In December, Denmark was shaken by a historic scandal in which the head of the Defense Intelligence Service (FE), Lars Findsen, was imprisoned for leaking highly classified state information.
The exact charges – which Findsen called “crazy” – were not made public, so whether he leaked information to the media or to foreign agents is unclear. At the time, it was driving domestic and international news crazy.
On February 17, he was released after 71 days behind bars. And then on Saturday, the case led to yet another public spit between officials.
Two veterans from the Left Party – former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who led NATO from 2009-14, and a former Foreign Minister, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen – issued a joint statement attacking the government for its handling of the FE scandal and to prosecute their party. comrade Claus Hjort Frederiksen for treason.
The opinion
ยปThe accusation of treason is a huge burden for Frederiksen. He just used his right as a member of parliament to criticize the government’s handling of this case, “they begin, before leveling their main argument: that the government in broad daylight mistreated the FE case.
โBy virtue of our previous positions in Danish and international politics, we have an in-depth knowledge of the intelligence services in different countries. “Protecting the confidentiality of intelligence operations is crucial – that is why we are shaken by the Danish government’s handling of the FE case,” they state.
“The case flared up thanks to the sensational press release from the Intelligence Service (TET) on August 24, 2020. We were both very upset when we saw that it mentions a confidential intelligence cooperation that we had been made aware of. The responsibility for this falls heavily on the Prime Minister. She gave the green light for both the overreaction in August 2020 and for the accusation against Claus Hjort Frederiksen in December 2021. “
Suspicious: Appendix A
In their criticism, the two former ministers specifically point to a public press release from August 2020, which “mentions a confidential intelligence agreement that we [Ellemann-Jensen and Fogh] had been made aware โ.
But the press release only mentions “indications that FE may have leaked information about Danish citizens”. Nothing about a “confidential intelligence agreement”.
So why should Ellemann-Jensen and Fogh, in the same breath as complaining about the government spraying state secrets in public press releases, bring up a hitherto unnamed state secret – and invoke prior knowledge of it?
Suspicious timeline: Appendix B
The former Minister of Defense, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, said that the agreement in question has been entered into between Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and US President Bill Clinton.
Fogh Rasmussen replaced Nyrup as Prime Minister in 2001, so it is reasonable to assume that he was aware of the agreement.
But Uffe Ellemann-Jensen has not held a ministerial position since 1993, so it is difficult to explain why he should have become ‘aware of’ this agreement.
“Here we are in the situation that a former prime minister and a former foreign minister – in an attempt to defend an accused party comrade – confirm the existence of the agreement, and that they apparently also confirm that the secret behind this agreement has been broken. previously, โsaid Information’s political reporter Bo Elkjรฆr.
“Ellemann-Jensen and Fogh criticize the government and the Intelligence Service for dealing with this case ‘in full public’. But the only ones who are actually dealing with the matter in full public are these two outspoken, former Liberal ministers, who are apparently queuing up to leak, confirm and blue-stamp their knowledge of this secret agreement. “
It appears that while Ellemann-Jensen and Fogh are accusing the government of airing its dirty laundry in public, they have accidentally aired some of their own.
Source: The Nordic Page