Denmark’s PM steps down to become the new head of NATO

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Anders Fogh Rasmussen - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2008 | Photo 02

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Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has resigned from his position to take over the leadership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in August of this year. Rasmussen was named the next Secretary General of NATO at the 2009 Strasbourg–Kehl summit that took place in Strasbourg, France this weekend. Rasmussen will replace Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of Netherlands as the Secretary General of NATO.

Who is Anders Fogh Rasmussen and why was he selected to lead NATO?

Until this weekend’s resignation as Denmark's PM, fifty-six-year-old Rasmussen used to be the leader of the Liberal Party of Denmark. He comes from a family of farmers, obtained his economics degree from the University of Aarhus and was involved in politics for most of his life. He introduced some tax cut and administrative reforms while serving as the prime minister. In the early nineties, he resigned from the position of minister of taxation over the court finding that he provided inaccurate information to the Danish parliament. While holding the EU presidency in 2002, he publicly denounced the Danish collaboration with Germans during WW2 occupation. He used to be a strong supporter of the War in Iraq. On the other hand, he is also a supporter of gay marriage. Rasmussen is an amateur cyclist, having competed in the Alpe d'Huez stage of the 2008 Tour de France.

His choice for NATO leadership may be an odd one in the times of global economic distress, considering Rasmussen’s policy has always been in favour of deregulation and reduced government interference, while Obama’s administration is emphasizing the role of state in the economic recovery. Turkey has not initially supported the candidacy of Rasmussen for the head of NATO at the April summit over his handling of the 2005 cartoon scandal that sparked outrage over the portrayal of the Islamic prophet Mohammad by the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Although Rasmussen called the episode “Denmark’s worst international crisis since World War II,” he refused to prosecute or even non-judicially intervent with the newspaper that published the controversial cartoon. After talks with Italy’s PM Bernuscoli and US President Obama, Turkey has finally conceded to accepting Rasmussen’s nomination for NATO leadership.

Since the inception of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, its leadership has been shared between six major member states: UK, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium. Denmark has never held the reigns of the alliance that is comprised of 28 member nations.