Søren Gade

Søren Gade Jensen (born 27 January 1963) is a Danish politician who has been Speaker of the Folketing since November 2022, representing the Liberal party, Venstre. He was a Liberal member of the Folketing from 2001 to 2019 and again in 2022. Before entering politics, he was a military officer and businessman. He was formerly a Member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2022.

Søren Gade
Gade in 2007
Speaker of the Folketing
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 November 2022
Monarchs	Margrethe II Frederik X
Preceded by	Henrik Dam Kristensen
Minister of Defence
In office 24 April 2004 – 23 February 2010
Prime Minister	Anders Fogh Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded by	Svend Aage Jensby
Succeeded by	Gitte Lillelund Bech
Member of the Folketing
In office 20 November 2001 – 13 November 2007
Constituency	Ringkøbing County
In office 13 November 2007 – 23 February 2010
Constituency	Western Jutland
In office 18 June 2015 – 5 June 2019
Constituency	North Jutland
Member of the European Parliament for Denmark
In office 2 July 2019 – 14 November 2022
Succeeded by	Erik Poulsen
Personal details
Born	Søren Gade Jensen (1963-01-27) 27 January 1963 (age 62) Holstebro, Denmark
Political party	Venstre
Spouse	Helle Buskbjerg Poulsen (died 2008)
Children	2
Alma mater	Aarhus University
Occupation	Military officer, businessman
Military service
Allegiance	Denmark
Branch/service	Royal Danish Army
Years of service	1983–present
Rank	Major in the Reserve
Unit	Jutland Dragoon Regiment

He was also CEO of the Danish business organization Landbrug & Fødevarer from 2012 to 2014.^[1]

Political career

Minister of Defence, 2004–2010

Gade served as Defence Minister from 2004 to 2010, when he replaced Svend Aage Jensby. During his time in office, he led Danish efforts to maintain public support for the deployment of 750 troops in Afghanistan.^[2] Gade resigned from his position due to a long time conflict with the media after the publishing of a fake Arabic translation of Thomas Rathsack's book, telling the defence's methods in the Afghan war.

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–2022

Gade was elected to the European Parliament in 2019.^[3] A member of the Renew Europe group, he served as chair of the Committee on Fisheries and as member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Within the Committee on Transport and Tourism, he was part of the Tourism Task Force (TTF).^[4] In 2020, he also joined the Special Committee on Beating Cancer.^[5]

In addition to his committee assignments, Gade was the chair of the Parliament's delegation for relations with India.^[6]

Return to national politics

In 2022, following his re-election to the Folketing, a majority of parties supported Gade's candidacy for the position of speaker of the Folketing.^[7] Gade was officially confirmed as speaker on 16 November 2022.^[8][9]

Controversy

In 2015, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a document that it said proved that Gade tried to hide the Danish military's agreement with security company Blackwater whose contractors killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 in Baghdad's Nisour Square in 2007.^[10]

Other activities

• European Leadership Network (ELN), Member of the Advisory Board^[11]

Personal life

In January 2008, Gade lost his wife Helle Buskbjerg Poulsen after years of cancer.^[12]

Awards and decorations

		Commander 1st class of the Order of the Dannebrog
		Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (Iceland)
		Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (Spain)
		Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile (Egypt)
		Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise 2nd class (Ukraine)
		Homeguard Medal of Merit
		Defence Medal for Meritorious Service
		Defence Medal for International Service 1948–2009
		Reserve Long Service Medal with 40 years oak leave
		Homeguard 25 Years Service Decoration with 40 years oak leave
		Badge of Honor of the Reserve Officers Association of Denmark
		Peace Prize Medal (Denmark)
		The Nordic Blue Berets Medal of Honour
		Distinguished Public Service Award (USA)
		UNTSO Medal for Service in the Middle East
		Nijmegen Medal 2-4 times

^{[citation needed]}