Ex-Nato Secretary General & strong speaker: Anders Fogh Rasmussen polarizes. And he likes it.
“At last, Germany has freed itself from the shadow of the Second World War,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview published in the German newspaper “Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung”. The 69-year-old Dane was prime minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009 and subsequently served as NATO secretary general until 2014. With his statement, he referred to the “historic turnaround” that Germany has taken in its’ security policy.
Rasmussen is a self-confessed fan of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, whose political actions he follows “with great interest.” Even at the beginning of the year, before the war began, he expressed the clear opinion that Germany would have to change course in its relationship with Russia.
Strong questions from Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Germany – a huge disappointment for Europe?
He said,
“If Germany continues as it is, this new German government will be a huge disappointment for Europe. The German sensitivity toward Russia cultivated by the Merkel government over the years is ‘out of place’ in the face of its increasingly aggressive posturing. “Putin,” Rasmussen believes, “respects only the language of strength, power and unity.”
Anders Fogh Rasmussen knows Russia’s President Vladimir Putin from numerous meetings, as his tenure as former NATO secretary-general included the Russian annexation of Crimea and the Russian-backed military secession of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. In the interview with “Augsburger Allgemeine”, he reports that Putin has changed: “When I met him for the first time in 2002, he argued with great enthusiasm for a closer relationship between Russia and the West. With the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council, there was a clear call for consultations and cooperation. You will even find some public statements from 2000 in which Putin expressed his interest in joining NATO. Now I am following with concern his erratic, irrational behavior. He is acting like a madman. Russia is now an international outcast, led by a political gangster.”
World affairs, political gangsters, COVID… : Hot Topics and Clear Views from Ex-NATO Secretary General
On the current situation, he says, “We are stuck. It’s hard to see a peaceful solution. But every day that Ukrainians can resist the Russian aggressor is not only a gain for Ukrainians, but for the West as such.”
Anders Fogh Rasmussen has established himself as a sought-after, powerful speaker after his time as NATO Secretary General. In his speeches, he talks about both current world events, the changing geopolitical landscape, and risks and opportunities this presents for financial institutions. His lecture topics range from talks on the post-Covid pandemic world, U.S. foreign policy and its risks and opportunities, and leadership and negotiation.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s views are not always comfortable. In his speeches, he speaks turkey, clearly and concisely; he is known for this and is in demand as a strong top speaker on stage. In private life, he has been married since 1978 and has three grown-up children and six grandchildren. He likes it.