VIDEO More than 10,000 people marched in Denmark to denounce Donald Trump's claims about Afghanistan
Demonstration in Denmark. Photo credit: Emil Helms / AP / Profimedia
At least 10,000 people, according to the police, took part in a march of silence in freezing cold Copenhagen on Saturday, organized at the call of the Danish Association of Ex-Combatants to denounce Donald Trump's statement about the commitment of US allies in the war in Afghanistan.
The US president sparked outrage in Denmark and other allied countries on January 22 by saying that their troops “stayed a little further from the front line” during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan, reports France Presse and Agerpres.
In response, 44 Danish flags, bearing the names of as many Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, were placed in the flower beds in front of the US Embassy in Copenhagen, which removed them on Tuesday, later apologizing for this gesture.
The American embassy angered the Danes. How he explained the decision to remove flags honoring soldiers killed in Afghanistan
“We have the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our common security. The removal of the flags was not intended to cause any harm,” the US embassy wrote on Facebook, stating that the flowerbeds were its property and not in the public domain.
The American ambassador personally placed the 44 Danish flags in the flower beds on Friday.
Eight other flags, with names, were to join them on Saturday with the 44, with the names of the Danes who fell in Iraq.
Gathered at Kastellet, the citadel of Copenhagen, the demonstrators attended a short ceremony in front of the monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers, after which the column began its march.
Some demonstrators waved Danish flags in the red and white national colors. Others, in military uniforms, marched silently to the American embassy located about two kilometers away.
A minute of silence was observed in front of the embassy, where a wreath of red and white flowers was laid.
The human sea continues to move towards the US Embassy in Copenhagen.
The quiet and very low-key atmosphere around Kastellet is now replaced by more talk, while many cling to Danish flags in the cold.
“I wonder if we'll see the speeches, a protester. pic.twitter.com/mfYwB6q589
— benny 🇩🇰 🇫🇴 🇬🇱 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@benny0692698414) January 31, 2026
“Apologise, Trump!”
“The demonstration is called 'No Words' because it really describes what we feel, we don't have words,” Soren Knudsen, vice president of the veterans' association, explains to AFP.
“Obviously, we want to tell the Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values that we defended together,” he added.
Trump downplays allies' contribution in Afghanistan. “I didn't need them / They stayed a little further back”
At the head of the column, the demonstrators carried a large red banner that read “NoWords”.
“Trump is so stupid,” proclaimed one sign waved by one attendee, while another – carried by a child – demanded: “Apologise, Trump!”.
“Trump's words were very insulting,” said Henning Andersen, a Dane who served on a UN mission in Cyprus. “I have friends who were there (in Afghanistan). Some of them were wounded and still carry the scars of the war today,” added this 64-year-old man, with four military decorations pinned to the chest of his combat vest.
Denmark, which continues to call the US its “closest ally” despite tensions over Greenland, has sent soldiers to fight alongside US forces in the wars in the Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Trump's claims condemned by veterans and European leaders. “We paid in blood for this alliance” and “not everyone came home”
