Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, left, bikes with President Bush in the mountains at Camp David.
Posted on 06/11/2006 3:22:33 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Most weeks, the White House sees a procession of foreign leaders, and the past week alone brought the leaders of the Congo Republic, Chile and Honduras through the Oval Office. But only the prime minister of Denmark was granted a meeting and lunch at Camp David with President Bush, not to mention a 10-mile bicycle ride through the Catoctin Mountain woods.
"He's very fast," Anders Fogh Rasmussen observed afterward. "I consider myself a skilled mountain biker, but it was challenging."
It was the first time in more than two years that Bush welcomed a foreign chief to Camp David -- Russian President Vladimir Putin was the last -- and administration officials said the rare visit was a telling symbol of the unusually warm relationship that has developed between the leader of the free world and the head of a Scandinavian country of little more than 5 million people.
It was also a sign of the role personality and chemistry can play for Bush in his dealings with world leaders. Rasmussen, like Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has cultivated the U.S. president aggressively over the past five years, providing strong support for U.S.-led military ventures in Afghanistan and Iraq while offering a straight-talking personal style that appeals to Bush. The result has been an influence with the administration that outstrips Denmark's size and place in the world, according to U.S. and Danish officials.
"They've bonded, and they have become good friends," said Stuart Bernstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark who sat on in several Bush-Rasmussen visits. "I think he's the same kind of guy -- he's very forthright, he's very direct. They both see the world the same way."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, left, bikes with President Bush in the mountains at Camp David.
Well, how about men like these are standing between your neck and a bread knife?
FYI re Bush and Danish PM Rasmussen's visit to Camp David
Thanks! A good reminder to put Havarti cheese on my shopping list:)
For two days Kelly Wright on Fox has been telling us about the visit of the DUTCH prime minister. I even sent Fox an e-mail, but he never corrected it. As someone of Danish heritage, I am fuming!
Bears emphasizing.
=)
Buy Danish!
http://buydanish.home.comcast.net/products.htm
It's sad when even Fox fails to get it right.
If I knew the right spelling for the toast for the Danes, I'd offer that as consolation. (Is it something like "skol"? pardon the spelling.)
Dude, how was it?
I don't speak Danish...my family asimilated in one generation. I do, however, have some swell Danish recipes. And my brother's middle name is "Anders", like the PM's first name.
I think they'd more likely use a butter knife.
He and George saw eye to eye on immigration.
This man has been a great and strong ally. As far as I'm concerned the Dane punch way above their weight and are welcome partners in any fight.
Do you know how "Fogh" is pronounced? I think I saw it as part of the PM's name.
It's pronounced: "Doh!"
No kidding. Some former Canadian Prime Ministers forgot this.
"He knows that if he tells me something confidentially, he can be sure that I will keep it for myself," Rasmussen said. "The president values loyalty very much."
Thank you for that loyalty PM Rasmussen. Our President does not see much of it here.
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