Foreign minister rushes home from Africa for emergency DONG meeting

Holger Nielsen says his treasury experience gives him insight into the deal

Holger Nielsen (SF), the foreign minister, cut short a trip to Africa to attend an emergency SF meeting about the proposed sale of DONG Energy to US financial giant Goldman Sachs.

Nielsen signed off on the deal with Goldman Sachs during his tenure as tax minister.

SF is split on the deal, which is due to be approved tomorrow by parliament’s finance committee.

Also on the agenda at today’s meeting is whether SF should even continue to be part of the current government.

“We must have a thorough discussion concerning SF’s position, both in terms of the DONG sale and our overall position,” SF MP Karsten Hønge told Ritzau yesterday.

The agreement to sell a stake in DONG Energy to Goldman Sachs has met with harsh criticism from some SF members in recent days.

READ MORE: Resistance to Goldman Sachs deal grows

SF head Annette Vilhelmsen said after a meeting yesterday that she was not sure if she had unanimous party support in parliament for the Goldman Sachs deal. She emphasised that concerns about the agreement would not lead to SF backing out of the deal.

Nielsen had been in Addis Ababa to participate in the Summit of the African Union.




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