Holger K. Nielsen
| Holger K. Nielsen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 59th Foreign Minister of Denmark | |
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In office 12 December 2013 – 30 January 2014 |
|
| Monarch | Margrethe II |
| Prime Minister | Helle Thorning-Schmidt |
| Preceded by | Villy Søvndal |
| Succeeded by | Martin Lidegaard |
| 18th Minister of Taxation | |
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In office 16 October 2012 – 12 December 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Thor Möger Pedersen |
| Succeeded by | Jonas Dahl |
| Leader of the Socialist People's Party | |
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In office 1991–2005 |
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| Preceded by | Gert Petersen |
| Succeeded by | Villy Søvndal |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
23 April 1950 Ribe, Denmark |
| Political party | Socialist People's Party |
| Cabinet | Helle Thorning-Schmidt |
Holger Kirkholm Nielsen, known as Holger K. Nielsen (born 23 April 1950), is a Danish politician, member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. He was Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2013 to 30 January 2014. He was leader of the Socialist People's Party from 1991 to 2005 and served as the Minister for Taxation from 16 October 2012 to 12 December 2013.
Born at Ribe, Nielsen studied social science and Danish at the University of Aarhus from 1973 to 1979, and in 1978 at the University of Belgrade.
He was elected to the Danish Parliament in 1987. He became leader of the Socialist People's Party in 1991 at a time when the party was going through some major ideological soul-searching following the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe. The opposing candidate for the party leadership was Sten Gade, a self-styled moderniser intent on reforming the party in ways which the majority found too radical. Holger K. Nielsen was considered a 'safer' choice in the eyes of the party's old guard, and thus assumed the leadership allied to the more leftist elements in his party.
Among the policies that had to be addressed was the party's approach to European integration. Having opposed membership of the EC (EU) in 1972, and then campaigned against ratification of the Single European Act in 1986, the party had by the late 1980s grudgingly reconciled itself to Danish membership, dropping the demand for withdrawal in 1990. However when the Maastricht Treaty came up for approval by referendum in 1992 the party remained true to its roots and recommended a 'NO' vote. Holger K. Nielsen became one of the leaders in this campaign, and was later judged to have swung far more than his own socialist voters towards the NO-side, which to great surprise emerged victorious by a wafer-thin margin. The following year, however, he reversed that position, recommending acceptance of the Maastricht Treaty, supplemented with the four Danish opt-outs. This decision came close to tearing the party apart, with some 60% of its voters remaining opposed, but this time the yes-side prevailed.
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