The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

44 INSTITUTIONAL AND NATIONAL POLITICSthe same time Nordic (shorthand for being neither Germany nor the USA), inNATO and in the EU. Besides these assets Denmark also brought to the table ameasure of small-country empathy for the predicament of other small countries,an aspect not covered by realist schools of international relations. Ellemann-Jensen accordingly offered Baltic representatives the use of facilities in Copenhagenalmost a year before their formal independence; he was among the firstto recognize their independence, and the first to open diplomatic missions in allthree Baltic capitals. Together with the German Foreign Minister, Hans DietrichGenscher, he also launched the Council of the Baltic Sea States, in which thenewly independent Balts were full members from the outset. 18 When a SocialDemocrat-led government took power in 1993, the new Minister of Defence,Hans Haekkerup, set up an international department in his ministry and enteredinto bilateral defence agreements with Poland, the three Baltic states and evenRussia. 19 The agreements with Poland and the Baltic states led to intensive militarycooperation on planning, training, equipment and eventually even tocooperation in the field on peacekeeping missions. In the case of Poland it maybe argued that its cooperation with Denmark facilitated its subsequent cooperationwith Germany and the transformation of the Danish–German corps headquarteredin Schleswig-Holstein into a Danish–German–Polish corps headquarteredin Poland.Denmark was also one of the first countries to recognize the declaredindependence of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the FormerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), for much the same reasons as ithad recognized Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, including a deeply rooted beliefin the right of self-determination. When the United Nations called for troops tokeep the non-peace in Croatia, Denmark was among the very first to respondand for extended periods had up to 1500 soldiers engaged in Croatia and Bosniaand Herzegovina under UN and subsequently NATO auspices, 20 proportionallymore than any other country. They were also the most robustly armed UNforces on the ground and demonstrated that the main battle tank can be a very18 The Council of the Baltic Sea States was inaugurated at a meeting on 5–6 Mar. 1992 in Copenhagen.It is a regional forum for intergovernmental cooperation in any field of government other than militarydefence with 12 members: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway,Poland, Russia, Sweden and the European Commission.19 E.g., the 1994 Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia and the Ministryof Defence of the Kingdom of Denmark on the Development of Relations in the Field of MilitaryCooperation and Contacts. One important purpose of this cooperation with Poland and the Baltic stateswas to facilitate their eventual integration into NATO. On the history of the cooperation and details ofcurrent cooperation see Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Danish–Lithuanian defence co-operation’,Embassy of Denmark, Vilnius, 14 June 2005, URL .20 Denmark contributed to the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR), which operated in Bosnia andHerzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the FYROM, Feb.1992–Mar. 1995; the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dec. 1995–Dec. 1996; and the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dec. 1996–Dec.2004.