VZCZCXRO2854
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHCP #0522/01 3231538
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191538Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5327
INFO RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIAO/HQ ICE IAO WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/TSA HQ WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0535
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 5986

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COPENHAGEN 000522 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR DHS/TSA PELLERIN 
THE HAGUE FOR ICE ATTACHE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS EAIR ASEC KHLS KTIP PTER KCRM DA
SUBJECT: DHS SECRETARY MOVES AIR MARSHAL ISSUE FORWARD 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000522  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR 
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary 
Janet Napolitano visited Denmark November 2-3 for meetings with the 
Danish Ministers of Justice and Transportation and for a public 
event on trafficking in persons (TIP).  Ambassador Fulton 
accompanied her throughout the visit.  The Secretary met with Danish 
Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen to discuss the Preventing and 
Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) and Federal Air Marshal (FAM) 
agreements, as well as TIP and the current gang crisis in Denmark. 
Mikkelsen pledged support on the issue of FAMs and stated that he 
expected the PCSC agreement to be ready for signature in early 
spring 2010.  Secretary Napolitano offered DHS/Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement (ICE) assistance to combating TIP and gangs, 
both of which the Minister accepted.  Secretary Napolitano next gave 
public remarks to Danish law enforcement, NGOs, students, and 
professionals involved in anti-TIP and human rights activities, as 
well as local press, on the U.S. experience in combating TIP, and 
answered questions from the audience.  Secretary Napolitano met with 
Danish Minister of Transport Lars Barfoed and key members of his 
Ministry on the FAMs issue.  The Minister expressed a number of 
concerns over armed air marshals traveling to Denmark, questions 
which the Secretary was able to address.  Minister Barfoed suggested 
that a one to two year pilot project on FAMs would likely be 
necessary before a permanent agreement could be put into place.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano, accompanied by 
Ambassador Fulton, met with Danish Minister of Justice Brian 
Mikkelsen and Minister of Transport Lars Barfoed during a visit to 
Copenhagen on November 3, 2009.  DHS Chief of Staff Noah Kroloff, 
Under Secretary Rand Beers, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs 
Sean Smith, DAS for International Affair Mark Koumans, the regional 
TSA representative, and Embassy ICE attach also accompanied the 
Secretary throughout her visit.  The Secretary's visit was preceded 
by meetings between the Ambassador and embassy staff with the 
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Transportation on the FAM 
and PCSC issues.  DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy David Heyman 
traveled to Copenhagen in September and met with senior staff in the 
Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Transport Ministries on these issues. 
 
Ministry of Justice Support 
--------------------------- 
¶3.  (SBU) Justice Minister Mikkelsen welcomed Secretary Napolitano 
and said he regards the U.S. as Denmark's most important strategic 
partner.  He thanked the Secretary for close cooperation in law 
enforcement and security matters, as evidenced by the U.S. arrests 
the week before of U.S. persons plotting a bombing in Denmark. 
Secretary Napolitano gave an overview of DHS, including how DHS was 
able to pinpoint the travel of one plotter.  The highlights of their 
discussion follow: 
 
 -- PCSC: The U.S. and Danish Governments are close to final 
agreement.  The only remaining issue is Danish parliamentary 
approval -- a process which should begin in January 2010.  Minister 
Mikkelsen expects no problems in ratification or with the minor 
changes to Danish law that are necessary.  Minister Mikkelsen 
believes the process can be completed by early March 2010, followed 
by a signing in early spring 2010. 
 
-- FAMs: Secretary Napolitano stressed the importance of the 
deployment of U.S. Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) as part of the U.S. 
layered security system.  The Secretary noted that FAMs are highly 
trained, full-time U.S. law enforcement officers who would be 
deployed only aboard U.S.-flagged carriers, and then not on every 
flight.  Upon arrival in Denmark, the FAMs' weapons and other 
mission equipment would be turned over to the control of Danish 
Police; at no time would U.S. FAMs be armed outside of the aircraft, 
except in instances where the Danish police choose to escort the 
FAMs to the airport police station to lock up their weapons, if 
Danish officials chose to handle logistics in that way, rather than 
locking up the weapons onboard the aircraft.  Minister Mikkelsen 
replied that FAMs "make sense" and that he supports the U.S. request 
for their deployment on U.S. flag carriers to Denmark.  He has 
expressed his support of FAMs to the Danish Minister of Transport, 
who is the final arbiter of this issue for Denmark.  Minister 
Mikkelsen noted that Minister of Transport Barfoed said he had 
checked with some of his neighboring country counterparts and none 
had confirmed that they have FAM agreements with the U.S., as the 
U.S. previously contended.  Mikkelsen expected that there would be a 
hurdle facing the Secretary on this issue.  Secretary Napolitano 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000522  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
responded that Denmark was nearly alone in not allowing FAMs but 
DHS/TSA prefers not to comment on the nature, formal or informal, or 
the details of existing FAM agreements with foreign partners. 
 
-- Gang Violence: Secretary Napolitano noted that Denmark is 
currently experiencing significant violence between Outlaw 
Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) and "immigrant" gangs.  The Secretary 
offered DHS/ICE assistance in combating this problem.  She noted 
that the United States unfortunately has a great deal of experience 
in this area and welcomed the Danes to learn from U.S. successes and 
failures.  Mikkelsen thanked the Secretary and indicated interest in 
accepting the offer.  He stated that recent gang-related violence in 
Denmark -- 110 shootings, 59 wounded, and seven killed in the past 
year -- is very significant for the country.  The police are 
establishing a new task force to proactively combat gangs, with 
their highest priority being to stop recruitment, he continued. 
Secretary Napolitano responded that there are three keys to 
combating gang violence: (1) an aggressive intervention process 
targeting at-risk youth, (2) specialized law enforcement units 
focused only on gangs, including developing informants and cases, 
and (3) an anti-gang incarceration strategy in order to minimize 
inter-gang violence in facilities and stifle gang recruitment and 
training opportunities in a custodial setting.  She indicated that 
DHS/ICE can assist in all of these areas.   Mikkelsen seemed eager 
to take advantage of U.S. experience. 
 
-- TIP: According to Mikkelsen, the problem of trafficking in human 
beings has been an area of increased focus in Denmark for the last 5 
to 10 years and it is a high priority for his Ministry.  Mikkelsen 
said that TIP is an ongoing problem despite Denmark's National 
Strategy to Combat TIP.  Most persons trafficked into Denmark for 
prostitution are young women and girls from Eastern Europe and West 
Africa; they come to Denmark mainly because of poverty at home. 
Mikkelsen views international cooperation and information sharing, 
including identifying facilitators, to be critical components in 
combating trafficking.  The issue of deportation remains a dilemma; 
there is growing public sentiment that trafficking victims should be 
granted permanent residence.  Denmark instead currently provides 
victims with education and money for their repatriation, as well as 
arranging medical treatment, if needed, upon the victim's return. 
Secretary Napolitano stated that the U.S. has a special (T) visa 
status allowing victims with a verifiable claim as a victim of 
trafficking to remain in the U.S.  She said that DHS would like to 
continue working with Denmark to combat TIP. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Secretary Napolitano thanked Mikkelsen for his support of 
both the FAMS and PCSC agreements.  They agreed that, for the 
present, those topics should not be publicized.   The meeting was 
followed by a short press interview by Danish press of the Secretary 
and the Minister, where the Secretary again pledged DHS/ICE 
assistance in dealing with gangs, should Denmark wish it.  Mikkelsen 
stated he would follow up through the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen on 
each of these topics. 
 
Addressing Trafficking in Persons 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Secretary Napolitano addressed approximately 85 people on 
combating TIP at an event co-sponsored by the NGO Humanity in Action 
(Denmark), the Danish Institute for International Studies, and the 
Danish Institute for Human Rights.  The audience included Danish 
government officials, non-governmental organizations, students, 
police officers, and others involved in combating trafficking and 
human rights violations, as well as members of the Danish press. 
The Secretary discussed the plight of trafficking victims and the 
need for a coordinated international law enforcement response 
targeting global criminal trafficking organizations.  In order to be 
successful, law enforcement must look at this crime from the 
victims' point of view, she said.  ICE, as the principal U.S. law 
enforcement agency combating TIP, is targeting traffickers' assets 
and profits and working closely with NGOs to rescue and assist 
victims.  While there is no indication of trafficking between the 
U.S. and Denmark, ICE is working with the Danes in a mutual sharing 
of enforcement techniques and programs for helping victims.  DHS has 
created a new position, reporting directly to the Secretary, to 
coordinate DHS efforts to combat TIP.  Secretary Napolitano fielded 
a broad range of questions from members of the press, NGOs and 
students, which included comments about combating the demand for 
prostitution, delineating between smuggling and trafficking, media 
treatment of persons arrested, and alternatives to deportation for 
victims of trafficking.  The presentation was very well received and 
feedback from the organizers and participants has been resoundingly 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000522  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
positive. 
 
Transport Ministry Receptive 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Secretary Napolitano and Ambassador Fulton next met with 
Minister of Transport Lars Barfoed at the Ministry of Transport. 
The sole topic of the meeting was a potential U.S.-Danish agreement 
to allow FAMs to deploy on U.S. carrier flights to and from Denmark. 
 The Danish Government has placed responsibility for this issue with 
the Ministry of Transport, though the Ministries of Foreign Affairs 
and Justice will have input in the decision.  Barfoed indicated that 
-- should there be an agreement -- Transport will be required to 
present it to Parliament for approval.  Concerning the deployment of 
FAMs, Barfoed stated that the Danish position is that aircraft must 
be secure before the aircraft departs the gate.  The Danes are 
averse to having firearms aboard aircraft because of the threat of 
the weapons being taken by terrorists and because of their view that 
passenger aircraft are not built to withstand gunfire. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Barfoed asked how the U.S. concluded that having armed 
officers on aircraft enhanced security.  Secretary Napolitano 
responded that the U.S. decision to expand deployment of specially 
trained and armed federal law enforcement officers aboard aircraft 
was a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  U.S. studies concluded 
that static defenses cannot guarantee that weapons or explosives can 
be kept off aircraft and having trained armed officers on board 
enhances security.  The Secretary said the U.S. believes that any 
risk presented by having armed officers aboard passenger aircraft is 
mitigated because: 1) FAMs are very highly trained federal law 
enforcement officers in an undercover capacity; 2) FAMs are assigned 
randomly and are not on all flights; 3) FAMs sit in random locations 
aboard aircraft; 4) FAMs will only break their cover in an 
emergency, and then not necessarily all of the air marshals aboard 
will respond. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Minister Barfoed requested that DHS share risk assessments 
and whether any other data could be made available to the Danish 
Government for use in determining whether or not to allow a FAMs 
agreement.  The Secretary agreed that relevant assessments and data 
could be made available, and added that the U.S. views FAMs as 
having both preventative and deterrent missions.  Barfoed also asked 
about weapon security while the aircraft is in Denmark.  The 
Secretary replied that weapons and mission equipment would either be 
taken by the Danish Police aboard the aircraft or the Danish Police 
would escort the FAMs to the airport police station at which point 
the weapons would be secured and stored.  Currently deployed FAMs go 
through host countries' regular immigration and customs processing 
after weapons are secured by the local police.  For outbound 
flights, they do not retrieve the weapons from the police until 
after they have gone through the regular check-in process.  When 
asked about incidents that have occurred in-flight, Secretary 
Napolitano stated that FAMs fly nearly a thousand missions daily, 
including flights to and from Europe, but there have been very few 
incidents in which FAMs have had to break cover -- and those have 
been almost entirely incidents involving unruly and/or drunk 
passengers, some of whom threatened serious harm to the flight crew. 
 The regional TSA representative elaborated that there have been no 
incidents requiring FAMs to fire their weapons aboard an operating 
international flight. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Secretary Napolitano reiterated that Denmark and Russia 
are the only two European countries with direct flights by U.S. 
carriers that have no FAM agreement, either formal or informal. 
Barfoed responded that any FAM agreement with Denmark would require 
parliamentary knowledge.  He does not foresee any legislative 
changes being required, but because this would involve a change in 
Denmark's previous position, parliamentary support is a must, and 
that is not a quick process.  He suggested that the Embassy 
facilitate further discussions at a non-political level, to which 
Ambassador Fulton agreed. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Danish Civil Aviation Administration Director Kurt Larsen 
commented that, until now, his agency has resisted any further 
discussion on this topic and/or a visit to the FAMs training 
facility in New Jersey because the Danish Parliament had been very 
clear in its decision to deny a FAM agreement, not just with the 
U.S., but with other countries, including Germany, Switzerland, 
Syria and Israel.  Larsen stated that he now has a clearer 
understanding of the program and clarified that it involves arming 
only sworn law enforcement officers, not airline crew.  Barfoed 
suggested that while he cannot promise a favorable outcome with 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000522  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
Parliament, having more data and facts available, and perhaps a 
successful pilot program for a year or two, would certainly help the 
U.S. case. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Secretary Napolitano reiterated that the U.S. would be 
happy to provide any relevant assessments and data the Danes request 
and asked that any requests be passed through the Embassy.  She 
agreed that a pilot project would be useful and renewed an 
invitation for members of the Ministry of Transport to visit the 
Federal Air Marshal Service Headquarters and training facilities, 
which Barfoed noted as a positive suggestion.  The Secretary asked 
if an informal memo of cooperation would help to move the process 
forward.  Barfoed replied that any agreement may be confidential, 
but that Parliament must be aware of it.  Minister Barfoed concluded 
by saying that he is looking forward to a continued working-level 
discussion on this subject and that he will ensure that any pilot 
project will not be undermined by Parliament.  He said that 
publicizing discussions on FAMs would weaken an opportunity to 
garner parliamentary support. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment: Ambassador Fulton notes that this meeting with 
the Transport Ministry indicated a dramatic turn from previous 
meetings and discussion on the FAM issue.  The Ambassador urges 
rapid delivery to the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen of the risk 
assessment and information for Minster Barfoed to keep the momentum. 
 End Comment. 
 
¶13.  (U) The DHS delegation has cleared this message. 
 
FULTON