Jyllandsposten 29.11.2001
http://www.jp.dk/dbp/internetavisen/indland/artikel&art_id=3529089
[unauthorized translation by Norbert Strade]

The struggle for human rights in Chechnya, Tibet and other places in the world will be carried on with renewed force in Danish foreign policy. With the appointment of Conservative Per Stig Møller as foreign minister, the new Liberal-Conservative government signals that respect for human rights has top priority in foreign policy.

As shadow foreign minister, Per Stig Møller criticized the former government of being too passive in the struggle. In the first longer interview as newly appointed foreign minister he points out that human rights will have top priority during his leadership of the ministry. "The former government was too reluctant in connection with Tibet and Chechnya. It took too long before there was a reaction to the violations of human rights", Per Stig Møller says.

With the creation of a new unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Per Stig Møller wants to secure that human rights become an integrated part of the ministry's work.

A focus on human rights could bring Denmark on a collision course with big nations like Russia and China, where gross violations are happening on a daily base.

Terrorists are sorted out

The Foreign Minister admits that after the terror attacks in the USA on 11 September, there is a risk that the struggle of small nations for independence could be labelled as terrorism.

"This could be feared. There is of course a risk that all oppressed nations that want independence, home rule or respect for their culture, suddenly are declared terrorists by the central power. There are two sides, and we have to be very careful to stay calm. One side is a terror side, the other one a political side. It's important that there are political negotiations, so that the terrorists can be sorted out. Each terrorist with a bomb says that he represents the people. Osama bin Laden says that he represents the Muslims. IRA said that they represented the Irish. The terror part must be sorted out in negotiations", says Per Stig Møller.

After 11 September, there has been a serious start of negotiations between Russia's president Vladimir Putin and Chechen rebels. "Russia has now taken up the political talks with the Chechens. That's what they had been asking for for several years, and that's what we were urging. The Russians must go and get the terror-aspect sorted out and understand that it will strengthen terrorism if they don't get a political solution. The situation is different after 11 September", Per Stig Møller believes.

He admits, though, that there aren't any useful results yet. Therefore Denmark will keep up the pressure on the Russians - e.g. when the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov is expected to visit Copenhagen around the turn of the year.

"I'm going to keep up the pressure on the Russian Foreign Minister, and now I have got the tool for that", Per Stig Møller says - not without a certain satisfaction with the fact that the post of foreign minister gives him the opportunity to directly work with all the cases for which he has been fighting from the opposition bench.

Those responsible to court

In spite of the thaw in the Chechnya question he points out that Denmark must continue to demand that the responsible Russian generals are brought before a court because of their murdering of the civilian population in the area.

"The Russians have said themselves that they'll persecute them. There's nothing else to do than to keep telling them that this is the price for being part of a civilized society. War criminals are persecuted. We must outlaw them, so they can't leave their country," Per Stig Møller says. Denmark will continue to rise the demand for persecution, whatever Russia says, he points out: "They can't become angry about the fact that we take them at their word. That's exactly what we must do".