Denmark,
Copenhagen

8 Oct. 2007

Speech

by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark,
Dr. Per Stig Møller at the seminar on
"Public Diplomacy in NATO-led Operations"

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for taking the time to be here to day and open this seminar on ”Public Diplomacy in NATO-led operations”. Your remarks have set the scene for the seminar’s deliberations and discussions and have shown the importance of this subject.

I would also like to welcome you all to Copenhagen. I trust that you will add your voices to those of the speakers and chairmen and help put together viable recommendations and conclusions, which can be of use in the future work of NATO.

I had the pleasure of opening an earlier seminar on the Comprehensive Approach in this very room in June of 2005. That seminar was a stepping-stone towards the Riga Summit and demonstrated the value of having these conferences in order to establish common ground and bring new ideas to the table.

The changes that have taken place in the field of international security bring new challenges for NATO and individual allies. This emphasises the need to continue to reinforce NATO as a framework for dialogue on security matters. A framework that is more comprehensive both in terms of subjects on the agenda and in terms of geographical outreach. Today, NATO is involved in broad and far-reaching operations in areas such as Afghanistan and Kosovo. Denmark supports this broadening of NATO, and wish to see continued efforts at adapting NATO to the complexities of today’s international scene.

The Alliance remains the cornerstone of transatlantic security cooperation, and a vital framework to counter new threats. We have a good story to tell. But we have to communicate it in a consistent and well-balanced manner. We have to do this to ensure continued support from our publics for our common endeavours in NATO.

Public Diplomacy must be based on true facts and it must rely on our common values. For it is a well-established fact that the only possible way to promote a country - or an organisation like NATO - is to build the efforts on a firm foundation of values. Socrates – not the Portuguese Prime Minister, but the Greek philosopher - put it this way: “A way to achieve a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to achieve.”

In NATO we are bound together by the fundamental values of peace, liberty, democracy and the respect for human rights. Today, these common values are under pressure from ideologies based on intolerance and oppression. In countering these ideologies, North America and Europe have to stand together.

One key lesson learned from the twentieth century is that we have to respond to totalitarian ideologies head-on! We need to engage actively in furthering our fundamental values and interests. It is not sufficient that we believe we possess the right opinions - we also have to do the right things and take action, or others will seize the initiative from us and further their own and darker ends.

The challenges are many and tough. Handling them demands a broad range of instruments to help foster the necessary coherence in our efforts – not only military efforts, but political and economic efforts as well - in terms of both bilateral and multilateral approaches.

We are taking action in Afghanistan. The terrible events of 9/11 clearly show that Afghanistan cannot again be allowed to become a safe haven for terrorists and human rights abuses. Preventing this from happening requires strong commitment from all Allies, and it requires commitment for the long-term.

Afghanistan has shown the need for re-thinking traditional operations. A comprehensive approach is necessary to foster stability and security. Military means alone cannot bring success in Afghanistan, nor can reconstruction efforts provide an answer on their own. Both efforts are intrinsically linked and we need a carefully coordinated use of both – as well as close cooperation with the international community – to bring about a successful outcome for Afghanistan and her people.

We sometimes tend to forget that progress has been made in Afghanistan. (1) Under extremely difficult conditions, the Afghan people have actually managed to pull off presidential and parliamentary elections. (2) Human rights are now an integral part of the Afghan Constitution. (3) Women’s rights have been improved and free media has been established. (4) And the number of children attending schools has increased to over 5 million - with approximately 37 per cent of the children attending being girls, who were not allowed in school before!

These efforts to bring stability and change to Afghanistan are being fuelled by the very values that form our own societies and on which the Alliance is based.

The improvements are truly significant but we need to do more to get the message out – both to our national audiences and to the people in Afghanistan. Our approach is bringing about results! Through Public Diplomacy we must actively promote knowledge of these and other improvements in Afghanistan. We must balance the negative images that often steal the scene – both in the local and the international press.

How do we do this?

One important element is to be more active in the area of the media, the Internet and dialogue with local populations. Public Diplomacy requires providing information and presenting views and progress to a broader audience than that of traditional diplomacy. It requires that we, as NATO and individual Allies, continuously devote the time and effort to presenting our mission, level of effort and progress. And we must not limit ourselves to reacting purely defensively and in an ad hoc manner to negative images from our operational environment. By finding ways and means of informing local populations of our mandate, mission, difficulties and progress we can help foster positive engagement and cooperation in a mission area.

Furthermore, a dialogue with local representatives must be established. This is a lesson we in Denmark have learned from our own efforts to improve coordination of civil and military activities in international operations such as Afghanistan.

Work in the area of communication and Public Diplomacy is already moving forward in NATO. However, as I mentioned earlier, this seminar is meant to be an opportunity to engage further in deliberations free from institutional constraints and help provide new and constructive ideas and common ground for an even more comprehensive and effective Public Diplomacy effort within NATO.

I am confident that you will make the utmost of this opportunity to start a winning game for the sake of NATO and our security. I wish you all the best in these endeavours over the next two days.

Thank you.