Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Kristian Jensen backed sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and war against Ukraine and he encouraged reforms to take hold in Ukraine.
During his first visit to Ukraine Ukraine on Sept. 15-16, Jensen told the Kyiv Post that Denmark wasn’t about to back down on the issues of Crimea and the Donbas, despite fears in Kyiv that Europe’s will to punish Russia for its actions might be waning.
“Denmark would actually like to see the sanctions strengthened,” Jensen said.
He also pledged $10 million in aid for judicial reforms targeting the institutions of the human rights ombudsman,the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the prosecution service in Ukraine.
Meeting with Jensen, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko assured the Danish minister that reforms are under way.
“We have to perform a general cleaning. If we don’t reform now, Ukraine will not get another chance,” Petrenko said.
Denmark is also provides $1.7 million in aid to Ukraine via the International Committee of the Red Cross, who in turn provide food, medicines and building materials to Ukrainians in the occupied territories “where the most pressing needs are, and access is difficult,” a Danish Foreign Ministry statement reads.
The Scandinavian country has also provided $500,000 in funding to the monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine.
Jensen said that Russia had to comply fully with the Minsk II accords.
“Russia has to withdraw weapons, free and legitimate elections have to be held (in the east), and Ukraine’s control over its own borders restored,” he said. “We share the responsibility for protecting Ukraine’s right to self determination.”
Jensen said that Europe faced a defining moment its history. “Should the rule of law or rule of force be the norm for the European continent?” he asked. He didn’t envisage any easing of the sanctions unless“Russia changed course and ended the occupation of Crimea.”
The 44-year-old Jensen, a political activist since his early youth, was appointed foreign minister after general elections in Denmark resulted in a one-party minority government being formed by the right-wing party Venstre, which is traditionally backed by rural voters and urban liberals.
Jensen said Denmark and Ukraine were both small democracies relative to their larger neighbors – in Denmark’s case Germany. Echoing U.S.President Woodrow Wilson’s statement when he brought the United States into the war in Europe in 1917, Jensen said “we have to fight for the right of smaller democracies, including Ukraine, to determine their own destiny.”
He said it would be wrong for European Union countries to focus on getting back to doing business as usual with Moscow, and let Russia get its own way with Ukraine.
“Which country will be the next that the largest bully in the classroom wants to take a bite out of?” Jensen asked, referring to the Kremlin. “Georgia? Estonia? Latvia? When will this hunger affect our own country?”
Russia’s aggression has put key European principles at stake – and raises questions over the security of Denmark in the long run, Jensen said.“Denmark is a close friend of Ukraine, and that is why this is about much, much more than what happens to a country far away from our borders.”
Jensen’s notion of Ukraine as a forefront for a democratic Europe might mark a change in his party’s approach to Ukraine compared to the previous decade. A Venstre-lead government headed by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO general secretary 2009-2014, actually closed the Danish embassy in Kyiv. At that time, a decade after the breakup of the Soviet Union, it seemed that Russia had accepted Ukraine’s independence.
Visiting Kyiv now, Jensen stressed that the defense of liberal democracy and the inviolability of international borders actually coincided with more central security policy concerns in the case of Ukraine.“Aggression shouldn’t be rewarded,” he said.
He underlined the need for practical cooperation between Ukraine and the West, and the continuation of sanctions against Russia.
“I have a weak spot for Ukraine, which is in a terrible situation,” Jensen told the Danish daily newspaper Information in August.
Commenting on the conflict in Syria, Jensen said that there was a growing understanding in the West that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s involvement was key in the conflict in Syria, as well as the one in Ukraine, both of which have produced large and mounting refugee problems.
“If it wasn’t for Putin and Iran, (Bashar al-) Assad wouldn’t still be in power. There can be no solution to the refugee crises without solving the problem in Syria,” Jensen said.
In Ukraine, pressure from Western institutions like the European Union and the International Monetary Fund has been crucial in securing a number of key anti-corruption measures undertaken by Ukraine recently. In particular, this concerns the newly established National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the law on more transparent public procurements, and a bill on the state financing of political parties.
Petrenko, however, strongly objected to the idea that Ukraine would only conduct reforms if pressured to do so.
“For 23 years we only imitated reform. That led to two revolutions, the loss of territory and armed aggression from our northern neighbor,” he told the Kyiv Post at a meeting with Kristian Jensen. “We need reform in all spheres of life to strengthen the country – that is our historical mission.”
Jensen added that “we support this effort without any conditions. We see,hear and feel that government is sincere about reform.”
Denmark has also supported Ukraine on energy saving measures and on the development of free media. Moreover, the two Danish national public service broadcasters DR and TV2 will support the effort to change Ukrainian National Television into a public service channel by supplying more 100 hours of quality Danish TV shows.
Kyiv Post staff writers Johannes Wamberg Andersen can be reached at [email protected]
