Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Denmark)

The position was created in 1995 as part of a major organizational restructuring under Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. This reform aimed to strengthen the Prime Minister’s role in foreign policy coordination and led to the creation of a dedicated foreign policy division within the Prime Minister's Office. As part of the restructuring, the Prime Minister’s Office was streamlined into three main divisions: foreign policy and security affairs, domestic policy and economic affairs, and lastly government coordination and legal affairs.^[5][6]

The Foreign Policy Division became responsible for Denmark’s international relations, EU and Nordic cooperation, international economic policy, and security and defence matters, including NATO affairs.^[7] By integrating these areas directly into the Prime Minister’s Office, the government sought to enhance strategic coherence and ensure more direct political control over key foreign policy decisions.^[5][7]

The office is widely regarded as the Danish "counterpart" to the United States National Security Advisor and is indeed at times referred to as the "National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Denmark".^[2][8] In Sweden, the government decided in 2022 to appoint a National Security Advisor (Swedish: Regeringens Nationella Säkerhetsrådgivare), tasked with assisting and advising both the National Security Council and the Prime Minister.^[9] In Denmark, subsequent proposals to formalise an explicitly designated national security advisory role within the Prime Minister’s Office have drawn inspiration from the Swedish model. Political scientist Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen has argued that a similar arrangement would strengthen strategic coordination and oversight of national security at the centre of government.^[10]