NATO Secretary General
H. E. Mr. Rasmussen studied economy at the Aarhus University where he graduated with the MSc Econ degree in 1978. In the same year he became member of the Danish Parliament for the Liberal Party. During his career he has held many significant positions in the government. In 1987–1992 he was Minister of Taxation. As Minister of Economic & Business Affairs in 1990–1992 and member of the ECOFIN Council he served as the Danish negotiator and signatory to the Maastricht Treaty that consequently led to the Euro implementation. In 1998 he became the leader of the Liberal Party. After 2001 elections, as a Prime Minister, Mr. Rasmussen created his first coalition government with Conservative People’s Party. He presided over the government until April 2009 when he was on the Strasbourg-Kiel Summit nominated to the position of the new NATO Secretary General. During the Danish presidency over the European Union (July-December 2002) he played significant role at the European Council meeting in Copenhagen in December 2002 regarding the process of the accession of the ten new member countries.
