Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen dismissed the chief of staff of the ministry on Friday after criticism over handling the purchase of artillery systems from Israel. Before the deal, the ministry rushed the parliamentary finance committee for approval, claiming that the company's offer would expire by the end of the month. The ministry acknowledged this week that Elbit's offer actually expired only at the end of June.
Ellemann-Jensen apologized this week for how he dealt with the matter, indicating that he did not intentionally provide false information to parliament. He called for a meeting with parliament members on Friday, during which he informed them that the information he relayed earlier in the week lacked important details.
After the meeting, Ellemann-Jensen stated, "The overall assessment concluded that the close cooperation that should be based on trust between the minister and the chief of staff is no longer possible, especially in light of the significant and sensitive tasks facing the armed forces."
In January, Denmark agreed to purchase artillery systems from Elbit Systems worth 1.74 billion Danish kroner (256 million dollars) after supplying most of its systems to Ukraine. The finance committee was also informed in January that other weapon manufacturers, including French Nexter Systems and South Korean Hanwha Systems, would deliver weapons after longer periods than Elbit Systems, which offered to deliver within one year. For its part, Nexter Systems indicated in late January that it would send new weapons to Denmark by the end of 2023 and denied informing the Danish Ministry of Defense that it would only send weapons after two years.
