Danish government project must be ‘reconfirmed’ if premier gets NATO top job, says coalition partner

By Ebad Ahmed

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AA) – Denmark’s coalition government project must be “reconfirmed” if Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen leaves her post to become NATO’s next secretary general, Moderate Party leader Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Monday.

Denmark is ruled by a coalition government that includes the Social Democrats as well as the Liberals and the Moderates.

“First of all, I would say that the fact that anyone is even talking about Denmark getting the NATO Secretary General post again is pretty fantastic. It should be taken as a gift, both to Mette Frederiksen as a person and to the country of Denmark,” said Lokke Rasmussen, who is also the country’s foreign minister.

However, he added that the government’s political project needs to be “reconfirmed”, in case of Frederiksen’s departure to replace Jens Stoltenberg, current NATO secretary general.

“If that situation arises, you have to make sure that everyone is still on board with the plan,” Rasmussen said.

During her recent visit to Washington, “I’m not going to go into that speculation. I would like to repeat what I have said before that I am happy to be prime minister of Denmark,” said Prime Minister Frederiksen when asked about her prospects of becoming the NATO chief.