His unapologetic response to the 'cartoon crisis' has incensed some Muslim leaders, but the man whose electoral success is based on draconian immigration policies is unlikely to change course, writes Jamie Smyth
Anders Fogh Rasmussen doesn't make friends easily. Apart from his wife, the Danish prime minister had no close friends until he was 41 years old. Indeed, the good-looking, yet socially awkward, Rasmussen didn't even kiss a girl until he was 22, according to his biographer, Danish journalist Anne Sofie Kragh.
Rasmussen has certainly not made any new friends in the Muslim world since the so-called "cartoon crisis" went global over the past two weeks. His refusal last October to meet ambassadors from 11 Muslim countries to discuss publication the previous month of 12 satirical cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, is blamed by opposition politicians for inflaming the situation. Muslims are enraged that Denmark has made no official apology for the cartoons, which have sparked protests across Europe, the Middle East, and Asian states.
The demonstrations have led to the torching of foreign embassies in Syria, the deaths of protesters in Afghanistan and a boycott of Danish goods that is estimated to have cost $50 million since the crisis escalated two weeks ago. And with four in 10 Danes saying in polls that the crisis has increased the chances of a terrorist attack, Rasmussen faces his biggest challenge since becoming prime minister in 2001.
"Strategically he is certainly one of the best politicians in Denmark," says Robert Klemmensen, assistant professor of politics at the University of Southern Denmark. "But he tends to stick to plans and could be viewed as a leader that would not be as good at handling an unforeseen crisis."
Opinions about Rasmussen, a liberal politician who relies on the far-right Danish People's Party to support his minority government, are divided in Denmark. His opponents label him a "control freak" while his supporters describe him as "self-assured". One source says his best political trait is that he instinctively knows the limits of what is practically possible in any negotiation. He points to the success of the Danish presidency of the EU in 2002 when Rasmussen clinched a deal on the sensitive topic of enlargement into eastern Europe.
This success was one of the reasons that he was briefly considered as a potential European Commission president to succeed the Italian, Romano Prodi, in 2004. However, in the end he did not attract support from EU heavyweights France and Germany.
Rasmussen's detractors are critical of what they see as an inability to take advice and delegate responsibility.
"He is an efficient leader but not very inclusive, and because he doesn't include many people in his decision-making he attracts weak ministers around him," says Margrete Auken, a Danish Green Party MEP.
She believes this trait manifested itself in the cartoon crisis when Rasmussen did not involve the Danish foreign office in his decision not to meet ambassadors from 11 Muslim countries.
"He has extended the power of the prime minister's office in the realm of foreign affairs without having the right expertise at his disposal in the field," says Auken.
Some diplomats agree. A letter signed by 22 Danish former diplomats and published in the Politiken newspaper criticised Rasmussen for his refusal to meet the 11 Muslim ambassadors. The former foreign minister, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, supported this unusual public action.
At the time, Rasmussen said his decision was a matter of principle.
"I will not [ meet the ambassadors] because it is so self-evidently clear what principles Danish society is based upon that there is nothing to have a meeting about," he said.
But Muslim opinion hardened following the refusal to meet the ambassadors, leading to the explosion of violence in late January, according to the prime minister's critics. "He finds it difficult to apologise and admit when he gets it wrong and it is dangerous to have a leader without a reverse gear," says Auken.
But Rasmussen is popular with the public. An opinion poll published this week in Denmark showed that 60 per cent of the public support his handling of the cartoon issue, with just 25 per cent against. And at the last election in 2005 he polled more personal votes - 61,792 - than any other candidate.
Some pollsters attribute his popularity among female voters to his legendary good looks, which have also been noted by other EU leaders. In one famous incident, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said he though he should introduce Rasmussen to his wife, because he was much better-looking than the mayor of Venice, who at the time was rumoured to be having an affair with Berlusconi's wife.
But unlike the volatile Berlusconi, Rasmussen tends to shun the limelight. No fan of parties, he prefers a quiet life at home and normally doesn't drink alcohol. His hobbies include canoeing and mountain-biking. One of the perks offered to journalists during Denmark's EU presidency was a jog with the prime minister.
Rasmussen, who is married with three children, is described as "serious" by commentators.
"He is not the sort of person that you would like to share a beer with," says Klemmensen. "He does not come across as a particularly warm person. I think people see him as disciplined."
Born on a farm in Jutland in 1953, Rasmussen became interested in politics at an early age and, at 17, founded the Young Liberals at his school. He rose quickly in the main Liberal Party, becoming a member of parliament in 1978 and being elevated to the cabinet as minister for taxation in 1990.
He was forced to resign in 1992 after a scandal involving the spending of his department's budget, but made a comeback as party leader in 1998. Three years later he fought a successful election campaign and formed a government.
Danish political commentators draw a parallel between Rasmussen and Tony Blair.
"In many ways he [ Rasmussen] has seen Tony Blair as an idol for his own career," says Kaare Skou, political editor of Denmark's TV2. "If Tony Blair does something in Britain, he will follow shortly after. Denmark has always been Atlantic-orientated in political terms but most Danes think he admires Bush and Blair too much."
Rasmussen sent troops to Iraq and enjoys a warm relationship with the Bush administration. He advocates free markets and in the early 1990s published a book, From Social State to Minimal State, which set out his ideas for reforming Denmark's high-tax culture.
"He is a 'liberal fundamentalist' but has come to the view that to have a chance of political power in Denmark you can't be too ideological," says Skou. "But I still think, deep in his heart, he is a fundamentalist liberal."
But while his economic views have been tempered in government, Rasmussen has overseen the introduction of some of the most draconian immigrant legislation in the EU. Immigration was a key issue put forward by Rasmussen in his successful election campaign against his Socialist namesake, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, in 2001. The minority government's reliance on the far right People's Party to cling to power has kept immigration on the agenda.
"What I see in the past three years is a new sense of hostility vis-a-vis refugees and immigrants," says Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, who laments the undermining of Denmark's traditional liberal society. "I feel that the current crisis is a result of this."
But Anders Fogh Rasmussen has no intention of changing direction. Asked this week if his policies requiring immigrants to adopt Danish traditions were at fault in the crisis, he said: "We are on the right track . . . I see a very clear tendency that other countries will go in our direction."
The Rasmussen File
Who is he?
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish prime minister
Why is he in the news?
He's at the centre of the storm over a Danish newspaper's publication of satirical cartoons depicting Muhammad
Most appealing characteristic?
His defence of a free press
Least appealing characteristic?
His government's policy toward immigration
Most likely to say?
Some people in this country have poured fuel on the fire by spreading disinformation
Least likely to say?
Sorry