
Prime Minister consents to mini-reshuffle
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told DR it was “a wise decision” that Liberal Party chairman Jakob Ellemann-Jensen should become economy minister instead of defence minister. “This is based on what the two ministers have already stated. That Jakob Ellemann thinks this is a better way to allocate time,” she told DR. While Ellemann-Jensen will be Minister of Economic Affairs, Troels Lund Poulsen, who has previously been Minister of Economic Affairs, will be Minister of Defence.
According to Ellemann-Jensen, he made the decision to switch posts himself, and did not feel the posts of Liberal Party chairman and defence minister were compatible.
“If I, as chairman of the Liberal Party, am to have the opportunity to unfold the course I have set for the party at the summer group meeting, fulfil my duties as chairman and be able to continue to assert the Liberals in government cooperation, then I cannot at the same time be defence minister, Ellemann-Jensen said earlier Tuesday at a press conference. ” It is clear to me – that is not on. Because the Armed Forces need a minister who is 100 percent focused on the task,” he said. Ellemann-Jensen returned to work three weeks ago after being absent for six months due to stress. During the time when Ellemann-Jensen was away, Lund Poulsen was acting Minister of Defence. /ritzau/