Afghanistan–Denmark relations refer to diplomatic ties between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Afghanistan is represented in Denmark through its embassy in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Denmark used to have an embassy in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

until it was closed in 2021 due to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, that has not been recognized by any state in the world. Denmark has 760 soldiers in Afghanistan, operating without caveat and concentrated in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

. Relations between the two countries are friendly. About 9,578 Afghans live in Denmark. Diplomatic relations were established in 1947. On 24 May 1967, an air service agreement was signed in Kabul. On 2 March 1979, an agreement on a Danish loan to Afghanistan was signed.

Danish military in Afghanistan

Afghanistan Evacuation 210821-M-AU949-0151

Since 2001, the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

has been involved in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

as part of the

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

. The Royal Danish Army with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

have been involved in clashes with the Taliban in the Helmand Province. Denmark had two of their F 16s in the

Manas Air Base Transit Center at Manas (formerly Manas Air Base and unofficially Ganci Air Base) is a former U.S. military installation at Manas International Airport, near Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It was primarily operated by the U.S. Air ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

to support their forces in Afghanistan.

Assistance

Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) ''(Danish language, Danish: Den danske komité for hjælp til afghanske flygtninge)'' is a non-political, non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian and development organization working to imp ...

is an organization, working in Afghanistan. The organization was created to support the Afghans, who had fled to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Danish assistance to Afghanistan amounts $80 million each year. Since the fall of the

Taleban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pa ...

in 2001, Denmark has supported Afghanistan with education and democratisation. In 2005, the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

approved 670 million DKK, to the rebuilding of Afghanistan. During a visit to Afghanistan in November 2012, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach declared that his government pledged US$100m in aid over the next 5 years.

High level visits

On 28 January 2006, the Afghan president

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

visited

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the 12th Secretary General of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became CEO of polit ...

Marienborg Marienborg, a mid 18th-century country house perched on a small hilltop on the northern shore of Bagsværd Lake, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, north of downtown Copenhagen, has served as the official residence of Denmark's prime minister since ...

, the summer residence of the Danish Prime Minister. In September 2009, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Camp Bastion. On 23 June 2010, Danish Prime Minister

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the le ...

visited Afghanistan, where he met Hamid Karzai. On 10 January 2011, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul visited Denmark, to discuss bilateral relations.

References

External links

Rasmus Mariager og Anders Wivel. 2019. ''Hvorfor gik Danmark i krig?'' University of Copenhagen.
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Afghanistan-Denmark relations

Bilateral relations of Denmark

Danish military in Afghanistan

Assistance

High level visits

See also

References

External links