KØBENHAVN, 29. januar. 2016 (DIIS): In 2015, Denmark has been an active and supporting player in furthering the common agenda of the EU. It stood out for its leading role in supporting Ukraine with diplomatic visits and political support as well as for its significant aid contribution to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.
However, it was also the first year where Denmark did not achieve a leader award for its general development aid contribution, after cuts were made in this area during 2015.
These are some of the main conclusions in the annual European Scorecard published by the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR). The Scorecard evaluates both the performance of EU foreign policy action and of the individual EU member states.
Et udfordrende år for Europa
The report notes that 2015 was a challenging year for Europe.
The arrival of more than one million migrants created a dilemma in which the humanitarian obligation to give shelter to refugees is pitted against the limited capacities of EU states, both at the external borders and by the inability for EU member states to find a common solution to the refugee crisis.
In addition, Islamic State carried out terror attacks in Paris and put Brussels in lockdown, while the political conflicts throughout Europe burned the continent’s political elites and instilled fear in its societies.
Europa første også an
In some areas however, the EU did manage to pull through and exert European leadership.
Although the Middle East and North Africa was a venue for failure as states broke down and extremism worsened, it was also a venue for European success with the Iran nuclear deal.
As 2015 only confirmed that Russia remains a huge strategic challenge to the EU, Europe maintained admirable solidarity on sanctions.
The Danish contribution to this year’s ECFR Scorecard Project was conducted by Christine Nissen and student assistant Hetav Rojan with DIIS.
Se hele European Scorecard 2016 fra European Council of Foreign Relations og se afsnittet om Danmark her.
