KEY TAKEAWAYS ON COPENHAGEN DEMOCRACY SUMMIT 2026
May 2026
Takeaways
FONDEMOS IS ATTENDING THE SUMMIT
Fondemos is attending the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2026, on 12 May at the Royal Danish Playhouse.
Founded by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, this annual forum brings together political leaders, activists, tech leaders and philanthropists around one shared agenda: strengthening the alliance of democracies against authoritarian advance.
THE CONTEXT
72% of the world’s population now lives under authoritarian rule, the highest proportion since 1978.
The 2026 Summit takes place in challenging times: war in Ukraine, European rearmament, rising tensions in the Arctic and Indo-Pacific.
1. UKRAINE WILL DOMINATE THE AGENDA
4 years after the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it still dominates the agenda of democratic nations.
Chrystia Freeland resigned from the Canadian Parliament in January 2026 to take up an unpaid advisory role on economic development for President Zelensky. Mariana Shafro and Julia Tymoshenko are confirmed speakers on the CDS 2026 programme. “Ukraine’s Path to an Equitable Peace” is a stated theme.
2. FRONTLINE ACTIVISTS VS. AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES
Bobi Wine came second in Uganda’s January 2026 presidential election, went into hiding after a military raid on his home, and resurfaced in the United States in March.
Carolina Barrero founded Ciudadanía y Libertad after leading protests against Cuba’s regime, surviving house arrest before continuing her work from exile in Spain.
We expect both confirmed speakers to address what overthrowing a dictatorship actually requires, and what has failed so far.
3. A NEW GEOGRAPHY OF DEMOCRATIC RISK
Jens-Frederik Nielsen spent January 2026 at the centre of a full geopolitical crisis: Trump refused to rule out military force to annex Greenland, and seven European heads of government issued a joint statement on 6 January 2026 defending the sovereignty of a NATO ally’s territory.
He arrives in Copenhagen four months later as the elected leader of a democracy that has just been used as a test case for what coercion looks like when it comes from inside the alliance.
