Denmark's decision to opt out of the euro was "wise" and has allowed the country to serve as a bridge builder in the European Union, Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal said Thursday.
"I think that everyone will concede after the crisis that we have experienced, the Danish decision was wise," Sovndal said in an interview with the Jyllands-Posten daily.
"It gives us a possibility to serve as bridge builder in a flexible Europe. Our position is that we wish to take part in practical cooperation," he added.
The eurozone debt crisis has exposed rifts between the 17 members, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel often vilified in debt-stricken countries like Greece and Spain for her tough stance.
Denmark has been an EU member since 1973, but voters in the 5.5-million-strong country have twice rejected replacing the Danish krone with the common European currency. The country later secured a treaty opt-out on the euro.
Sovndal, a member of the Socialist People's Party, said at present there was no reason to change the Danish stance. His party is the most EU-sceptic party in the left-leaning coalition government led by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats.
But former foreign minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, who negotiated Denmark's EU opt-outs including on defence, justice and home affairs 20 years ago, questioned Sovndal's view.
"I don't understand what Villy Sovndal means with the statement that we can be a bridge builder. You can't, if you both want to be a part and yet don't want to," Ellemann-Jensen was quoted as saying by Jyllands-Posten.