Hans Hækkerup


Hans Hækkerup was a Danish politician who has served as a member of parliament for the Social Democratic party and as the Minister of Defense in four cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.

Early life

Hækkerup was born in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was the son of former Minister of Economy Per Hækkerup and former Member of Parliament Grete Hækkerup. He graduated from the Frederiksborg Gymnasium in 1964 and received a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Copenhagen in 1973.

Career

After working in several government ministries, Hækkerup was elected to the Folketing in 1979. He held several committee memberships including the Committee on Danish Security Policy, the Committee on Greenlandic Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Policy. He was Chairman of the Defense Committee from 1991 to 1993.
As Secretary of Defense for the administration of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen from 1993 to 2000, Hækkerup is considered to have contributed actively to the escalation of Danish military efforts abroad – including Denmark's participation in NATO's military action in Yugoslavia in 1999. He served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo from January 2001 to December 2001.
After leaving office, Hækkerup worked as a research director at the Royal Danish Defence College's China Studies at the Institute for Strategy.

Personal life

Hækkerup was previously married to Lisa Hækkerup. In 2011, Hækkerup was living in Mexico, where his second wife, Susanne Rumohr Hækkerup, was the Danish ambassador. He had four sons: three from his first marriage and one from his second.
On 15 April 2011 it was reported that Hækkerup was suffering from multiple system atrophy. He died from the disease on 22 December 2013.

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