Trine Bramsen (born 26 March 1981 in

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Social Democrats 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 so ...

, who has been a member of the

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 ...

since 2011. She served as minister of transport from February to December 2022, and minister of defence from 2019 until February 2022. Bramsen was born in

Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, and the seat of Svendborg Municipality. With a population of 27,300 (1 January 2022), Svendborg is Funen's second largest city.Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

from 2007 until 2011.

Political career

Parliament

Bramsen was first elected member of

Folketinget 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 a ...

for the

Social Democrats 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 so ...

in the 2011 election, where she received 4,497 votes. She was reelected in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

with 8,337 votes and again in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

with 10,594 votes.

Minister of Defence

Bramsen was appointed

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), 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 coun ...

in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mette Frederiksen Mette Frederiksen (; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has been Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019, and Leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. The second woman to hold either office, she is also the youngest prime ...

on 27 June 2019. Early in her tenure, she oversaw the addition of about 700 soldiers, a frigate and four fighter jets to

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 ...

forces. Following the 2020 Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, she temporarily moved some of its military personnel for the

international military intervention against ISIL In response to rapid territorial gains made by the so-called Islamic State during the first half of 2014, and its universally condemned executions, reported human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian Civil War, many s ...

from the

Al Asad Airbase Ayn al Asad is an Iraqi Armed Forces base located in Al Anbar Governorate (also called Anbar province) of western Iraq. It was originally known as Qadisiyah Airbase. It was the second largest US military airbase in Iraq during Operation Iraqi ...

to Kuwait. Following revelations by the DR in May 2021, that Denmark had aided the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

in spying on ally countries, Bramsen stated that "systematic wiretapping of close allies is unacceptable". After two Russian fighter jets flew into Danish airspace in June 2021, Bramsen called it “a deliberate provocation by Russia”, further stating the fighters were warned that they were entering Danish airspace. She also warned that “it is a clear sign that they are willing to break every rule” and that “we can’t afford to be naive”. Bramsen warned that Denmark would withdraw their soldiers from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

if the country’s authorities were to seek negotiations with Russian mercenaries to combat Islamic extremist groups. To Jyllands-Posten in late September 2021, she iterated that Denmark would not negotiate with mercenaries, and that there was a clear red line and unacceptable.

Controversy

Bramsen was the IT and telecommunications spokesperson for the Social Democrats, when she replied to a comment by the IT-Political Association of Denmark, in a debate about electronic elections wherein participants are identified with chips. Bramsen argued in favour of the electronic elections, which she perceived as feasible, even though the Association with technical industry experience was in opposition. She wrote an article titled ''A call for IT nerds: Stop wearing tennis socks — and speak so that we can understand you!''. The article was met by criticism for its condescending attitude. As a result, she was reassigned to be a spokesperson on justice. In her new position, she argued for making The Onion Router illegal. In 2020, Bramsen exposed a secret agreement with the US, made during the tenures of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

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 ...

and signed by subsequent Danish defense ministers, allowing American authorities to tap Danish phone cables. In 2021, MP

Søren Espersen Søren Espersen (born 20 July 1953 in Svenstrup) is a Danish politician, journalist, and author, who was elected as a member of the Folketing for the Danish People's Party in 2005. He was also the party's foreign affairs spokesperson. and former ...

called for her resignation, for disrespecting the

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

, by calling him an "agency leader".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramsen, Trine 1981 births Living people People from Svendborg Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians 21st-century Danish women politicians Women government ministers of Denmark Danish Defence Ministers Female defence ministers Women members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Transport ministers of Denmark 20th-century Danish women Members of the Folketing 2022–2026