(NSI News Source Info) April 4, 2009: NATO picked Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as its next leader, overcoming Turkey’s objections that the choice would rile Muslims and damage the war effort in Afghanistan.
The battle over the Danish candidate laid bare the divisions confronting President Barack Obama as he strove to repair ties with American allies at the military bloc’s 60th anniversary summit. 
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, informally known as Anders Fogh is the current Prime Minister of Denmark and the next Secretary General of NATO, a job he will be taking over on the 1st of August 2009.
He is the leader of the Liberal Party (Venstre), and heads a centre-right coalition of his Liberal Party and the Conservative People's Party which took office in 2001, and won its second and third terms in February 2005 and in November 2007. Fogh Rasmussen's government relies on the Danish People's Party for support, in keeping with the Danish tradition for minority government. His government has introduced tougher limits on non-ECA immigration and froze tax rates before he took office (the "tax freeze", or "skattestoppet" in Danish). He has authored several books about taxation and government structure.
Under Fogh, certain taxes have been lowered, but the Conservative coalition partners repeatedly argue for more tax cuts and a flat tax rate at no higher than 50%. Fogh implemented an administrative reform reducing the number of municipalities (kommuner) and replacing the thirteen counties (amter) with five regions. Rasmussen has referred to this as "the biggest reform in thirty years". Furthermore, a reform of the police and judiciary systems is being implemented, changing the numbers of police districts and city courts from 54 to 12 and 82 to 22, respectively.
Prior to the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters, European political analysts suggested that he could become the president of the European Union as suggested in the Lisbon Treaty. Rasmussen has since been named as the replacement for Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO's Secretary General in 2009, having received the support of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Turkey at first indicated opposition to his candidacy
“A solution has been found for the concerns expressed by Turkey,” the outgoing secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, told reporters after North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders met today in Strasbourg, France. “We all very much agree and are unanimous on this nomination.”
Rasmussen, 56, will take over as NATO’s 12th secretary general in August, charged with overseeing the war in Afghanistan and trying to craft better ties with former Cold War foe Russia.
Predominantly Muslim Turkey went into the summit vowing to block Rasmussen because of his defense of Danish newspaper cartoons lampooning Islam in 2005. Pressure to relent came from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit’s co-hosts.
‘Force of Unity’
“The force of unity won the day,” Merkel told a post- summit press conference. “No one would have understood it if we hadn’t managed to agree on someone.” Sarkozy said “the time of summits for nothing is over.”
The clash of civilizations in the trans-Atlantic military alliance broke out two days before Obama travels to Turkey in an effort to reach out to Muslims who were alienated by the U.S.- led war on terror.
Obama leaves the summit -- marking the alliance’s founding on April 4, 1949 as a bulwark against the Soviet Union -- with a hastily brokered compromise on the next NATO chief and praise for European leaders for his new Afghanistan strategy.
What he didn’t get were European offers that came close to matching the U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, currently around 38,000. Obama has ordered 17,000 more combat troops and 4,000 trainers to Afghanistan.
Bush Administration
In a break with the Bush administration, Obama dropped the criticisms of European allies for not sending more frontline troops and said the U.S. would welcome civilian and financial contributions as well.
Britain, with 8,000 troops in the second-biggest contingent after the U.S., said it would send more on a temporary tour in the run-up to Afghanistan’s Aug. 20 elections as long as other allies follow suit.
Divisions over burden-sharing in Afghanistan -- where insurgent attacks last year reached the highest level since the 2001 U.S. invasion -- colored the dispute over who will run the alliance.
NATO has had 11 secretaries general, all western Europeans, since the post was created in the early days of the Cold War in 1952. The appointment, usually for a four-year term, is made by consensus, giving veto power to any one allied country. NATO’s top military commander, based in Mons, southern Belgium, is traditionally an American. That post is now held by U.S. Army General John Craddock.
Dutchman De Hoop Scheffer, 61, leaves office at the end of July.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, informally known as Anders Fogh is the current Prime Minister of Denmark and the next Secretary General of NATO, a job he will be taking over on the 1st of August 2009.
He is the leader of the Liberal Party (Venstre), and heads a centre-right coalition of his Liberal Party and the Conservative People's Party which took office in 2001, and won its second and third terms in February 2005 and in November 2007. Fogh Rasmussen's government relies on the Danish People's Party for support, in keeping with the Danish tradition for minority government. His government has introduced tougher limits on non-ECA immigration and froze tax rates before he took office (the "tax freeze", or "skattestoppet" in Danish). He has authored several books about taxation and government structure.
Under Fogh, certain taxes have been lowered, but the Conservative coalition partners repeatedly argue for more tax cuts and a flat tax rate at no higher than 50%. Fogh implemented an administrative reform reducing the number of municipalities (kommuner) and replacing the thirteen counties (amter) with five regions. Rasmussen has referred to this as "the biggest reform in thirty years". Furthermore, a reform of the police and judiciary systems is being implemented, changing the numbers of police districts and city courts from 54 to 12 and 82 to 22, respectively.
Prior to the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters, European political analysts suggested that he could become the president of the European Union as suggested in the Lisbon Treaty. Rasmussen has since been named as the replacement for Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO's Secretary General in 2009, having received the support of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Turkey at first indicated opposition to his candidacy
“A solution has been found for the concerns expressed by Turkey,” the outgoing secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, told reporters after North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders met today in Strasbourg, France. “We all very much agree and are unanimous on this nomination.”
Rasmussen, 56, will take over as NATO’s 12th secretary general in August, charged with overseeing the war in Afghanistan and trying to craft better ties with former Cold War foe Russia.
Predominantly Muslim Turkey went into the summit vowing to block Rasmussen because of his defense of Danish newspaper cartoons lampooning Islam in 2005. Pressure to relent came from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit’s co-hosts.
‘Force of Unity’
“The force of unity won the day,” Merkel told a post- summit press conference. “No one would have understood it if we hadn’t managed to agree on someone.” Sarkozy said “the time of summits for nothing is over.”
The clash of civilizations in the trans-Atlantic military alliance broke out two days before Obama travels to Turkey in an effort to reach out to Muslims who were alienated by the U.S.- led war on terror.
Obama leaves the summit -- marking the alliance’s founding on April 4, 1949 as a bulwark against the Soviet Union -- with a hastily brokered compromise on the next NATO chief and praise for European leaders for his new Afghanistan strategy.
What he didn’t get were European offers that came close to matching the U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, currently around 38,000. Obama has ordered 17,000 more combat troops and 4,000 trainers to Afghanistan.
Bush Administration
In a break with the Bush administration, Obama dropped the criticisms of European allies for not sending more frontline troops and said the U.S. would welcome civilian and financial contributions as well.
Britain, with 8,000 troops in the second-biggest contingent after the U.S., said it would send more on a temporary tour in the run-up to Afghanistan’s Aug. 20 elections as long as other allies follow suit.
Divisions over burden-sharing in Afghanistan -- where insurgent attacks last year reached the highest level since the 2001 U.S. invasion -- colored the dispute over who will run the alliance.
NATO has had 11 secretaries general, all western Europeans, since the post was created in the early days of the Cold War in 1952. The appointment, usually for a four-year term, is made by consensus, giving veto power to any one allied country. NATO’s top military commander, based in Mons, southern Belgium, is traditionally an American. That post is now held by U.S. Army General John Craddock.
Dutchman De Hoop Scheffer, 61, leaves office at the end of July. 
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