Rasmus Prehn
Rasmus Prehn is a Danish politician who has been a member of the Folketing since the 2005 Danish general election. He served as Minister for [Development Cooperation |Minister for Development Cooperation] from 2019 to 2020, and as Minister for Food, [Agriculture and Fisheries |Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries] from 2020 to 2022.
Background
Prehn was born in Høje-Taastrup to Flemming Prehn and Birte Hanne Prehn, and is married to Heidi Linnemann Prehn. He studied at Aalborg University and the University of Leeds, graduating with a Master's degree in social science.Political career
Prehn has been a member of Folketinget for the Social [Democrats |Social Democrats] since the 2005 national elections. During his time in parliament, he served as chairman of the Committee on Research, Education and Further Education.Prehn was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation in the Frederiksen Cabinet on 27 June 2019. In this capacity, he pledged a total of US$51 million in contributions of Denmark to The [Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria|Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria] for the 2020-2022 period.
In 2022 it was revealed that Prehn had essentially committed embezzlement, by using his ministerial credit card, to pay for a dinner in 2020. When asked, he lied about it, and stated that the dinner had been with journalist Søren Wormslevs. Wormslevs denied ever having dined with Prehn, and Prehn later confirmed he had never dined with Wormslevs. As a result of the scandal, the state accountants decided that all ministers use of their ministerial credit cards from 2015 and onward was to be investigated. Prehn said it saddened him that he had contributed to the investigation being launched. He was however never convicted of a crime, due to the immunity politicians have in regards to indictments.
Also in 2022, Prehn was re-elected as Member of the Folketing, though with only a third of the votes he got in 2019. He was subsequently replaced as Minister for Development Cooperation by Jacob Jensen.
In February 2025, he announced he would resign from his Folketing seat to become the director of the Organic Association. The organization is heavily supported with 30-40 mill DKK per year by grants from the Socialdemocratic lead government indicating the position being a "patronage appointment", a pratice commonly seen in Danish poltics dominated by the Social Democrats.