Copenhagen Mayor Quits After Admitting to Sexual Harassment
Copenhagen Mayor Quits After Admitting to Sexual Harassment
(Bloomberg) -- Copenhagen’s mayor stepped down Monday after he admitted harassing several women during his 30 years in politics.
Frank Jensen, a former justice minister who has served as the mayor of Denmark’s capital city for 11 years, is the latest politician to be hit by a fresh wave of MeToo accusations rocking the country’s establishment. Another politician, the leader of the Social Liberals, stepped down earlier this month after acknowledging he engaged in inappropriate behaviors.
“I am happy for the 30 years I have been in politics,” Jensen told reporters in Copenhagen. “As a person I can’t stand in the way of the Social Democrat party.”
Jensen, who is 59 years old, also resigned from his role as deputy chairman of the ruling Social Democrats. On Sunday he admitted to having sexually harassed a number of women but pledged to stay on in his position to help change what he described as a sexist culture in City Hall.
Pressure on Jensen grew on Monday after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the allegations against Jensen as “very serious.” She later said in a Facebook post that Jensen had made “the right decision” while calling for other cases to be handled in the appropriate forums, rather than in the media.
Frederiksen’s Social Democrats have also been rocked by allegations involving Jeppe Kofod, the country’s foreign minister.
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