Niels Helveg Petersen
| Niels Helveg Petersen | |
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs (Denmark) | |
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In office 15 January 1993 – 1 December 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Uffe Ellemann-Jensen |
| Succeeded by | Mogens Lykketoft |
| Minister for Economic Affairs (Denmark) | |
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In office 3 June 1988 – 18 December 1990 |
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| Preceded by | Knud Enggaard |
| Succeeded by | Anders Fogh Rasmussen |
| Leader of Radikale Venstre | |
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In office 1978–1990 |
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| Preceded by | Svend Haugaard |
| Succeeded by | Marianne Jelved |
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Member of Parliament for Fyns Storkreds |
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In office 13 November 2007 – 15 September 2011 |
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Member of Parliament for Fyns Amtskreds |
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In office 21 September 1994 – 13 November 2007 |
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Member of Parliament for Fyns Amtskreds |
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In office 15 February 1977 – 1 February 1993 |
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Member of Parliament for Frederiksborg Amtskreds |
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In office 22 November 1966 – 30 September 1974 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 17, 1939 Odense, Denmark |
| Political party | Radikale Venstre |
| Spouse(s) | Kirsten Lee (1984–present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
University of Copenhagen Stanford University |
Niels Lolk Helveg Petersen (Danish pronunciation: [nels lʌlɡ̊ ˈhɛlʋeːˀ ˈpʰeːˀd̥ɐsn̩]; informally Niels Helveg, born 17 January 1939 in Odense) is a Danish politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2000, having previously held the role of Minister for Economic Affairs between 1988 and 1990. He is a former Member of Parliament (Folketinget) for the Danish Social Liberal Party 1966–1974, 1977–1993, and again 1994–2011.
Niels Helveg Petersen was born in Odense in 1939. His parents were former cabinet minister Kristen Helveg Petersen and former Mayor of Copenhagen Lilly Helveg Petersen. He graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1965, earning a cand.jur. degree. From 1961 to 1962, he spent a year as an exchange student at Stanford University studying Government. During his years in Copenhagen he was an active member of the youth branch of the Danish Social Liberal Party, editing their paper 'Liberté'.
Niels Helveg Petersen ran for election to the Danish Parliament for the first time in 1964. In 1966, he was elected a Member of Parliament for the first time in the Frederiksborg County. In 1974, he left Denmark to become a civil servant in the European Commission. He returned to Danish politics in 1977, this time being elected to parliament standing in the Funen constituency. He became leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party (Danish: Radikale Venstre) in 1978 and kept this role until 1990. During the 1980s, he supported the economic policies of the Conservative-Liberal government. At the same time, he supported the opposition on other questions such as security policies. In doing so, his party created majorities without the parties in government, a practice that became known as 'footnote politics'. In supporting different sides of parliament, he was sometimes referred to by the Danish media as a 'king maker', deciding which policies would pass and which would not. The Social Liberal's footnote politics ended in 1988 when the party entered the government coalition. In April 2008, Niels Helveg Petersen announced that he was not standing at the next election that took place in September 2011.
He was Minister for Economic Affairs in the Cabinet of Poul Schlüter III from 3 June 1988 to 18 December 1990, when his party left the government coalition after poor election results in 1990. He consequently also stepped down as party leader.
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