monarch deputy predecessor successor religion office term_start image article_title term_end name
margrethe ii bendt bendtsen jaap de hoop scheffer jens stoltenberg lutheranism 12th prime minister of denmark secretary general of the north atlantic treaty organisation 1 august 2009 former nordic council session in helsinki 2008-10-28 . jpg danish prime minister anders fogh rasmussen at the anders fogh rasmussen
 1 october 2014 anders fogh rasmussen
anders fogh rasmussen

anders fogh rasmussen -lrb- ; born 26 january 1953 -rrb- is a danish politician who was the 12th secretary general of nato from 2009 to 2014 .
rasmussen served as prime minister of denmark from 27 november 2001 to 5 april 2009 .
rasmussen was the leader of the liberal party -lrb- `` venstre '' -rrb- , and headed a center right-wing coalition with the conservative people 's party which took office in november 2001 and won its second and third terms in february 2005 and in november 2007 .
rasmussen 's government relied on the danish people 's party for support , keeping with the danish tradition of minority government .
in his early career , rasmussen was a strident critic of the welfare state , writing the classical liberal book `` from social state to minimal state '' in 1993 .
however , through the 1990s , his views moved towards the political centre .
his government introduced tougher limits on non-eea immigration and a freeze on tax rates -lrb- `` skattestoppet '' in danish -rrb- .
certain taxes were lowered , but the conservative coalition partners repeatedly argued for more tax cuts and a flat tax rate at no higher than 50 % .
rasmussen 's government implemented an administrative reform reducing the number of municipalities -lrb- `` kommuner '' -rrb- and replacing the thirteen counties -lrb- `` amter '' -rrb- with five regions , which he referred to as `` the biggest reform in thirty years '' .
he authored several books about taxation and government structure .
his term as secretary general of nato was to end in the summer of 2014 .
however , on 11 december 2013 the north atlantic council extended his term until 30 september 2014 , in order to ensure the organisation of the 2014 nato summit in newport , wales .
