Denmark Opens the Door to Ukraine’s Defense Industry — at Full Speed and by Breaking Familiar Rules

In the shadow of the Skrydstrup air base, where Danish F-16s and F-35s take off, a project is taking shape that could alter the balance of power in Europe. Copenhagen is preparing to build a solid rocket fuel plant for the Ukrainian company Fire Point — and to do so at unprecedented speed. To meet the ambitious goal of launching by winter, the government plans to bypass more than two dozen laws and procedures, ranging from environmental standards to building regulations.

This decision looks like a deliberate break with Scandinavia’s bureaucratic tradition, where law and procedure are regarded as inviolable. The defense and business ministers justify the move simply: war does not wait. For Ukraine to receive long-range missiles faster, production must be relocated to a safe zone and shielded from Russian strikes. For Kyiv, it’s a guarantee of uninterrupted supplies; for Copenhagen, a chance to strengthen its role in Europe’s security architecture.

But quick decisions rarely come without a price. Legal experts are already warning: ignoring more than twenty rules — from ecological safeguards to hazardous substance controls — creates a troubling precedent. Law professors from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark admit they expected at most one or two exceptions, not an entire “package of exemptions.” Environmentalists and human rights advocates stress that these very rules exist to protect people and nature from industrial disasters.

For Ukraine, this is not just another industrial site — it is a symbol of a new chapter. The Danish plant will become the first defense production facility of Ukraine inside NATO territory. Such a step transforms the small town of Skrydstrup into a new strategic hub: next to fighter jets will now rise the “heart” of rocket fuel. It strengthens Kyiv’s defense capabilities, but it also turns the Danish facility into a potential target in Moscow’s eyes. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has already called the decision hostile and escalatory.

At the core of the conflict lies a dilemma between security and the rule of law. On the one hand, Denmark demonstrates determination to help Ukraine while cementing its leadership in Europe’s defense initiatives. On the other, the country is willing to compromise its own legal principles for the sake of speed. If this approach becomes the norm, it could reshape the very fabric of democratic institutions: what begins as temporary may easily become permanent.

The construction of the solid fuel plant is not only a story about rockets and production. It is a story about how a war beyond Denmark’s borders rewrites its internal rules of the game. Skrydstrup becomes a metaphor for Europe’s choice: acceleration at any cost or fidelity to established rules. The answer to that question will determine not only Ukraine’s future, but also how Europe builds its security in the 21st century.