn't. Yes. Maybe despite, you know, better judgment, we are going to be back in people's ears back in August. 

Katie:

Yes. So I think we're going to be aligning with the newsletter coming back around August 10th to come back to you with Danish news updates. and all the information that you need to know living in Denmark. But we also wanted to highlight, obviously, we've been doing the podcast, this version of the podcast, since January, so we'd encourage you to go back, listen to our older messages. If you have any feedback, anything you'd like us to include, anything you'd like us to change, we'd love to hear from you. And we obviously enjoy talking with each other and bringing the news to other internationals and kind of talking about how we experience different things. But if there's anything you'd like us to know, please do reach out. I guess through our social media channels. That's probably the best place to get us.

Fionn:

Yeah, absolutely. Or through our website. Yeah, I think it's always worth diving back into some old episodes. I think one thing that recording this podcast, you know, every few weeks has taught me is that everything old becomes new again. As you think, well, surely this world leader isn't going to say this. or isn't going to do this. And then lo and behold, a few weeks later, it is. So, I mean, we probably like to think that our views are very unique and our takes on them are evergreen, but who knows? Maybe you can listen back to some old episodes and hear me say that, no, nobody's going to sign up to five percent. That's crazy. It'll take years before that happens.

Katie:

Ah, the joys, the joys of being in a wartime world. Anyway, I suppose as well, just to say, obviously a huge, huge huge thank you to every, all the listeners, all the readers of Last Week in Denmark and for 2025. This has been our busiest, boldest and most beautiful season yet, not just at the podcast, also with the newsletter. The highlights that we're proud of, we've obviously launched this brand new fabulous podcast team and published a new episode every single week since January. We finally added illustrations to our newsletter, thanks to the incredible work of Diana, who's a member of the team. Our reporters and columnists have published nearly 100 original articles, and most of them containing more than 2000 words because so many stories need that extra space. We've launched our, or we will be launching our ninth language edition next week, which will be Ukrainian. So that's reaching more internationals in their own languages, getting the news they need. Amazing. And our social media following has nearly doubled. We're on fire. This is a great time.

Fionn:

Look at us.

Katie:

I know. And all we have to do is show up and talk to each other. So it's a good time.

Fionn:

Yeah, I know. and complain about how hard it is and how difficult it is.

Katie:

Yes, talking about the weather, truly Danish integration, really. But then I suppose actually, I was thinking about this recently because I think I caught in my inbox about Last Week in Denmark looking for volunteers on the podcast. So it kind of completely came up by surprise. And I think it was actually April or May before I realized I hadn't told most people that I was doing it. And then it was only when I started posting it on LinkedIn, my friends were like, what? You're on a podcast? And I was like, yeah. And then I also found, since then, I've been so much more informed. I feel like I do tend to hide under a rock. The news upsets me because the world is a terrible place in so many ways. But I feel like I have become so much more informed about Denmark, but also general world politics from, because I like you and Golda, and Kalpita and Narcis, and just kind of listening to what you think about these things. And also all of you are funny, so I feel better listening to these kind of scary war articles when someone's like, yeah, but I want to go on my phone, leave me alone.

Fionn:

Yeah, I mean, I had a very similar thing. I'd been following the newsletter for quite a while and spotted the call for volunteers and thought that would definitely be fun. And then we recorded some test episodes and recorded a few live episodes and I thought, oh, this is going really nicely. and then the thought of actually telling anybody that, you know, you can listen to my opinions on current affairs was very intimidating, especially as I have an actual real life journalist for a parent. So I was like, oh no, no, you're not allowed to listen. But who knows, maybe if we have one or two listeners from Dublin and Ireland, that could well be them. But yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure and I guess we probably better do what we say we do and dive into the news this week.

Katie:

Let's talk about the news. So the next topic is NATO agrees to spend 5% of GDP on defence. So this is an historic move and a huge increase that NATO countries are agreeing to boost their defence spending to 5% of GDP over the next decade. So that's Denmark's currently spending 2.37% and it's number eight amongst the EU states. So getting that up to 5% in the next 10 years sounds crazy, but it's obviously the imminent threat that is Russia and then the madness that is the US kind of driving this and kind of Europe banding together to be like, we do need to be ready for war, we do need to realistically have all of these things available. So that's the plan is kind of split between military gear, tanks, troops, drones, et cetera, that kind of equipment. And then there's kind of a 1.5% for they're saying broader security. So it's kind of like cybersecurity and infrastructure, but I also think it's more of a up whatever we figure out we need along the way. Because who really, I think going off the last few years, who really knows what's going to happen in the next few?

Fionn

Yeah. This is actually something that a few weeks ago, Narcis and I were discussing this kind of proposed split between the, how do you divide that 5%? And actually just that week when we were talking about it, Mette Frederiksen had been at a meeting of the kind of Nordic and Baltic NATO states in Vilnius, I think. And she had floated this idea of splitting it between the 3.5% for hard military or hard defense spending and the 1.5% for miscellaneous, if you can put it that way. And then it was funny, you could almost see the chain where she floated the idea there and then a little bit later in that week there was a NATO summit in Belgium, I think, or in Brussels, where Margrethe was then saying like, yes, this is kind of a proposal that we're working with. And I don't know if that's entirely Mette Frederiksen's or, you know, somebody in her cabinet's idea if they can really claim the credit for it or if it's kind of, you know, backing an existing idea. But I do wonder if it has maybe helped get Europe over that line or have that mindset shift if you think about it that way. Because at least for me, and I'm not the best at numbers, but if I'm thinking about 2.3%, getting up to 5%, well, you're more than doubling it. But if it's 2.3%, but getting up to 3.5%, it's still a big increase, but that seems more manageable. And then the 1.5%, well, if we have tanks, they need to drive on roads. So it's part of our our overall infrastructure spending and these kind of big capital investment projects, they tend to be quite popular with the public as well. When you see a new highway is being built so you can get somewhere faster or better bridges, or you're finding out that, hey, we foiled these cyber attacks because we've been investing in cybersecurity. These are kind of good news stories as opposed to maybe the more doom and gloom, no more hospital beds because we're buying bullets. Not that it's necessarily that, but that can often be where the mind goes. And when we were first talking about a lot of this back in January and Trump was demanding everybody 5%, I was really skeptical, I think, that this would ever, not ever happen, but that it would happen in a short term.

Katie:

Yeah, it felt like it should take a lot longer to get us to that place than it has.

Fionn:

Yeah, exactly. And I guess there's part of me that's quite surprised that it has worked so well or moved so quickly, I guess you could say. But I also wonder, you mentioned the US maybe being seen as a bit of an unreliable partner. Well, this, and it seems to be the kind of response and reaction from the NATO summit this week, that maybe this actually gets the US a little bit more back on side, so to speak. Trump seems very, very happy. And that did lead to, or at least part of that seemed to me to be maybe the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen in terms of an exchange between world leaders. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about there.

Katie:

I do. I do. I think most people do.

Fionn:

Yeah. So if you are lucky enough to have not seen the emails or text messages, whatever it was, from Mark Rutte to Donald Trump, It's been called an orchestrated grovel where he tells, you know, Dear Donald, thank you for your decisive action. You've achieved something no president in decades could ever get done, and none of us were brave enough to do this. And he later referred to him as daddy, I think, in a tweet or something like that.

Katie:

Oh, God.

Fionn:

Yeah. Which on one hand, I get, right, you're playing to very egotistical person's ego. But I'm just, you know, I'm not a fan of, you know, Winston Churchill for the wonderful, very unwonderful things he did in Ireland and many other places around the world. But could you imagine, you know, FDR saying, like, Dear Winnie, you are the most amazing daddy's home.

Katie:

Like, of course. It's a movie I would watch, if that's your question, if you wanted to make this altered reality. I'd just be so worried anything I send like that would wind up in history books.

Fionn:

And this probably is, yeah.

Katie:

What if in like 30 years this excerpt is gonna be in every history book ever?

Fionn:

Oh, wow. I think, you know, World War II would be seen as a lot less of a interesting military history topic if, I don't know, Stalin had been writing to Harry Truman saying, like, slay queen.

Katie:

There's probably a lot of embarrassing things that happened, but they were not documented and as widespread as they are today. History will look very, very silly in the future, I think.

Fionn:

Yeah. When they say it turns out the internet was a mistake, this will be what they point to.

Katie:

Yeah. No one can take anything seriously anymore, ever.

Fionn:

I think one of the maybe interesting things is, of course, this is going to be a huge amount of spending, but if we are lucky, or if countries are smart about it, they will try and get that money spent in their countries, right? So you're actually stimulating your own economy. So whether that is through defense production, so to speak, and I saw Denmark is allowing Ukraine to basically open up Iderfoss ammunition production here in Denmark, or through the servicing, whether it's software or whatever, the defense industry or the actual defense forces, I think there's hopefully a real influx of money that can go towards actually creating jobs, creating supporting systems, and not only for the nasty use that bullets have.

Katie:

Real focus on the bullets. It's the cybersecurity I think we need to focus on. But that actually kind of leads us nicely into the next topic, which is the Danish economy is doing even better than expected. There's a new projection that shows that Denmark's public finances will have 58 billion DKK more to spend by 2030 than previously estimated. And that boost comes from record high employment, stronger exports and more internationals in the workforce. But the government does warn that there are the big bills coming for defence, but hopefully, as you say, big opportunities from the defence spending as well. But then there's also climate and welfare coming up as costs.

Hey, this is Kalpita and Golda, co-hosts of the Last Week in Denmark podcast. Did you know, Last Week in Denmark offers sponsored content in the newsletter? Our reporters are producing original articles and content tailored for internationals in Denmark.

So if you have a business our readers should know about, let us write about it. Get in touch with us at reporter@lwid.dk. You can also reach out to us on LinkedIn and Instagram: @lastweekindenmark.

Fionn:

Well, I think it's a perfect opportunity as two fellow Internationals in the workforce to just say, congratulations, Katie, for contributing to this 58 billion.

Katie:

I'm very good. I'm very good. I would like some of it to go directly to me, if that's possible. I am also a little bit like, how did you find 58 billion? I have never found any extra money anywhere.

Fionn:

It's definitely the equivalent of finding your winter coat that you've put away and maybe you took some money out on a night out and we're too far gone to spend it. So it's like a nice little treat.

Katie:

It does, there's no cash here. I feel like I don't get that. I do have on my Revolut card, they have those, I think they're called Pockets now, but they used to be called Vaults, where you could take the change from a transaction and put it in a pocket. So I have like a new couch account basically that builds up and I forget about every now and then. And then I find it, I'm like, ooh!

Fionn: 

That's pretty smart! Unfortunately, I was about to say I'm not good enough with my money to have that, but it sounds like I'm neither good enough nor bad enough with my money to have that little secret thing. But it's good news in a sense, but it's also a bit of a whoopsie. Calculations on the back of a beer mat were a little bit off, maybe?

Katie:

Yes.

Fionn:

But, yeah.

Katie:

It's also quite far off. Sometimes whenever there's like a big thing like this, I do wonder what it's like that day in the office. Like, did someone just go into an office and be like, God, I'm so sorry. I actually misplaced a couple of zeros and it's actually 58 billion more. Sorry!

Fionn:

Yeah! And it really reminds me of the years ago I was working for, actually for a Danish company, a very big kind of corporate Danish company. And they kind of rushed towards the end of the year. to spend all the budget that you had left because, you know, some would say, oh, you achieved all these things, all these targets, and actually spent less than you were meant to. But then somebody, you know, higher up would be saying, if you don't, they're not going to give it back. Like, we won't have it next year. So, you know, whoever needs a new five printers, just order them now. As long as we can invoice it this year, it's fine. If you are like me and always convert Danish kroner back into Euros or dollars, that is 7.7 billion euros, nearly, I think, a little bit more than nine billion dollars if you're an American listener. So it is quite the amount. And I think there's been quite a bit of criticism. It's good news, right? But there is, yeah.

Katie:

Yes, that's what I love about Denmark, because it's like, yeah, woo, money. But then they're like, why did you get rid of Big Prayer Day if we didn't need to? And you're like, Hmm, fair point.

Fionn:

To be honest, I think it is a fair point. Not that I had a huge affinity for the Great Prayer Day, because I'm not particularly religious for one thing, but whenever I asked, you know, well, what is it we're doing? The answer was, well, we eat white bread with butter.

Katie:

The special bread.

Fionn:

Yeah. And I had to admit, you know, well, as a non-Dane, I eat white bread with butter every day of my life. So, I'll take the day, but it didn't feel maybe quite as special and magical as Christmas or almost any of the others, let's be honest. 

Katie:

I never got Big Prayer Day because when I first moved here, I worked remotely for an Irish company, so I took the Irish Bank holidays. And then when I switched to a Danish company, everyone was outraged. And I was like, why? They were like, We're in work. And I was like, yeah, we're meant to be here. And they were like, big prayer day. And I was like, I don't know what you want from me. It was, yeah, it was a bit of a moment. But I agree. When it comes to public holidays, I'm like, I will never think we have enough holidays, even though I get so many more here than I did in Ireland. I'm just like, there should always be more holidays. So, like, why take it away? 

Fionn:

This was a real culture shock for me. When I first left Ireland, I didn't move at first to Denmark, but I moved to Switzerland. And the system was a bit more like it is here in Denmark, where there was more public holidays, but In Ireland, we just, okay, you know, we're celebrating this day, but we'll just put the day off on the Monday. So it's going to be like the first Monday instead of a specific date. So you're kind of always guaranteed the day off. And the first time it was, I can't remember what day or whatever celebration or holiday it was, but it landed on a Saturday or a Sunday. I was absolutely scandalized that we weren't being given a day off in compensation. 

Katie:

I also hate when they're like, oh, it's a holiday on Sunday. And I'm like, all right, but that just means everything's closed. So I can do less on my Sunday. This is an anti-holiday, an anti-weekend.

Fionn:

I feel we should have it back. I think, you know, 58 billion. And let's be honest, it's 58 billion by 2030. So if we think about that money by 2030, you will probably be able to buy one mediumly sized apartment in, I don't know, Nørrebro for 58 billion by that point. So we should just splurge now, overspend now, and bring back Great Prayer Day and just, you know, just say it'll all be fine.

Katie:

I have to say, I don't fully understand why they got rid of it. I understand it was for money, for defenses, but I don't understand how me having to go to work makes them get more money.

Fionn:

I guess nominally you contribute to the economy. Now, I'm not sure how hard you work, to be honest, but...

Katie:

I don't want to answer that question.

Fionn:

In theory, when you go to work, you There's something called productivity and you are supposedly generating value.

Katie

I've heard of that. Gosh, should I give that a go? Terrible.

Fionn:

I know. It's the things you don't want to admit to on a microphone, just in case. But I guess that's the reasoning behind it. But it is still, I mean, you know, we've spoken, I think, quite a few times on this podcast about things like war taxes and you know, things coming up, whether it's the climate crisis or investments in health and mental health particularly, I think has popped up a few times. And these are all great things generally, by and large, but of course they cost money. And whenever, you know, you're looking at a budget, it's like, well, what are you going to take seriously? That's where you're allocating the budget to. And you probably can't allocate all the budget to everything. But with this figure, it does mean that that's how much extra they have without having to raise any more taxes. or raise the level of taxes by that point.

Katie:

Yes, that would be nice.

Fionn:

Exactly, right. So maybe some of these things we've heard about the war tax, which I think, you know, when we talked about the getting to that 5% it was, you know, if we were to move up each percent costs, I think about 30 billion kroner. So that, you know, hopefully covers some of it. And we can just hope the trends continue and there's more internationals in the workforce even more in future to give even greater bumpers results each year.

Katie:

Yes, I did like the kind of call out that the revision was partly due to underestimating how much internationals would contribute. And I of course decided that was entirely about me and my contribution, however unproductive I feel most of the time.

Fionn:

I think the Ministry of Finance's statement was starting out with, I'm very proud that the Danish economy is is doing so well. And a few paragraphs down, it's like, we must acknowledge that the Ministry of Finance's estimates have not been good at capturing the positive developments.

Katie:

We have in fact done it wrong. It is very, very wrong, but in a good way, as opposed to a bad way. So we'll take the positive.

Fionn:

I mean, it could be worse. They could just not admit it and slowly be, I don't know, channeling that money somewhere else, slowly repopulating all the mink in Denmark until that crisis is firmly resolved.

Katie:

Oh, God. Let's not get onto the topic of the mink. It will never end. I think when I first moved to Denmark, I think five different people told me about the minks in the first two weeks, and I was like, I don't care. But you, I suppose before we go on this episode, we want to give a big thank you. Obviously, we have thanked our listeners and readers of last week in Denmark, but we also want to thank the wonderful people who make this podcast possible in no particular order. Thank you to Narcis who started the podcast, our previous podcast manager Joan-Ann and our current manager Steph, our editors Cecilia and Leah who make us sound good and we refer to a lot and hope they will continue to make us sound smart d like we can speak English, our social media leads Zsófi, Kristine and Pratik for all the work on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, and then of course our fellow co-hosts for this season, Kalpita, Golda, Narcis and Arav. And then us, obviously, everyone's favorites.

Fionn:

Obviously. Yeah, and just, I think a huge thank you also from my side to all of the above and to all of our listeners and likewise to yourself, Katie, it's been such a fun six months so far. And we said, this is how it's been for 2025, this is what we've been proud of, and listened to a bunch of things, which is brilliant, and we're only about halfway there, right? So we have many more months to do even better, I think, next season. And one of the fun things maybe has been we're all located in pretty much different spots around Denmark. It's very nice to, you know, every few weeks get to chat with a fellow co-host, but it would be amazing to see another co-host in person. And maybe, just maybe, we'll have an opportunity to do just that.

Katie:

Oh my God. Could there be A Last Week in Denmark party coming up sometime?

Fionn:

There...

Katie: Sometime soon?

Fionn:

Could well be a Last Week in Denmark party coming up sometime soon. In fact, if we were to say sometime soon, we could almost put a date on it, which is August 30th. There's going to be a Last Week in Denmark birthday, a fifth birthday in fact, for Last Week in Denmark. And we're gonna celebrate with a party in Aalborg on the 30th of August. The location is yet to be announced, but it will be announced shortly. so again, I would recommend checking out our socials, our website, and likely your email inbox as well for more news on that. What a wonderful chance to get to meet in person, whether that's us who actually work for Last Week in Denmark or volunteer with Last Week in Denmark, I should say, or if you're a listener and want to get a chance to get to know the organization a bit better or just drink some beers. What a wonderful opportunity it is.

Katie:

Yes, free beer. Birthday is fantastic. We'd love to see everyone and anyone there, and I look forward to seeing you again in the flesh and not just your 2D face, though that's nice too.

Fionn:

It's actually 2D in real life. It's a crippling challenge.

Katie:

That would be so funny if it was. We'll finish off there. It was lovely talking to you, Fionn. Thanks for today.

Fionn:

Thank you, Katie, on that incredibly unusual note to end season three. See everybody back in August for the first episode of season four.