Background
RASMUSSEN, Anders was born on January 26, 1953 in Ginnerup.
politician Prime Minister of Denmark leader of venstre secretary general of north atlantic treaty organization
RASMUSSEN, Anders was born on January 26, 1953 in Ginnerup.
While he was there, he organized a chapter of a Danish national organization called Young Liberals.
As Minister for Economic Affairsб he was the Danish negotiator of and signatory to the Maastricht Treaty. During the Danish Presidency of the European Union from July to December 2002 Mr. Rasmussen played a key role in the process leading to conclusion of the accession negotiations with 10 candidates for EU-membership at the meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen in December 2002. After becoming Prime Minister, Rasmussen distanced himself from his earlier writings and announced the death of neoliberalism during the national elections of 2005. His government enacted tough measures designed to limit the number of immigrants coming to Denmark, specifically as asylumseekers or through arranged marriages. However, his governments depended on the support of Dansk Folkeparti, and it is impossible to draw a clear dividing line between his personal ideology and the required compromises with Dansk Folkeparti. After the 2001 elections, Venstre banned all tax increases. The tax stop was popular among voters. In 2009 a major tax reform was implemented. The overall marginal tax rate was reduced by 7.5%. Rasmussen strongly supported the 2003 Iraq War. Denmark was one of only five countries to take part in the actual invasion operations. In the months after the initial phase of the war, Danish troops participated in the multi-national force stationed in Iraq, near Basra. Also in January 2004, Rasmussen stated his belief that homosexuals should be able to marry in religious ceremonies, which were not allowed at the time in the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Denmark, but he has said it should be up to religious communities to decide whether to perform ceremonies for gay couples. A major period of conflict in Rasmussen's political career concerned a set of cartoons printed in Jyllands-Posten, a major Danish newspaper, which in September 2005 printed a full page with 12 cartoons depicting various interpretations of Muhammad. Due to the cartoons portraying the Muslim Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist, Muslims found the cartoons offensive. Rasmussen described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II. One of Rasmussen's main initiatives was the introduction of municipal reform, the aim of which was the geographic and administrative consolidation of smaller municipalities and the abolition of counties. Major areas of public services, such as the national health service, were consolidated into five regional bodies, while the number of municipalities was reduced from 271 to 98. The reform was ratified on 16 June 2005 and was effective as of 1 January 2007. After his accession as Secretary General on August 1, 2009, Rasmussen's first mission was a visit to Afghanistan, where he met with President Karzai and senior Afghan ministers, including Minister for Foreign Affairs Spanta, Minister for Defence General Wardak, and Minister of Interior Atmar to discuss the then impending presidential and provincial council elections.
He has been active in politics most of his life. He showed an instinct for political life from the early childhood: according to an article in the Financial Times , he and his brothers often played a game they called "politics" and he would invariably choose the role of prime minister. While he was studing at the Viborg Cathedral School, he organized a chapter of a Danish national organization called Young Liberals. The term "liberal" has a special connotation in Denmark, indicating a philosophy or political party devoted to minimizing governmental interference in the affairs of private industry. What motivated Rasmussen to become involved was the outbreak of student demonstrations around Europe in May of 1968, many of which were oriented toward Marxist or Communist ideas. "That was my reaction to the events of May 1968," he told the Economist . Rasmussen remained involved with Denmark's Liberal Party after he entered the University of Aarhus in 1972, and by 1974 he had become chairman of the party's national youth wing. He joined its national central committee in 1976. He has held positions in government and opposition throughout his career, first winning a seat in the Folketing in 1978. In general, Rasmussen was in favour of centralisation, privatisation and limiting the size of government.
Folketing (Pari.) since 1978.