Jeppe Kofod
Jeppe Kofod | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
Assumed office 27 June 2019 | |
Prime Minister | Mette Frederiksen |
Preceded by | Anders Samuelsen |
Vice President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats | |
Assumed office 14 December 2016 | |
President | Sergei Stanishev |
Preceded by | Position established |
Member of the European Parliament for Denmark | |
In office 1 July 2014 – 27 June 2019 | |
Preceded by | Dan Jørgensen |
Succeeded by | Marianne Vind |
Member of the Folketing for Bornholm | |
In office 11 March 1998 – 30 June 2014 | |
Preceded by | |
Succeeded by | Lea Wermelin |
Personal details | |
Born | Jeppe Sebastian Kofod 14 March 1974 Copenhagen, Denmark |
Political party | Social Democrats |
Other political affiliations | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
Education | Roskilde University Harvard University |
Website | Official website |
Jeppe Sebastian Kofod (born 14 March 1974) is a Danish politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark since 27 June 2019. Until 2019 he was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Denmark as a member of the Party of European Socialists since 25 May 2014. He then also was the leader of the Social Democrat Group in the European Parliament.
Kofod was a member of Danish Parliament from the Social Democrats from 1998 until 2014, where he was the lead candidate for the party at the 2014 European Parliament election in Denmark.
Education[]
From 2006 to 2007 Kofod completed a Master in Public Administration at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.[1]
Political career[]
Member of the Danish Parliament, 1998–2014[]
Jeppe Kofod was a Member of the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, first elected after the 1998 Danish general election for the constituency of Bornholm.[2] During his time in the Danish Parliament he served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.[2]
In 2008, Kofod resigned as foreign policy spokesman for the Social Democrats after being found to have had sex with a 15-year-old member of the youth wing of the political party. Kofod was 34 years old at the time. Denmark's age of consent is 15. He commented at the time that he had shown a 'lack of judgment' in having a 'morally inappropriate relationship'. The incident had occurred at an afterparty party during a Social Democratic Youth of Denmark event on 21 March 2008 at the University of Southern Denmark.[3][4][5]
Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019[]
Kofod was the head of the Danish Socialists and Democrats' delegation and Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.[6] Serving his first term, he was elected to the European Parliament at the 2014 European Parliament election, with a total of 170.739 personal votes.[7] He was re-elected in 2019.[8]
During his time in the European Parliament, Kofod served on the following Committees and Delegations:[9]
- Vice-chair, European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the United States[10]
- Rapporteur, European Parliament Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)[11]
- Member, European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
- Substitute, European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
- Substitute, European Parliament Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
In addition to his committee assignments, Kofod was a member of the following intergroups in the European Parliament:
- European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES)[12]
- Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals[13]
- Intergroup on LGBTI Rights[14]
Kofod was also a supporter of the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that help reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).[15] He sat on the Executive Committee of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA).
Following the 2019 elections, Kofod was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on foreign policy.[16]
Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2019–present[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Secretary_Blinken_Holds_a_Joint_Press_Availability_with_Greenlandic_Premier_Egede%2C_Greenlandic_Foreign_Minister_Broberg%2C_and_Danish_Foreign_Minister_Kofod_%2851194826969%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-thumbnail.jpg)
On 27 June 2019, Kofod was named Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Frederiksen Cabinet.[17][18]
Early during his tenure, Kofod and Frederiksen faced a diplomatic incident when U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed his interest in buying Greenland from Denmark;[19] at the time, Kofod said the island could not be bought “in dollars, yuan or roubles”.[20] He later approved the establishment of a U.S. consulate in Greenland's capital Nuuk, which was widely seen as part of a broader move by the U.S. to expand its diplomatic and commercial presence in Greenland and the Arctic.[21] In 2020, he welcomed a $12.1 million economic aid package from the U.S. government for Greenland.[22]
References[]
- ^ "Jeppe KOFOD | Curriculum vitae | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget). Retrieved on 2017-02-06.
- ^ "Jeppe Kofod trækker sig efter sex med 15-årig". B.T. (in Danish). 25 March 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ "Jeppe Kofod fældet i sex-skandale". Århus Stiftstidende (in Danish). 25 March 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ Beswick, Emma (14 November 2017). "How do different European countries define the age of sexual consent?". Euronews. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ "KOFOD Jeppe | Socialists & Democrats". www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Personlige stemmer til Europa-Parlamentsvalget 2014". www.europarl.dk. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Resultater EP-valg – Valgresultat 2019" (in Danish). DR. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ "Home | MEPs | European Parliament".
- ^ Florian Eder (January 15, 2019), US Congress members slam State Department for EU downgrade Politico Europe.
- ^ John O'Donnell and Tom Sims (October 19, 2018), European politicians call for clampdown on tax trade trick Reuters.
- ^ "EUFORES: Board of Presidents". www.eufores.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Members". www.animalwelfareintergroup.eu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Members | The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights". www.lgbt-ep.eu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ Supporters MEP Heart Group.
- ^ Florian Eder (June 13, 2019), POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by Google: Madrid’s moment — Parliament working groups sneak peak — Happy birthday, GDPR Politico Europe.
- ^ "Denmark's new center-left PM presents her government". Federal News Network. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ Deleuran Müller, Thea (27 June 2019). "Danmarks nye regering er nu på plads: Se hele Mette Frederiksens ministerhold her". dr.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ Lauren Fedor (August 19, 2019), Trump says it would be ‘strategically nice’ to buy Greenland Financial Times.
- ^ Lauren Fedor (August 19, 2019), Trump says it would be ‘strategically nice’ to buy Greenland Financial Times.
- ^ Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen (December 18, 2019), Denmark approves new U.S. consulate in Greenland Reuters.
- ^ Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Humeyra Pamuk (April 23, 2020), US extends economic aid to Greenland to counter China, Russia in Arctic Reuters.
External links[]
- 1974 births
- Living people
- Politicians from Copenhagen
- MEPs for Denmark 2014–2019
- MEPs for Denmark 2019–2024
- Members of the Folketing 1998–2001
- Members of the Folketing 2001–2005
- Members of the Folketing 2005–2007
- Members of the Folketing 2007–2011
- Members of the Folketing 2011–2015
- Harvard Kennedy School alumni
- Social Democrats (Denmark) MEPs
- Roskilde University alumni
- Foreign ministers of Denmark