Veteran is behind a citizens’ proposal to ensure openness in an investigation of Denmark’s efforts in Afghanistan.
In three days almost 10,000 have signed a citizens’ proposal against anonymisation in the so-called Afghanistan investigation.
This appears from the Danish Parliament’s website.
According to the proposal, which was published on the Folketinget website on 10 June, researchers at the Danish Institute for International Studies (Diis) should have the opportunity to reproduce all statements and information from Denmark’s military and civilian efforts in Afghanistan in the period from 2001 to 2021.
However, the proposal only includes material that has been security approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Danish Parliament has requested Diis to prepare a historical investigation of Denmark’s military and civilian efforts in Afghanistan.
In May, the Danish Parliament made it possible for politicians to censor their names from the Afghanistan investigation, as the researchers must obtain permission to quote them for statements in the Foreign Policy Council.
Both Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) and former Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (S) have refused to be interviewed by the researchers. This has been described by Politiken and Berlingske.
Løkke justifies the rejection by saying that he has already made many statements about the effort in books, speeches and interviews.
In May, the Alting wrote that Lars Løkke Rasmussen would, however, like to be quoted from confidential meetings in the Foreign Policy Council.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who was prime minister from 2011 to 2015, did not respond to the researchers’ inquiry.
She told Politiken on Saturday that she “always felt that we had full publicity about why we were in Afghanistan”.
– My views were out there, says Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Morten Kromann, who has been deployed in Afghanistan and is now a deputy judge in Copenhagen City Court, and the member association Danmarks Veteraner og Veteranstøtte are behind the citizens’ proposal.
44 Danish soldiers lost their lives in the 20-year war in Afghanistan, which ended with the Taliban regime again taking power.
In Politiken, Morten Kromann makes it clear that he believes that the politicians who sent him and other Danish soldiers to war must take responsibility for their decisions. And therefore their names should appear in the investigation.
A citizens’ proposal must have a minimum of 50,000 signatures before it is considered in the Folketing.
/ritzau/
