| Prime Minister of Denmark Date of Birth: 26.01.1953 Country: Denmark |
Anders Fogh Rasmussen was born on January 26, 1953, in Ginnerup, Denmark. He was the son of farmer Knud Rasmussen and his wife Marta Rasmussen (nee Fog). Rasmussen completed his education at Viborg Cathedral School in 1969-1972 and studied economics at Aarhus University, graduating in 1978. He wrote several books on taxation and government structure. Rasmussen married his wife, Anne-Mette, in 1978, and they have three children: Henrik Fog Rasmussen (born 1979), Maria (born 1981), and Christina (born 1984). He is also a grandfather to six grandchildren.
Rasmussen began his political career at the age of 17, founding the Society of Young Liberals in Viborg. In 1973, at the age of 20, he became a member of the Central Council of the Liberal Party of Denmark (Venstre). In 1974, he ran for the Folketing, the Danish parliament, and was elected as a representative for the Viborg district in 1978. During the same year, he obtained a higher education in economics from Aarhus University and worked as a consultant for the Danish Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises until 1984. From 1984, he served as a member of the leadership of the parliamentary faction of the Liberals and became the vice-chairman of the national organization of the Liberal Party in 1985. From 1987 to 1992, he held the position of Minister of Taxation in Denmark and also served as Minister of Economics from 1990 to 1992. In 1993, he published a book titled "Fra Socialstat til Minimalstat" (translated as "From Welfare State to Minimal State"). In 1996, he became a member of the Council of Representatives and two years later, a member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Denmark. In 1998, he became the chairman of the Liberal Party of Denmark and led the party to victory in the parliamentary elections on November 20, 2001.
On November 27, 2001, Anders Fogh Rasmussen assumed the position of Prime Minister of Denmark. During his premiership, Rasmussen advocated for low taxes, privatization, and limited government size. He also initiated stricter immigration legislation and expressed support for the legalization of same-sex marriages. In 2005, Denmark faced a major internal scandal due to the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. This led to calls for a global boycott of Danish products from offended Muslims. On January 1, 2007, a global municipal reform came into effect. In the same year, Rasmussen announced his intention to hold a referendum on Denmark's accession to the Eurozone and the adoption of the euro as the national currency, but Denmark ultimately did not join the Eurozone and retained the Danish Krone. The Liberal Party of Denmark won the parliamentary elections in 2005 and 2007, allowing Rasmussen to remain as the Prime Minister of Denmark until 2009.
In March 2009, the leaders of the United States, France, and Germany decided to elect Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the Secretary-General of NATO to succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The United States expressed its support for Rasmussen's candidacy at the NATO summit in April 2009. Initially, Turkey opposed Rasmussen's candidacy and even threatened to use its veto power, but later reconsidered its position and expressed agreement with his appointment. Italy and Spain also supported his candidacy. On April 4, 2009, Rasmussen was approved as the Secretary-General of NATO and resigned as the Prime Minister of Denmark the following day. Lars Lokke Rasmussen succeeded him as the Prime Minister of Denmark.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen officially took office as the Secretary-General of NATO on August 1, 2009. During his tenure, NATO temporarily resumed cooperation with Russia, which had been suspended after the war in South Ossetia, and actively supported the military intervention in Libya. On October 1, 2014, Rasmussen stepped down as the Secretary-General of NATO and was succeeded by former Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg.
Since the summer of 2015, Rasmussen has worked as an advisor for Goldman Sachs. From May 27, 2016, to May 17, 2019, he served as an external advisor to the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. In January 2018, Rasmussen accepted an offer from Russian businessman Grigory Guselnikov to become the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Latvian Norvik Banka (later renamed PNB Banka). In 2019, PNB Banka lost its license after it was discovered that the bank's liabilities to creditors (€367 million) exceeded its assets (€167 million) by €200 million. In 2020, a civil trial began to recover damages of €32 million from 11 members of the bank's management and board, including Rasmussen.