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Jeppe Sebastian Kofod (born 14 March 1974) is a Danish Social Democratic politician and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark since 27 June 2019. Until then he was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Denmark as a member of the Party of European Socialists since 25 May 2014. He then also was the leader of the Social Democrat Group in the European Parliament.

Jeppe Kofod
Jeppe Kofod.jpg
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
27 June 2019
Prime MinisterMette Frederiksen
Preceded byAnders Samuelsen
Vice President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Assumed office
14 December 2016
PresidentSergei Stanishev
Preceded byPosition established
Member of the European Parliament
for Denmark
In office
1 July 2014 – 27 June 2019
Member of the Folketing
for Bornholm
In office
11 March 1998 – 30 June 2014
Preceded byDan Jørgensen
Succeeded by???
Personal details
Born
Jeppe Sebastian Kofod

(1974-03-14) 14 March 1974 (age 45)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Political partySocial Democrats
Other political
affiliations
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
EducationRoskilde University
Harvard University
WebsiteOfficial website

He has been a member of Danish Parliament from the Social Democrats from 1998 until 2014, where he was the lead candidate for the Social Democrats (Denmark) in the 2014 European Parliament election in Denmark. From 2006 to 2007 Jeppe completed a Master in Public Administration at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.[1] Jeppe also sits on the Executive Committee of AWEPA.

Contents

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019Edit

Kofod was the head of the Danish Socialists and Democrats' delegation and Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.[2] Serving his first term, he was elected to the European Parliament at the 2014 European Parliament election, with a total of 170.739 personal votes.[3] He was re-elected in 2019.[4]

During his time in the European Parliament, Kofod served (or is a substitute) on the following Committees and Delegations:[5]

In addition to his committee assignments, Kofod was a member of the following intergroups in the European Parliament:

Kofod was also a supporter of the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that will help reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).[9]

Member of the Danish Parliament, 1998-2014Edit

Jeppe Kofod was a Member of the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, first elected after the 1998 Danish general election for the constituency of Bornholm.[10] During his time in the Danish Parliament he served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.[10]

ControversyEdit

In 2008 it was revealed that the then 34-year-old Kofod had been sexually involved with a 15-year-old girl from the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party after giving a speech there. The episode resulted in Jeppe Kofod stepping back from his post as foreign policy spokesman of his party.[11]

After intense media pressure, Kofod admitted in a press release, that he had had a "morally inappropriate" relationship with the 15-year-old child, and that he regretted it deeply.[12] As the age of sexual consent is exactly 15 years in Denmark, the situation did not start an investigation.

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ "Jeppe KOFOD | Curriculum vitae | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  2. ^ "KOFOD Jeppe | Socialists & Democrats". www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  3. ^ "Personlige stemmer til Europa-Parlamentsvalget 2014". www.europarl.dk. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  4. ^ https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/resultater/ep-valg
  5. ^ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/124870/JEPPE_KOFOD_home.html
  6. ^ "EUFORES: Board of Presidents". www.eufores.org. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  7. ^ "Members". www.animalwelfareintergroup.eu. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  8. ^ "Members | The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights". www.lgbt-ep.eu. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  9. ^ Supporters MEP Heart Group.
  10. ^ a b Biografiredaktionen. "Jeppe Kofod (S)". Folketinget (in Danish). Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  11. ^ https://stiften.dk/aarhus/Jeppe-Kofod-faeldet-i-sex-skandale/artikel/52767
  12. ^ https://www.avisen.dk/jeppe-kofods-fatale-paaske_8929.aspx

External linksEdit