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| Foreign Minister Per Stig
Møller |
| Courtesy Danish Foreign
Ministry |
Dr. Per Stig Møller, Denmark's foreign minister,
is one of the most respected politicians in Europe.
An award-winning author, as knowledgeable in literature
and philosophy as politics, he has been a professor
at the Sorbonne and cultural editor in chief of
programs at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.
In the early ‘80s he entered politics, going
from member of the Folketing to head of the Conservative
Peoples Party, serving as their official spokesperson
on foreign affairs.
None of his books have been translated into English,
but there may yet be a chance for The Natural
Order; 12 Years That Changed the World (1996),
which showed that all of the political systems in
place today were created by thinkers between 1748
and 1759.
Please describe your job.
Foreign Minister Møller: The job
is very vast because there are a lot of elements.
Danish foreign policy covers development aid, export,
and normal foreign policy, like bilateral and multilateral
relations, and relations with the European Parliament.
Not least, Danish policy. For instance, answering
all the questions within parliament.
What gives you your biggest headache?
Foreign Minister Møller: When you
take over as a new government it is necessary to
change the bill, to have new measures in the policy,
so you don’t just continue the policy of your
predecessors. We have changed our development aid,
we have made it stronger in poverty eradication,
and we have a special program for helping women
in the developing world. Of course there are some
costs there. We had a budget where we want to give
DKK 1.5 million more for the hospitals. We had to
find a half a billion for making life better for
the elderly people
We changed the foreign policy toward the Middle
East and America. In the Middle East, I said we
want a policy that it is walking on both legs. The
former government talked too much for Palestine
and too little for Israel. There are good reasons
for both sides to exist.
Towards the U.S. there was some feeling that Europe
and the U.S. had different values – this was
said in a speech by my predecessor – even if
they did say that they would walk shoulder to shoulder
with the U.S. after Sept. 11th. There had been this
divergence with the United States. This government
corrected it.
What are your goals as foreign minister?
Foreign Minister Møller: To help
create an international order. The globe has become
so small that you have to have it. When Absolam
created Copenhagen in the 12th century, it took
longer for him to get to the other side of the Øresund
than it takes for us to get to New York. At that
time they sought to create a national order to keep
the nation living and avoid anarchy. Now when the
globe has shrunk, we have commercial links, more
ties and we need an international order. Like the
WTO, so you can settle your trade disputes without
going to war. That’s why we are for the ICC,
so we can say, this is a criminal offense, so we
rest the case there. And you must have mechanical,
automatic sanctions. I think that the main task
for foreign policy all over the world is to help
create a world order, so justice can come through
instead of having to fight. That’s one of my
main philosophies as foreign minister.
How could the U.S. avoid war with Iraq?
Foreign Minister Møller: “The
noble art of losing face shall one day save the
human race.” That’s Piet Hein, a Danish
poet.
Now we have the privatization of wars. We saw it
in science fiction, like Jules Verne, in bad “B”
movies. There’s a man sitting somewhere, loyal
to no nation, who wanted to rule the world by his
own devices. Now suddenly these ideas are coming
true. You have the means and you can’t find
the front. We are all involved. That keeps the urgency
of creating an anti-terror policy that [governments]
did not work upon before 9/11.
Do you have any bilateral issues with any
other country?
Foreign Minister Møller: Yes, Great
Britain. They beat us 3-0 in soccer, and that kicked
us out of the World Cup. Otherwise we are a calm
and peaceful country and we do not have serious
bilateral problems with other countries.
What is your message to the people of America?
Foreign Minister Møller: The United
States is the only superpower; this gives it a vast
responsibility to use it in a good way, because
it is when you are in power that you can change
the world. You can help create systems that will
help you even when you are not a superpower.
For more information, please visit: www.um.dk
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