At least 50,000 people are protesting the proposed scrapping of a Christian holiday in Denmark to finance increased military spending.

The demonstration, the largest in over a decade, was organised by labour unions opposing the abolition of the Great Prayer Day, a Christian holiday that falls on the fourth Friday after Easter and dates to 1686.

The abolition was first proposed last December to raise tax revenues for higher military spending in the wake of the Russia – Ukraine war. It also forms part of the newly elected Danish government’s reform of the country’s welfare policies.

The administration has suggested extending the deadline for attaining the NATO defence spending target of two per cent of GDP forward by three years, to 2030.

It claims that the higher tax receipts it anticipates from eliminating the vacation might fund the majority of the additional 4.5 billion Danish crowns ($654 million) required to accomplish the target.

Workers in the country, labour unions, opposition lawmakers, and economists have called into question the proposal’s effectiveness.

It is unlikely to have long-lasting impacts, according to some economists, as workers would find alternative methods to change their working hours.

“Normally these things are discussed with the working people, and now this model is about to be overruled. We are protesting to hopefully make them listen,” said plumber Stig De Blanck, a 63-year-old protesting plumber told VOA news.