Europe Must Prepare Now, Danish General Warns of Growing Threat Before 2030

The head of the Danish General Staff, Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard, believes that European countries are not yet fully prepared for war.

He made these remarks during the Paris Defense and Strategy Forum, according to Politico on March 24.

Wiggers Hyldgaard warned that Russia could potentially attack NATO territory before the end of this decade.

"We have to change our approach: move from analysis to action. We are no longer very surprised, but we are also not ready. We don't need to be perfectly prepared, we need to be better prepared than our opponent," he said.

The Danish military chief emphasized that production capacity and supply chains are essential components of deterrence.

"If we in Europe want to be able to defend ourselves by 2030, we must prepare for it now. High-intensity war is not a scenario, it is a reality. Nothing will replace lost time; time that has passed is lost forever," he added.

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Meanwhile, Estonian intelligence suggests that Russia does not intend to launch a military attack on any NATO state this year or next.

In early 2026, experts assessed whether Europe could close the defense gap as Russia tripled its weapons production and laid the groundwork to exit international arms control agreements.

While the EU unveiled the $842 billion (€800 billion) "ReArm Europe" plan, analysts warned that this was primarily a strategic communication effort rather than a significant political shift.

At the time, leading defense experts noted that European preparation operated on a much slower timeline than the immediate threat, suggesting that Russia had a window of opportunity until 2030 before most European defense decisions would take full effect.

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