Hans Hækkerup (3 December 1945 – 22 December 2013) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

politician who has served as a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

) for the

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

party and as the Minister of Defence from 1993 to 2000 under

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Poul Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen (, informally Poul Nyrup, born 15 June 1943) is a retired Danish politician. Rasmussen was Prime Minister of Denmark from 25 January 1993 to 27 November 2001 and President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) from ...

Early life

Hækkerup was born in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He was the son of former Minister of Economy

Per Hækkerup Per Hækkerup (25 December 1915 – 13 March 1979) was a Danish Social Democratic politician, who served as Foreign Minister of Denmark from 1962 to 1966. Hækkerup, the son of Hans Kristian Hækkerup, a politician, was active in politics from t ...

and former Member of Parliament Grete Hækkerup. He graduated from the Frederiksborg Gymnasium (State School) in 1964 and received a Master of Arts in Economics from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 1973.

Career

After working in several government ministries, Hækkerup was elected to the Folketing in 1979. He held several committee memberships including the Committee on Danish Security Policy, the Committee on Greenlandic Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Policy. He was Chairman of the Defense Committee from 1991 to 1993. As Minister of Defence in the administration of

from 1993 to 2000, Hækkerup is considered to have contributed actively to the escalation of Danish military efforts abroad – including Denmark's participation in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

's military action in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1999. He served as

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo (SRSG) is appointed by the Secretary-General to lead the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The Joint Interim Administrative Structure and then the Provi ...

from January to December 2001. After leaving office, Hækkerup worked as a research director at the Royal Danish Defence College's China Studies at the Institute for Strategy.

Personal life

Hækkerup was previously married to Lisa Hækkerup. In 2011, Hækkerup was living in Mexico, where his second wife, Susanne Rumohr Hækkerup, was the Danish ambassador. He had five sons: three from his first marriage and two from his second. On 15 April 2011 it was reported that Hækkerup was suffering from

multiple system atrophy Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by autonomic dysfunction, tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, and postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism) and ataxia. This is caused by progr ...

. He died from the disease on 22 December 2013.Former UN Kosovo envoy Hans Haekkerup dies
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Timeline

* 1973–1976; Secretary, later Head of Social Affairs * 1976–1977; Vice Minister –

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

* 1977–1979; Head of Section, Ministry of Labour * 1977–1980; Course supervisors at the Danish School of Public Administration * 1981–1985; Consultant in Public Servant Organization * 1991–1993; Chairman of the Parliamentary Defense Committee * 1993–2000;

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

* 2001; Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo
→ 10 December 2001; Acting

Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo The Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo (, literally translated as ''President of the Assembly of Kosovo'', or , literally translated as ''Speaker of the Parliament'', Serbian: / , literally translated as ''President of the Assembly of Kosovo'') ...

* 2007–2010; Research Director, China Studies, Royal Danish Defence College * 2008–2009; Chairman of the Danish Defence Commission of 2008

References

External links

UNMIK Official Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haekkerup, Hans 1945 births 2013 deaths Members of the Folketing Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class University of Copenhagen alumni People from Frederiksberg Danish Defence Ministers Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations