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Claus Hjort Frederiksen

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Claus Hjort Frederiksen
Minister of Defence
In office
28 November 2016 – 27 June 2019
Prime MinisterLars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded byPeter Christensen
Succeeded byTrine Bramsen
Minister of Finance
In office
28 June 2015 – 28 November 2016
Prime MinisterLars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded byBjarne Corydon
Succeeded byKristian Jensen
In office
7 April 2009 – 3 October 2011
Prime MinisterLars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded byLars Løkke Rasmussen
Succeeded byBjarne Corydon
Minister for Employment
In office
27 November 2001 – 7 April 2009
Prime MinisterAnders Fogh Rasmussen
Preceded byOve Hygum
Succeeded byInger Støjberg
Member of the Folketing
In office
8 February 2005 – 1 November 2022
ConstituencyNorth Zealand (2007–2022)
Copenhagen (2005–2007)
Personal details
Born (1947-09-04) 4 September 1947 (age 77)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Political partyVenstre
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen
Signature

Claus Hjort Frederiksen (born 4 September 1947) is a Danish politician of the Venstre party, who served as the Danish Minister for Defence from 2016 to 2019, and as Minister for Finance from 2015 to 2016, having previously served in that position from 2009 to 2011, as member of the first Løkke Rasmussen Cabinet. From 2001 to 2009, he was Minister of Employment in the first, second, and third cabinets of Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

He is a member of the liberal party Venstre. He was a member of the Danish Parliament Folketinget since 2005[1] until 2022. Hjort was one of the main strategist behind the strategy shift in Venstre following the defeat in the 1998 general election known as the so-called Hjort doctrine (Danish: Hjort-doktrinen).[2][3][4]

Early life

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He graduated in Law from University of Copenhagen.[5]

Political career

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Frederiksen served as party secretary of Venstre 1985–2001, and as such he served as Fogh Rasmussen's closest advisor in creating the political program that eventually led to Fogh Rasmussen's ascent to the office of Prime Minister. The political program involved a closer relationship and dependency on the Danish People's Party and Frederiksen has notedly remarked that there exists a special community of values between said party and Venstre.[6][7]

Frederiksen was first elected into the Folketing in the 2005 election, and was reelected in the following elections in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.[1]

Controversies

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In 2009 radio journalist Jesper Tynell won the Cavling Prize for a series of 15 radio spots in DR P1's ”Orientering” showing [the]"minister's less democratic methods". Among the revelations were:

  • Claus Hjort Frederiksen (as Minister of Employment) gave the parliament false information.
  • The Minister abolished the requirements to foreign worker safety in dangerous jobs - in secret and outside parliament.
  • The Ministry asked the municipal administers to rule (the so-called 300-hour rule) in an illegal manner.
  • The Ministry ordered misleading figures from Arbejdsmarkedsstyrelsen to turn the public debate to their advantage.
  • Officials deleted incriminating documents from the Ministry's own archives.[8][9]

Treason charges

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In January 2022, Claus Frederiksen announced he had been charged with violating a section of the Danish penal code which includes treason for leaking state secrets, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.[10] According to his party, Frederiksen was charged with leaking information to the media.[11] Though the specifics of the leaked information is not publicly known, many have speculated it is related to interviews wherein Frederiksen revealed information about Danish cooperation with the American National Security Agency.[12]

On 27 October 2023 the Supreme Court ruled against the prosecution's demand that the charges against Frederiksen were to not be made public.[13] On 1 November 2023 the prosecution dropped their charges against Frederiksen, along with similar charges against Lars Findsen.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Claus Hjort Frederiksen". Ft.dk. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Den borgerlige familie taber igen: Skal 'Hjort-doktrinen' droppes eller genopfindes?". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  3. ^ "Én lille gruppe danskere har været afgørende for valgresultatet år efter år - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-10-16. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  4. ^ Foldager, Christian (2022-08-22). "Claus Hjort Frederiksen om sin egen doktrin fra 2001: »Man kan aldrig vinde regeringsmagten på en plan om massive skattelettelser og nedskæringer i velfærden«". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  5. ^ "Frederiksen, Claus Hjort". International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who. doi:10.1163/1570-6664_iyb_sim_person_14347. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  6. ^ "Kabalen". Information.dk. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Lars gør Løkke hos Fogh". Bt.dk. 5 March 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  8. ^ Prismodtagere Archived 2010-03-26 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ DR P1 Orienterings webside med radioprogrammerne og Tynells metoderapport Archived 2011-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Former Danish defence minister charged with state secret leaks". news.yahoo.com. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  11. ^ Morten, Buttler (14 January 2022). "Danish Ex-Minister Charged With Treason Over Spy Case Comments". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2022-01-14. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  12. ^ ""Så må jeg jo risikere fængselsstraf": Det har Claus Hjort sagt offentligt om spionsamarbejde". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 16 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  13. ^ "Højesteret åbner døre en smule i sager mod Hjort og Findsen" [Supreme Court open doors slightly in cases versus Hjort and Findsen]. nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2023-10-27. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  14. ^ Abrahamsen, Jeppe Dong (2023-11-01). "Alle sager i spionskandalen droppes" [All cases in spy scandal dropped]. politiken.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-11-01.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Employment
2001–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Finance
2009–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Finance
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Defence
2016–2019 		Succeeded by
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