As initial tallies suggested Irish voters had rejected the EU reform treaty, the Danish government Friday said it "regretted" the result, according to dpa. Both Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller added that they "respected" the Irish vote. Rasmussen added that he wanted to wait for Dublin's assessment of the outcome before deciding on Denmark's planned referendum on its current opt-outs from the European Union. Denmark also wanted to discuss the outcome with other EU members, Rasmussen told reporters. Denmark has approved the Lisbon Treaty, and Rasmussen said earlier this week the government planned to decide on a possible date for a referendum on the opt-puts after the summer. Rasmussen said he hoped the EU would be able to find a quick solution, saying the 27-nation bloc "needed to focus on politics rather than a new debate over a treaty." Moller said the outcome meant "uncertainty" and the referendum would likely dominate a meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday. Denmark joined the EU in 1973, but obtained opt-outs that include security and defence policy, justice and home affairs and the euro after voters initially rejected the Maastricht Treaty in a 1992 referendum.
