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The foreign policy of Denmark is based on its identity as a sovereign nation in Europe. As such its primary foreign policy focus is on its relations with other nations as a sovereign independent nation. Denmark has long had good relations with other nations. It has been involved in coordinating Western assistance to the Baltic states (Estonia,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Danish - Estonian Defence Cooperation )〕 Latvia, and Lithuania).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Danish - Latvian Defence Cooperation )〕 The country is a strong supporter of international peacekeeping. Danish forces were heavily engaged in the former Yugoslavia in the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR), with IFOR, and now SFOR. Denmark also strongly supported American operations in Afghanistan and has contributed both monetarily and materially to the ISAF. These initiatives are a part of the "active foreign policy" of Denmark. Instead of the traditional adaptative foreign policy of the small country, Denmark is today pursuing an active foreign policy, where human rights, democracy and other crucial values is to be defended actively. In recent years, Greenland and the Faroe Islands have been guaranteed a say in foreign policy issues, such as fishing, whaling and geopolitical concerns. Following World War II, Denmark ended its two-hundred-year-long policy of neutrality. Denmark has been a member of NATO since its founding in 1949, and membership in NATO remains highly popular.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= US Department of State: Denmark )〕 There were several serious confrontations between the U.S. and Denmark on security policy in the so-called "footnote era" (1982–88), when an alternative parliamentary majority forced the government to adopt specific national positions on nuclear and arms control issues. The alternative majority in these issues was because the Social liberal Party (Radikale Venstre) supported the governing majority in economic policy issues, but was against certain NATO policies and voted with the left in these issues. The conservative led Centre-right government accepted this variety of "minority parliamentarism", that is, without making it a question of the government's parliamentary survival.〔 With the end of the Cold War, however, Denmark has been supportive of U.S. policy objectives in the Alliance. Danes have enjoyed a reputation as "reluctant" Europeans. When they rejected ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on 2 June 1992, they put the EC's plans for the European Union on hold.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Maastricht-traktaten & Edinburgh-afgørelsen 18. maj 1993 )〕 In December 1992, the rest of the EC agreed to exempt Denmark from certain aspects of the European Union, including a common defense, a common currency, EU citizenship, and certain aspects of legal cooperation (the 4 Danish Opt-outs). The Amsterdam Treaty was approved in the referendum of 28 May 1998. In the autumn of 2000, Danish citizens rejected membership of the Euro currency group in a referendum. The Lisbon treaty was ratified by the Danish parliament alone.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/euo_en/dkeu/lissabon/ )〕 It was not considered a surrendering of national sovereignty, which would have implied the holding of a referendum according to article 20 of the constitution. Currently, the Danish government wants a referendum on the opt-outs from the EU-treaty, but the prospect of the opt-outs perhaps being rejected does not look appealing. The issue is being postponed for the time being, or until a large coalition of political parties support holding a referendum. ==International disputes== *''Rockall''. A continental shelf dispute involving Iceland, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area)〔 〕 *''Hans Island''. An island located between Greenland and Canadian Arctic islands. Unresolved boundary disputed between Canada and Denmark (Denmark controls Greenland's foreign relations). This dispute flared up again in July 2005 following the visit of a Canadian minister to the disputed island. *''North Pole''. Denmark is trying to prove that the North Pole is geographically connected to Greenland. If such proof is established, Denmark will claim the North Pole. *''Maritime border with Poland''. Denmark and Poland have still not agreed on the location of the maritime border between the two countries. Denmark supports a border halfway between the two countries; Poland wants to be awarded an even greater share of the Baltic Sea. The Polish position is based on the argument that Poland owns a longer coast line than the Danish island of Bornholm.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gazprom Plans Shift of Nord Stream Route )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Foreign relations of Denmark」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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