COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen Thursday appointed six new ministers in a major reshuffle of her three-party centrist government, bringing the number of ministers to 25 — the largest ever in 30 years. One of the ministers will head a new government office of emergency preparedness, climate change and cyber crimes.
“The world has become more troubled,” Frederiksen said as she announced that Torsten Schack Pedersen will be in charge of the new ministry, after the reshuffled cabinet was formally presented to King Frederik X. Denmark now joins Sweden to have such a department.
Besides the new emergency office, the government now has two other new ministries, bringing the total to 25, the largest since the 1993-1994 Cabinet of Social Democratic Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen who had 24 ministers.
Marie Bjerre left her job as minister for digitalization and gender equality, to become in charge of the European Union affairs, ahead of Denmark’s rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2025.
Jeppe Bruus, the outgoing taxation minister, was brought in to head a brand new ministry, which will be coordinating Denmark’s green policy. The Scandinavian country has a goal of 70% emissions reductions by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050.
Bruus was replaced by Rasmus Stoklund while Bjerre’s previous job was given to Caroline Stage Olsen, who became the digitalization minister. The gender equality portfolio was handed over to Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke.
In one of the major surprises, Copenhagen mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen was appointed as minister in charge of social affairs instead of Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil, who left the government.
Frederiksen, who is the leader of the Social Democratic Party, announced Wednesday that she was doing a government reshuffle and creating three new ministries.
In 2022, she presented the current majority government, consisting of her center-left Social Democrats, the center-right Liberal Party and the newly created centrist Moderates party.
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