Denmark is a nation at war

We took part in the Balkan wars already in the 1990’s and made a major and positive contribution.

Not least in taking part in NATO’s air war against Serbia and helping to save almost a million Kosova Albanians from death and exile.

Taking part in the Iraq War, without a U.N. mandate, was much more controversial and the soldiers were withdrawn when the involvement became unpopular in the United States in 2006.

The war in Afghanistan has widespread political support in Denmark, and a majority of the population supports a war that in many other NATO countries is meeting increasing opposition.

Even more people have respect and sympathy for the difficult job that Danish soldiers do under extremely dangerous conditions.

Military wants to ransack and question
The media – including Politiken – cooperates closely with the military and has full understanding for the considerations that have to be taken into account when Danish soldiers risk their lives.

We do not print operative information that can endanger military operations and we are thankful for the protection that Danish soldiers afford is when we cover the war.

In the light of this good and pragmatic cooperation it is even more regrettable that the military now wants to develop these reasoned considerations to include a general right to stop publications and information which the military, in a general sense, considers to be detrimental to national interests.

That, unfortunately, is what is happening in the case about a book written by a former commando.

The military is preparing an injunction against the publishers – an injunction upon which the Copenhagen Municipal Court will decide on Thursday.

At the same time, on behalf of the military, the Junior Counsel to the Treasury is seeking permission to ransack premises and to force the publisher’s employees to give evidence as to who is in possession of copies of the book.

At the same time, the Chief of Defence has written to the country’s media, demanding that we refrain from any further coverage of the book.

Encroachment on press freedoms
We cannot imagine that the Court will give the military the right to carry out such a blatant encroachment on the freedom of information and the press.

Irrespective, we have chosen to print the entire text of the book in today’s newspaper to ensure and underline the public’s right to remain informed – also when we are at war and when the authorities do not find it opportune.

We feel that we are thus doing our job, just as Danish soldiers do theirs when they carry out the tasks that the government has placed on their shoulders.