Former Danish Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen has died at the age of 80

HELSINKI – Uffe Elleman-Jensen, Danish Foreign Minister for more than 10 years from the early 1980s and considered one of the most important politicians in the Nordic region at the end of the Cold War, has died. He was 80.

The conservative-liberal Venstre party, which Ellemann-Jensen chaired from 1984 to 1998, said in a brief statement on Sunday that he had died overnight “after a long illness”. The cause of death was not immediately given.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that Ellemann-Jensen, Denmark’s foreign minister from 1982 to 1993, was “an astute politician”, a great personality and “a man of great courage”.

“He represented our country adeptly during the Cold War,” said Frederiksen, stressing that Ellemann-Jensen insisted that Denmark should remain committed to NATO’s common policy and he called for the maintenance of close transatlantic ties between Europe and the United States.

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“Now that war has returned to the European continent, his voice for a strong, secure and democratic Europe seems clearer than ever,” she added.

Ellemann-Jensen is survived by his wife Alice Vestergaard, their four children and ten grandchildren.