Background
Hækkerup was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was the son of former Minister of Economy Per Hækkerup and former Member of Parliament Grete Hækkerup.
Secretary-General politician representative
Hækkerup was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was the son of former Minister of Economy Per Hækkerup and former Member of Parliament Grete Hækkerup.
Frederiksborg Statsskole, 1964. University of Copenhagen, Cand polit (Economics), 1973. Spoken languages: Danish, English, French, Spanish, Russian, German.
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 Secretary of Defense for the administration of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen from 1993 to 2000, Hækkerup is considered to have contributed actively to the escalation of Danish military efforts abroad - including Denmark"s participation in North Atlantic Treaty Organization"s military action in Yugoslavia in 1999.
He served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo from January 2001 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.
1973-1976 Secretary, later Head of Social Affairs
1976-1977 Vice Minister - Ministry of Education
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
2001 Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo
2007-2010 Research Director, China Studies, Royal Danish Defence College
2008-2009 Chairman of the Danish Defence Commission of 2008.
Member of board, Danish Centre of Human Rights, 1987. Member, International Institut, for Strategic Studies (IISS), 1992.
Spouse Lise Haekkerup (née Gottlieb), 1968. Children: Heine, Lau, Tue.