Anders Samuelsen (born 1 August 1967 in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

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 ...

) is 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 a ...

former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 2016 to 2019, 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 ...

from 2007 to 2011 and as leader of the Liberal Alliance party from 2009 to 2019. In 1993, Samuelsen got a master's degree in

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

science from

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

. From 1994 to 1998, he was a consultant and section manager at the College for the Deaf, Castberggård

Political career

European Parliament

From 2004 until 2007, Samuelsen was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

sitting on the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.Committee on Foreign Affairs, a member of the Delegation for relations with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and a substitute for the Delegation for relations with the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Career in Danish politics

Samuelsen is a former member of the

Danish Social Liberal Party The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905. Historically, the centrist party has played a centra ...

, and was a Member of the Bureau of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

. He left this party on 7 May 2007, became one of the three founding members of the Liberal Alliance and was elected to the Danish parliament for Liberal Alliance in the 2007 election. By late 2016, Samuelsen threatened to bring down the government of Prime Minister

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the lead ...

because of disagreements over tax cuts, immigration and welfare policies. In September 2016, he announced that his party was ready to file a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

if Rasmussen failed to cut the top rate of income tax by 5 percentage points in the 2017 budget. In response, Rasmussen reshuffled his cabinet to have the Liberal Alliance join the government and take the leadership of six ministries.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Under Samuelsen's leadership, the government won parliamentary approval in January 2017 to deploy up to 60 special forces to fight

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

as part of the U.S.-led

Operation Inherent Resolve Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Throu ...

. The government later committed to sending an additional 55 soldiers to the NATO-led

Resolute Support Mission Resolute Support Mission (RSM) or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led multinational mission in Afghanistan. It began on 1 January 2015 as the successor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was completed on 28 Decem ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

; the decision was made to boost security efforts after a car bomber attacked a Danish convoy in September 2017. Following his party's poor results at the 2019 general election, Samuelsen was publicly accused of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

by fellow party member Henrik Dahl. Due to Samuelsen failing at getting reelected, he resigned as party leader on 6 June 2019.

Other activities

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia. The bank currently has 105 members, including 14 prospective members from around the world. The br ...

(AIIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of GovernorsBoard of Governors

(AIIB). * 2017 : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuelsen, Anders 1967 births Danish Social Liberal Party MEPs Foreign ministers of Denmark Government ministers of Denmark Liberal Alliance (Denmark) MEPs Living people MEPs for Denmark 2004–2009 Aarhus University alumni People from Horsens Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Members of the Folketing 2001–2005 Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Leaders of political parties in Denmark