Defence chiefs' hunting trip causes political furore in Denmark

Admiral Kaskeala was also chasing wild boar in Estonia

Jesper Helsø

Juhani Kaskeala

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A January 2006 hunting trip in Estonia, in which the Danish, Finnish, and Estonian Chiefs of Defence took part, has raised a storm of protest in Denmark.
      The uproar was launched by the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende, reporting that the trip was partly paid by funds from private Swedish weapons manufacturers.
      At the same time, Denmark has agreed upon or is negotiationg major arms acquisitions with the same companies.
     
The Estonian Chief of Defence had invited General Jesper Helsø from Denmark, and the Finnish Chief of Defence, Admiral Juhani Kaskeala, as well as their Swedish counterpart (who later turned down the invitation), to attend a hunting expedition in Estonia.
      In addition, several sales representatives from Swedish jet fighter producer Saab and from Hägglunds, a subsidiary of weapons designer British Aerospace Systems, also attended the hunt.
     
This week General Helsø has submitted a report on his all-expenses-paid trip to the Ministry of Defence.
      According to the ministry, Helsø's request to attend the trip mentioned nothing about a hunting expedition. When the itinerary and list of participants were made public last weekend, the Ministry of Defence asked Helsø to provide a written explanation of the trip to the ministry.
      In his report Helsø wrote that the Danish Defence Forces have close relations with Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. He insists that he did not know in advance that representatives of Swedish weapons manufacturers would also attend the hunt.
      Berlingske Tidende reported further that the trip was paid for by the Royal Estonian Hunting Society, which had received funding from four large Swedish arms manufacturers.
      Helsø claimed that he had not been aware of the fact that the Swedish arms industry supported the hunting society.
     
Just one month prior to the hunting trip the Danish Defence Forces had placed an order for 45 armoured vehicles with Hägglunds, worth EUR 216 million. Furthermore, Saab is included in the shortlist of a tender round for new fighter jets to Denmark.
      The Danish Defence Minister said on Wednesday that the Chief of Defence should not have attended the boar-hunting expedition, and in the future, he will have to avoid participating in any event that could give a reason to suspect a conflict of interests and thereby harm the defence of the country.
     
Admiral Juhani Kaskeala, the Finnish Chief of Defence, expressed some surprise at the furore caused in Denmark by the January hunting expedition, as the representatives of the Swedish arms industry did not belong to the same group of guests as the chiefs of defence.
      "I did not even know that representatives of the Swedish arms industry were attending the hunt. I met just the Swedish Ambassador, who came to introduce himself", Kaskeala commented.
      Kaskeala's trip had been approved by the Minister of Defence Seppo Kääriäinen (Centre) as an unofficial visit, and the costs to the Defence Forces were EUR 700. As normal, all other costs were supposed to be covered by the host of the visit, in this case the Estonian Chief of Defence.


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