Former Left-wing minister Bertel Haarder, 77, has confirmed that this will be his last term in parliament, reports The Althing.
Haarder first became a Member of Parliament in 1975, and he has been responsible for eight different ministries – most recently as Minister of Culture until 2016.
In all, he has been a Member of Parliament for 41 years, and he is Denmark’s longest-serving minister in the 20th and 21st centuries.
In and out of the cabinet since 1982
He first became Minister in 1982 and served under Poul Schlรผter, Conservative Prime Minister.
His other ministries have included health, education, integration and immigration.
He also served as MEP from 1994 to 2001 and was vEuropean Parliament ice chair from 1997 to 1999.
Still very busy
“I honestly think I have finished my military service,” he told the Althing.
“But I intend to drive with full force as long as I am in the Folketing, including as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
He is also currently president of the Nordic Council and chairman of the Royal Theater.
One of Parliament’s greatest characters
An undoubted character, he once exploded memorably with anger over the journalists’ crazy questions when he had been called away from his home, where he had enjoyed Risalamande – the Danish equivalent of rice porridge.
“Journalist just gets desserts” was how CPH POST reported the case back in December 2010.
Another memorable moment came when he won the top prize at the celebrity edition of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ in 2005. Unfortunately, it is only a million kroner that he donated to charity.
He is also a skilled croquet player and rapper, which he once demonstrated live on DR.
Denmark’s highest MP (only straight!) To stand down
Former Radical leader Marianne Jelved, 77, has confirmed that this is her last term in parliament. After being elected as a Member of Parliament in 1987, she led the party from 1990 to 2007, but retired the same year in which two of her MPs (Naser Khader and Anders Samuelsen) broke out to form the Liberal Alliance. She served as Minister from 1993 to 2001 and then recently as Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2015 under Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s government. At the last election, she was the oldest candidate to retain a seat.
No comeback for the disgraced Radical leader Morten รstergaard
Former Radical leader Morten รstergaard, 44, who resigned last year after a series of #MeToo accusations, will not run in the next parliamentary elections. He has been on sick leave since October 12. โIt is with teary eyes and melancholy that I write these words, for it is an incredible chapter in my life story, which is now nearing its end, to make room for a new one. , โHe wrote on Facebook. He was first elected to parliament in 2005. Prior to his political career, he worked as a marketing manager.
Former Copenhagen mayor Frank Jensen not yet out of the woods
The law firm Kromann Reumert has completed its investigation of 12 alleged incidents in which the former mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen may have harassed women inappropriately between January 2010 and October 2020. Seven of the incidents took place in a single day: a notorious Christmas lunch in 2011, where it was reported at the time how the married mayor grabbed a number of women inappropriately. Kromann Reumert concludes in six of the cases that there is necessary evidence to prove that a “woman was subjected to unwanted physical or verbal contact on the part of Frank Jensen”. One woman recalled how a greeting was “the absolute wettest kiss on the cheek she had ever had”. The survey was initiated by Copenhagen’s citizen representation in October. City Hall’s Finance Committee will discuss the consequences of the lawyer’s investigation next week.
Morten Messerschmidt to discover his fate at the end of June
Minister of Justice Nick Hรฆkkerup confirmed yesterday that the SรIK investigation into the Danish People’s Party’s deputy chairman Morten Messerschmidt’s alleged misuse of EU funds while he was MEP will be completed before the end of June. Its results will determine whether he will be prosecuted. The suspicion has been going on for almost six years, when the EU’s anti-fraud unit, OLAF, began investigating a possible misuse of EU money from the European party Meld, which Messerschmidt chaired, and the affiliated fund Feld, back in 2015. OLFA concluded its investigation in October 2019 and forwarded the case to SรIK, the Danish Public Prosecutor’s Office for special economic and international crime.
Source: The Nordic Page