Danish war veterans to hold silent march against Trump ‘insult’

European NATO troops stayed off front lines in Afghanistan: US president

COPENHAGEN: More than a thousand are expected to join a silent march in Copenhagen on Saturday organised by Denmark’s veterans’ association to protest against US President Donald Trump’s comments downplaying the role of non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan.

“The demonstration is called #NoWords because that really describes how we feel. We have no words,” the vice president of the association, Soren Knudsen, told AFP.

“Obviously, we also want to tell Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values that we defended together,” he added.

Trump sparked outrage in Denmark and across Europe on January 22 when he said European NATO troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines” during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

The Scandinavian country fought alongside US forces during the Gulf War as well as Afghanistan and Iraq.

In response to Trump’s claim, 44 Danish flags, which carried the names of the 44 Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, were placed on Tuesday in planters outside the US embassy in Copenhagen.

The embassy removed the flags, before apologising and replacing them.

“We have nothing but the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our shared security. There was no ill intent behind the removal of the flags,” it said in a post on its Facebook page.

It noted that the planters were embassy property and not in the public domain, and the initial planting of the flags had not been coordinated with the embassy. APP