You're reading: World in Ukraine: Danish foreign minister says Russia must bring peace

Whether he misspoke or was simply misunderstood, Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen certainly regrets a Reuters article on Feb. 5 that drew the ire of Ukrainians and supporters of the nation.

The news agency quoted Jensen, who took office last summer, as saying: “If Ukraine doesn’t come through with the reforms linked to the Minsk peace process, it will be very difficult for Europe to continue united in support for sanctions against Russia. Ukraine has a deadline. They need to push those reforms now, they can’t wait.”

But in an interview with the Kyiv Post on Feb. 8, Jensen said: “I think that is a totally wrong description of my conversation with the press.”

Jensen said “Russia is the aggressor and should live up to the Minsk agreement.” Denmark’s support of sanctions against Russia will continue until President Vladimir Putin calls off his war against Ukraine and returns Crimea, he said.

The foreign minister of the Scandanavian nation of 5.6 million people said Moscow is mainly to blame for the failure of the Minsk peace agreements, reached a year ago on Feb. 12, to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Russia, he said, has failed in the eastern Donbas to stop supplying separatists with weapons, enforce a cease-fire, withdraw its troops and surrender control of the eastern border to Ukraine. “There’s a huge number of issues where Russia is not living up to its part,” he said in a telephone interview this week.

While there are “a few areas where Ukraine needs to do a little more,” such as constitutional changes to decentralize political power to regional government, Jensen said that the Kremlin is at fault for continuing the war that has claimed more than 9,100 lives since 2014.

“Ukraine has done so much it deserves help, it is also in the interests of Europe to help Ukraine,” Jensen said. “Ukraine needs to fulfill requirements of the Minsk process. As long as Ukraine keeps up its part, I am sure that the European Union will stand united.”

On the domestic front, however, Denmark has more complaints with Ukraine.

Big donor

Jensen said the European Union member wants to see a better fight against corruption, including an overhaul of the prosecution, customs and courts services in Ukraine. He, like many Western leaders, regrets the resignation of Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius, with whom “we had very good cooperation.”

Denmark is one of the world’s largest per-capita donors of aid to support democracy, giving 0.7 percent of its gross domestic product to support nations such as Ukraine build strong institutions, in government and in civil society, and strengthen independent journalism. It is one of only a handful of nations to live up to the United Nations target.

But Jensen said that European countries “should coordinate much better in how they help Ukraine” rather than supporting separate programs.

UN guidelines aside, he said Danes believe in giving generously to needy nations such as Ukraine. As of last year, Denmark had given Ukraine $118 million in assistance in the last five years.

Helping others

“First of all it’s a tradition in Denmark to help all the people,” he said. “By helping others develop we are helping us to create a better and more secure world.”

Denmark, he said, has paid the price for its support of Ukraine. Bilateral political and economic relations with Russia have supported, especially exports for Danish farmers. “It’s a price worth paying,” he said.

Denmark is keen on helping Ukraine lower its energy dependency on Russia.

Independent media

Supporting independent news media is another priority.

“We believe that free media and freedom of the press are essential for the well-being and growth of society,” he said. “We support programs to teach and educate journalists in Ukraine in how to do independent journalism.”

Domestically, he said that Denmark is welcoming of refugees coming from war-torn Syria and other places, but insists that they demonstrate financial need in qualifying for social benefit — the same “as we give to Danish citizens.”

As for the April 6 referendum in the Netherlands on whether the EU should support a free-trade agreement with Ukraine, Jensen said the issues are “more of a question of internal Dutch politics” and he believes the EU-Ukraine association agreement will take place.

As for his take on the happiness index that invariably puts Danes on top and Ukrainians on bottom, Jensen said the secret is trust.

“It has a lot to do with trust; if you trust the neighbors, if you trust the government, if you trust the civil servants, your happiness will grow,” Jensen said. “If you create an environment of trust, you are well on your way to growing happiness as well.”