The Danish government has launched a new strategy for measures against piracy, to run until 2014.
The overall purpose of the Danish efforts is to contribute to making the waters off the Horn of Africa and in the Indian Ocean safe and navigable for Danish and international shipping. The strategy covers bilateral as well as multilateral political, military, legal and capacity-building measures.
The strategy is the result of a co-operation between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence, the Minister for Development Cooperation, the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Economic and Business Affairs.
"I am extremely pleased to present the government's new strategy for measures against piracy today," said Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen at the launch of the strategy. "Piracy is an increasing problem that affects, not least, Danish shipping. Today, we launch a broad policy placing our efforts in an international context and containing both political measures, the dispatch of military forces, legal measures and capacity-building in the region. It is an ambitious strategy aimed at a complex problem. We have been among those in lead of the international efforts made right from the start, and we must remain so."
The strategy aims to combat piracy through increased Danish naval and air force activities until 2014, consisting of periodic dispatch of naval forces as well as the dispatch of a maritime surveillance plane for shorter periods of time in consideration of the armed forces' other tasks. Capacity-building is another theme, with the aim being to allow countries in the region to meet challenges in the longer term themselves, including support for the establishment of coast guard functions in the region as well as prison capacity in Somaliland and Puntland,
"I would like to stress the great efforts made by the military forces in combating piracy in the waters off the Horn of Africa," said Minister of Defence Gitte Lillelund Bech. "The contribution made by the Danish military forces is an important building block in the measures against piracy and may, in the future, also lead to the dispatch of planes for periods of time. It is important to underline that the measures made in the waters off the African east coast cannot stand alone. There are also quite great perspectives in the Danish side being able to support countries in the region building their own coast guard capacity. The combating of piracy demands that we use several building blocks so that they can in combination help create sustainable and long-term solutions."
A land-based solution is another direction from which Denmark plans to tackle piracy.
"With the government's new strategy, the development aid is a central contribution to the combating of the increasing piracy problem, which has far reaching consequences for both the African countries and international shipping as a whole," said Minister for Development Cooperation Søren Pind.
"A lasting solution to the piracy issue can be achieved only through stabilisation of Somalia. Therefore, a major Danish aid programme for Somalia is being developed. But I am pleased that we can, already now, promise to support the establishment of prisons in Somalia for pirates who have been convicted and the development of coast guards in the region as well as the countering of money laundering. Those are crucial measures that may help ensure that the countries in the region can handle the problems by themselves."
