Sign of the times? Denmark appoints eurosceptic as new foreign minister
AN OUTSPOKEN eurosceptic will now head Denmark’s foreign policy in a fresh blow to further EU integration.
Outspoken eurosceptic Anders Samuelsen is Denmark's new foreign minister
Anders Samuelsen was yesterday picked as the Scandinavian country’s new foreign minister in a reshuffle of its coalition government.
Amid growing anti-EU feeling in Denmark, the 49-year-old has campaigned against closer ties with Brussels.
Last year, Mr Samuelsen led successful efforts to block greater EU cooperation on home and justice matters in a national referendum.
Speaking after his Liberal Alliance Party - who have also previously opposed greater Danish ties with the eurozone - became part of the coalition government, Mr Samuelsen said: “I have not changed my attitude overnight towards the EU.”
The former MEP added: “The government's line is that we are at the core of the EU cooperation, but at the same time we have a critical attitude in the way the EU works.
“We want to reform the EU, United Nations and NATO from within. We have a task of cleansing to do."
In a possible hint at Britain’s historic vote to quit the EU, Mr Samuelsen said: “We may be inspired by what happens in the rest of the world.”
British PM May looks for Brexit support in Denmark
I have not changed my attitude overnight towards the EU.
Denmark, alongside the UK, has historically been one of Europe’s most eurosceptic nations and holds a series of opt-outs from EU policies on security, police and the euro.
The Liberal Alliance, co-founded by Mr Samuelsen, campaigned against cooperation with cross-border police agency Europol with a deal rejected by Danish voters in December 2015.
The two other government parties, the Liberals led by Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and the Conservative Party, are pro-EU and want to scrap opt-outs the Nordic country currently holds on EU matters.
Liberal Alliance holds 13 seats in the 179-member Danish parliament.
In the wake of the Brexit vote on June 23, Mr Rasmussen insisted it would not affect Denmark’s own EU membership.