Denmark's Rasmussen Takes over as NATO Chief

Rasmussen became the new Secretary General despite initial fierce opposition by Turkey to his selection. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen takes over as NATO's new secretary general on Monday as part of a team assembled by President Barack Obama to lead the war effort in Afghanistan.

The secretary-general is responsible for coordinating the alliance's work, leads NATO's staff and chairs the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's top political governing body.

Alliance leaders picked Fogh Rasmussen to succeed de Hoop Scheffer during their summit in April.

Rasmussen became the new Secretary General despite initial fierce opposition by Turkey to his selection over his refusal to apologize for the 2006 Mohammad cartoons affair, and the permission that a pro-PKK Kurdish TV station ROJ has to air from Danish soil.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Thursday bid farewell to officials and the international staff at the alliance headquarters, practically ending his tenure as NATO chief.

De Hoop Scheffer, a Dutch politician, became NATO secretary general in January 2004. In the past five and a half years, he devoted his efforts mainly to the NATO-led military operations in Afghanistan and NATO's defense transformation. He also witnessed the accession of nine countries to NATO, including Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's former Foreign Minister and present Chair of the Parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, Solomon Passy, was among the major bidders for the NATO Secretary General position.

 

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