COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Facing complex bureaucracy at home in Poland, Magdalena Kujawińska and her Colombian fiancé Heinner Valenzuela traveled to Copenhagen to become husband and wife.
“We realized that it’s not that easy to get married in Poland,” the 30-year-old Kujawińska said as the couple waited for their 10-minute ceremony at the Danish capital's 19th-century City Hall.
“You need a certificate that you are not married,” she said. "We tried to get it from Colombia, but it’s only valid for three months, and it couldn’t get to Poland from Colombia in three months. It was just impossible for us.”
The couple, who live in Krakow, had been engaged for more than three years when Kujawińska heard about Denmark's relatively relaxed marriage laws from a colleague. Working with an online wedding planner, the couple prepared the necessary documents.
“And in four days, we had the decision that the marriage could be done here,” a smiling Kujawińska said.
Couples who don't live in Denmark, both mixed- and same-sex, are increasingly getting married in the Scandinavian country — prompting some to dub Copenhagen the “Las Vegas of Europe.”
The head of the marriage office at Copenhagen City Hall, Anita Okkels Birk Thomsen, said that about 8,000 wedding ceremonies were performed there last year. Of those, some 5,400 of them were for couples in which neither partner was a Danish resident.
“That’s almost double what we saw five years ago,” she said. “They come from all over the world.”
But the city sees a downside to that: demand for ceremonies at City Hall now far exceeds the number of slots available.
Mia Nyegaard, the Copenhagen official in charge of culture and leisure, said in a statement to The Associated Press that the “significant rise” in the number of foreign couples getting married in the capital “poses challenges for Copenhagen-based couples wishing to get married.”
Local authorities plan to take action. Nyegaard said about 40% of wedding slots available at City Hall will be reserved for Copenhagen residents starting from the end of October. While booking a slot there is the most obvious way to get married in the city, arranging a ceremony with a private registrar is also an option, and that won't be affected.
Copenhagen lawmakers will look after the summer break at what else they can do to relieve overall pressure on wedding capacity in the city.
Denmark's marriage laws are liberal in several ways. In 1989, the country became the world's first to allow the registration of same-sex civil unions. The legalization of same-sex marriage followed in 2012.
For unions of all kinds, Denmark — unlike many other European countries — doesn't require a birth certificate or proof of single status to obtain a certificate that grants the right to get married in Denmark within four months. Officials might, in cases where divorce papers don't show clearly that a divorce has been finalized, ask for a civil status certificate.
Applications to Denmark's agency of family law cost 2,100 kroner ($326), and couples are issued with a certificate within five working days if they satisfy the requirements.
Non-resident couples can travel to Denmark and get married with just a valid passport and, if required, a tourist visa.
“We get that thing like, ‘Are you sure we do not need a birth certificate?’ And we go, ‘Yes,’” said Rasmus Clarck Sørensen, director of Getting Married in Denmark.
Clarck Sørensen, a Dane, began the wedding planning business with his British wife back in 2014.
“In the last 20, 30 years, people just meet more across borders," he said. “Marriage rules are often made for two people of the same country getting married.”
“They kind of piled on patches onto marriage law, and a lot of people get trapped in those patches,” he added.
His online company’s “Complete Service” package, priced at 875 euros ($1,014), includes help gathering all the necessary documents, processing the certificate application and organizing the date of the ceremony.
The business says it helped over 2,600 couples last year.
Copenhagen, easily Denmark's biggest city with the country's best transport links, is the most popular location and so far appears to be the only one struggling with demand.
Any changes to the city's rules will come too late to bother newlyweds Kujawińska and Valenzuela, who are now busy planning a celebration in Poland with family and friends.
“It means a lot for us because we’ve been waiting a lot for this,” Kujawińska said. “We’re really happy.”
People gather in front of the Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. Friday 18 July 2025. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Newlyweds Magdalena Kujawińska, right, from Poland and Heinner Valenzuela from Colombia pose for photos at the Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. Wednesday 9 July 2025. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Newlyweds Magdalena Kujawińska, right, from Poland and Heinner Valenzuela from Colombia pose for photos at the Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. Wednesday 9 July 2025. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The United States and Ukraine have reached a consensus on several critical issues aimed at bringing an end to the nearly four-year conflict, but sensitive issues around territorial control in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, along with the management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, remain unresolved, Ukraine’s president said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke as the U.S. showed the 20-point plan, hammered out after marathon talks in Florida in recent days, to Russian negotiators. A response is expected from Moscow on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president briefed journalists on each point of the plan on Tuesday. His comments were embargoed until Wednesday morning. The draft proposal, which reflects Ukraine’s wishes, intertwines political and commercial interests to safeguard security while boosting economic potential.
At the heart of the negotiations lies the contentious territorial dispute concerning the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, known as the Donbas. This is “the most difficult point,” Zelenskyy said. He said these matters will be discussed at the leaders level.
Russia continues to assert maximalist demands, insisting that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory in Donbas that it has not captured — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk.
In a bid to facilitate compromise, the United States has proposed transforming these areas into free economic zones. Ukraine insists that any arrangement must be contingent upon a referendum, allowing the Ukrainian people to determine their own fate. Ukraine is demanding the demilitarization of the area and the presence of an international force to ensure stability, Zelenskyy said.
How the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest plant in Europe which is under Russian occupation, will be managed is another contentious issue. The U.S. is proposing a consortium with Ukraine and Russia, with each party having an equal stake in the enterprise.
But Zelenskyy countered with a joint venture proposal between the U.S. and Ukraine, in which the Americans are able to decide how to distribute their share, presuming it would go to Russia.
“We did not reach a consensus with the American side on the territory of the Donetsk region and on the ZNPP,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the power plant in Zaporizhzhia. “But we have significantly brought most of the positions closer together. In principle, all other consensus in this agreement has been found between us and them.”
Point 14, which covers territories that cut across the eastern front line, and Point 12, which discusses management of the Zaporizhzhia plant, will likely be major sticking points in the talks.
Zelenskyy said: “We are in a situation where the Russians want us to leave the Donetsk region, and the Americans are trying to find a way so that it is ‘not a way out’ — because we are against leaving — they want to find a demilitarized zone or a free economic zone in this, that is, a format that can provide for the views of both sides.”
The draft states that the contact line, which cuts across five Ukrainian regions, be frozen once the agreement is signed.
Ukraine’s stance is that any attempt to create a free economic zone must be ratified by a referendum, affirming that the Ukrainian people ultimately hold the decision-making power, Zelenskyy said. This process will require 60 days, he added, during which time hostilities should stop to allow the process to happen.
More difficult discussions would require hammering out how far troops would be required to move back, per Ukraine’s proposal, and where international forces would be s tationed. Zelenskyy said ultimately “people can choose: this ending suits us or not,” he said.
The draft also proposes that Russian forces withdraw from Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions, and that international forces be located along the contact line to monitor the implementation of the agreement.
“Since there is no faith in the Russians, and they have repeatedly broken their promises, today’s contact line is turning into a line of a de facto free economic zone, and international forces should be there to guarantee that no one will enter there under any guise — neither ‘little green men’ nor Russian military disguised as civilians,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine is also proposing that the occupied city of Enerhodar, which is connected to the Zaporizhzhia power plant, be a demilitarized free economic zone, Zelenskyy said. This point required 15 hours of discussions with the U.S., he said.
For now, the U.S. proposes that the plant be jointly operated by Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia, with each side receiving dividends from the enterprise.
“The USA is offering 33 percent for 33 percent for 33 percent, and the Americans are the main manager of this joint venture,” he said. “It is clear that for Ukraine this sounds very unsuccessful and not entirely realistic. How can you have joint commerce with the Russians after everything?”
Ukraine offered an alternative proposal, that the plant be operated by a joint venture with the U.S. in which the Americans can determine independently how to distribute their 50 percent share.
Zelenskyy said billions in investments are needed to make the plant run again, including restoring the adjacent dam.
“There were about 15 hours of conversations about the plant. These are all very complex things.”
The document ensures that Ukraine will be provided with “strong” security guarantees that mirror NATO’s Article 5, which would obligate Ukraine’s partners to act in the event of renewed Russian aggression.
Zelenskyy said that a separate bilateral document with the U.S. will outline these guarantees. This agreement will detail the conditions under which security will be provided, particularly in the event of a renewed Russian assault, and will establish a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire.
This mechanism will utilize satellite technology and early warning systems to ensure effective oversight and rapid response capabilities.
“The mood of the United States of America is that this is an unprecedented step towards Ukraine on their part. They believe that they are giving strong security guarantees,” he said.
The draft contains other elements including keeping Ukraine’s army at 800,000 during peace time, and by nailing down a specific date for ascension to the European Union.
The document proposes accelerating a free trade agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. once the agreement is signed. The U.S. wants the same deal with Russia, said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine would like to receive short-term privileged access to the European market and a robust global development package, that will cover a wide-range of economic interests, including a development fund to invest in industries including technology, data centers and artificial intelligence, as well as gas.
Also included are funds for the reconstruction of territories destroyed in the war.
“Ukraine will have the opportunity to determine the priorities for distributing its share of funds in the territories under the control of Ukraine. And this is a very important point, on which we spent a lot of time,” Zelenskyy said.
The goal will be to attract $800 billion through equity, grants, loans and private sector contributions.
The draft proposal also requires Ukraine to hold elections after the signing of the agreement. “This is the partners’ vision,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine is also asking that all prisoners since 2014 be released at once, and that civilian detainees, political prisoners and children be returned to Ukraine.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a media conference at the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
