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Transport minister steps down in wake of emission drama

Christian Wenande
February 4th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

With Benny Engelbrecht gone, PM Mette Frederiksen is expected to unveil a ministerial reshuffle later this morning

Benny Engelbrecht stepped down from his position as transport minister last night after being accused by other parties of withholding key climate figures relating to the government’s massive 160 billion kroner  infrastructure plan, ‘Denmark Forward’.

In a Twitter statement, Engelbrecht confirmed his departure, lamenting the fact that a number of his peers had voiced distrust of him yesterday, ultimately leading to him stepping down.

Proud of his results
“Throughout my ministerial time I have strived to treat everyone as well as possible and show respect and humility for the office ,” he wrote.

“I’m proud of the results we’ve achieved: particularly the broad infrastructure agreement that plans for how we will electrify the entire transport sector.”

At the time of resigning, 89 of Parliament’s 179 members had publicly declared their distrust of Engelbrecht as minister – one more would have forced him to leave. 

READ ALSO: Emission omission: Transportation minister in hot water 

Mette’s move
The void left behind by Engelbrecht stepping down has spurred PM Mette Frederiksen into action and she is expected to announce changes to her team of ministers at 11:00 today.

It’s not the first time that Frederiksen has been forced to reshuffle her ministerial team.

In late 2020, Mogens Jensen stepped down in wake of the mink scandal, while last year Joy Mogensen left politics after running out of steam as culture minister. 


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