Denmark Offers to Lead NATO Training in Iraq

Denmark offered to take over Canada’s leadership of NATO’s non-combat training mission in Iraq from the end of 2020 until mid-2022, the Danish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday (November 26).

“With the contribution, we will be able to deliver an even stronger effort in our fight against the terror group ISIL by training Iraqis,” Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said, using another acronym for Islamic State.

Denmark will present the offer at a NATO summit in London next week. It would send around 213 people to the mission which trains Iraqi security forces.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last year that his county would provide Iraq with helicopters and 250 troops offering to lead the first year of a NATO training mission in Iraq.

The offer by Canada to command a NATO training mission in Iraq later this year comes as US President Donald Trump berated alliance members for not spending enough on defense.