Jeppe Kofod

Jeppe Kofod
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 27 June 2019 – 15 December 2022
Prime Minister	Mette Frederiksen
Preceded by	Anders Samuelsen
Succeeded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Vice President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 December 2016
President	Sergei Stanishev
Preceded by	Position established
Member of the European Parliament for Denmark
In office 1 July 2014 – 27 June 2019
Preceded by	Dan Jørgensen
Succeeded by	Marianne Vind
Member of the Folketing for Bornholm
In office 11 March 1998 – 30 June 2014
Preceded by	Eva Fatum
Succeeded by	Lea Wermelin
Personal details
Born	Jeppe Sebastian Kofod (1974-03-14) 14 March 1974 (age 50) Copenhagen, Denmark
Political party	Social Democrats
Other political affiliations	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Education	Roskilde University Harvard University
Website	Official website

Jeppe Sebastian Kofod (born 14 March 1974) is a former Danish politician of the Social Democratic Party who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark between 27 June 2019 to 15 December 2022.

Kofod previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2019. Within the Party of European Socialists group, he led the Social Democrats from Denmark. Kofod was a member of the Folketing (the Danish Parliament) from the Social Democrats from 1998 until 2014 and again briefly as a substitute member for two months in 2023.

Education

From 2006 to 2007 Kofod completed a Master in Public Administration at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.^[1]

Political career

Member of the Danish Parliament, 1998–2014

Jeppe Kofod was a member of the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, first elected after the 1998 Danish general election for the constituency of Bornholm.^[2] During his time in the Danish Parliament he served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.^[2]

At Easter in 2008, the then 34-year-old Jeppe Kofod appeared in the media because it emerged that in the evening after giving a lecture for the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark (DSU), he had sex with a 15-year-old girl from DSU.^[3] Denmark's age of consent is 15.^[4] Kofod commented at the time that he had shown a 'lack of judgment' in having a 'morally inappropriate relationship'.^[5][6] The episode led, among other things, to Kofod resigning from his committee posts and his post as foreign affairs spokesman for the Social Democrats.^[7][8] The chairman of DSU, Jacob Bjerregaard, stated that Kofod had violated DSU's rules and that he was no longer welcome in DSU.^[9][10]

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019

Kofod was the head of the Danish Socialists and Democrats' delegation and vice-president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.^[11] Serving his first term, he was elected to the European Parliament at the 2014 European Parliament election, with a total of 170.739 personal votes.^[12] He was re-elected in 2019.^[13]

During his time in the European Parliament, Kofod served on the following Committees and Delegations:^[14]

• Vice-chair, European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the United States^[15]
• Rapporteur, European Parliament Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)^[16]
• Member, European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
• Substitute, European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
• Substitute, European Parliament Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

In addition to his committee assignments, Kofod was a member of the following intergroups in the European Parliament:

• European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES)^[17]
• Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals^[18]
• Intergroup on LGBTI Rights^[19]

Kofod was also a supporter of the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that help reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).^[20] He sat on the executive committee of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA).

Following the 2019 elections, Kofod was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on foreign policy.^[21]

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2019–2022

Kofod (far left) meeting with (from left to right) US Secrteary of State Antony Blinken, Greenlandic premier Múte Bourup Egede, and Greenlandic foreign minister Pele Broberg in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland in 2021

On 27 June 2019, Kofod was named minister for foreign affairs in the Frederiksen Cabinet.^[22][23]

Early during his tenure, Kofod and Frederiksen faced a diplomatic incident when U.S. president Donald Trump confirmed his interest in buying Greenland from Denmark;^[24] at the time, Kofod said the island could not be bought “in dollars, yuan or roubles”.^[25] He later approved the establishment of a U.S. consulate in Greenland's capital Nuuk, which was widely seen as part of a broader move by the U.S. to expand its diplomatic and commercial presence in Greenland and the Arctic.^[26] In 2020, he welcomed a $12.1 million economic aid package from the U.S. government for Greenland.^[27]

Following the Bucha massacre in April 2022, Kofod expelled 15 Russian diplomats and embassy staff from Copenhagen, joining other European Union countries in its response to alleged war crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine.^[28]

In June 2022, Kofod summoned the Russian ambassador when a Russian warship twice violated Danish territorial waters north of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm where a democracy festival attended by senior officials and business people – including Prime Minister Frederiksen – was taking place.^[29]

At the 2022 Danish general election in November 2022 Kofod was not elected to the Folketing, and when a new government was formed in December, he was replaced by former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.^[30][31]

Kofod was a substitute member of Folketinget for a couple of months from 28 February 2023, replacing Mette Gjerskov, who was on leave of absence because of disease. Kofod withdrew from the position on 1 May, retiring from politics altogether.^[32] When Gjerskov died on 12 June 2023, Kofod confirmed again that he did not want to take her seat and become an MF again.^[33]

References

1. "Jeppe KOFOD | Curriculum vitae | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
2. Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget). Retrieved on 2017-02-06.
3. S-ledelse tager afstand fra Jeppe Kofod. Berlingske.dk.
4. Beswick, Emma (14 November 2017). "How do different European countries define the age of sexual consent?". Euronews. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
5. "Jeppe Kofod trækker sig efter sex med 15-årig". B.T. (in Danish). 25 March 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
6. "Jeppe Kofod fældet i sex-skandale". Århus Stiftstidende (in Danish). 25 March 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
7. Jeppe Kofod trækker sig efter sex med 15-årig - Politik | www.bt.dk
8. Sex med 15-årig fælder Jeppe Kofod - TV 2 Nyhederne
9. Kofod ikke velkommen i DSU | Politik | DR
10. DSU-Formand: Kofod skal ikke vise sig igen - Politiken.dk
11. "KOFOD Jeppe | Socialists & Democrats". www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
12. "Personlige stemmer til Europa-Parlamentsvalget 2014". www.europarl.dk. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
13. "Resultater EP-valg – Valgresultat 2019" (in Danish). DR. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
14. "Home | MEPs | European Parliament".
15. Florian Eder (January 15, 2019), US Congress members slam State Department for EU downgrade Politico Europe.
16. John O'Donnell and Tom Sims (October 19, 2018), European politicians call for clampdown on tax trade trick Reuters.
17. "EUFORES: Board of Presidents". www.eufores.org. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
18. "Members". www.animalwelfareintergroup.eu. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
19. "Members | The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights". www.lgbt-ep.eu. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
20. Supporters MEP Heart Group.
21. Florian Eder (June 13, 2019), POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by Google: Madrid’s moment — Parliament working groups sneak peak — Happy birthday, GDPR Politico Europe.
22. "Denmark's new center-left PM presents her government". Federal News Network. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
23. Deleuran Müller, Thea (27 June 2019). "Danmarks nye regering er nu på plads: Se hele Mette Frederiksens ministerhold her". dr.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
24. Lauren Fedor (August 19, 2019), Trump says it would be ‘strategically nice’ to buy Greenland Financial Times.
25. Lauren Fedor (August 19, 2019), Trump says it would be ‘strategically nice’ to buy Greenland Financial Times.
26. Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen (December 18, 2019), Denmark approves new U.S. consulate in Greenland Reuters.
27. Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Humeyra Pamuk (April 23, 2020), US extends economic aid to Greenland to counter China, Russia in Arctic Reuters.
28. Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen (5 April 2022), Denmark expels 15 Russian diplomats; Moscow to retaliate Reuters.
29. Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Stine Jacobsen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard (18 June 2022), Russian warship violated Danish territorial waters in Baltic, Danish military says Reuters.
30. Daniel Bue Lauritzen (2 November 2022), Jeppe Kofod bliver ikke valgt til Folketinget Altinget.
31. Emil Eller (15 December 2022), Ellemann bliver forsvarsminister og Løkke bliver udenrigsminister Danmarks Radio.
32. "Jeppe Kofod forlader Folketinget: 'Jeg har opnået alt det, jeg nogensinde har drømt om i politik'". DR (in Danish). 1 May 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
33. "Kofod takker nej til afdøde Mette Gjerskovs plads i Folketinget - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.

External links

• Personal profile of Jeppe Kofod in the European Parliament's database of members
• Official profile page on the website of the Socialists and Democrats
• Official website of Jeppe Kofod (in Danish) Archived 3 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices
Preceded by Anders Samuelsen	Minister for Foreign Affairs 2019–2022	Succeeded by Lars Løkke Rasmussen