Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, The Copenhagen Voice, 28 May 2009

Speculation that US President Barack Obama will visit Denmark later this year has increased after a high-ranking US politician said he hopes to attend the COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen in December ‘perhaps with the President’.

Speculation that US President Barack Obama will visit Denmark later this year has increased after Steny Hoyer, the majority leader in the House of Representatives, said he hopes to attend the COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen in December ‘perhaps with the President’.

Hoyer visited Denmark this week, meeting Queen Margrethe; Thor Pedersen, the President of the Danish Parliament; Minister of Foreign Affairs Per Stig Møller; and Connie Hedegaard, the Climate and Energy Minister.

As the Majority Leader, the Democratic Congressman from Maryland has the task of scheduling legislation for consideration on the House Floor, as well as building unity among House Democrats and delivering the Democratic Party’s message.

Hoyer said he expects the US Congress to pass the climate and energy proposals, currently being debated in the House of Representatives and the Senate, into law before the summer vacation.

“This is an ambitious bill and the President is following its progress closely,” Hoyer said. “Hopefully I can come back to Denmark in December – perhaps with the President – to be here when the next, vital step in the fight against global warming is taken.”

Getting the US to agree to emission cuts at the COP15 is essential if the UN climate summit is to be a success, as US agreement will make emissions cuts more palatable for China, India, Australia and other countries that will feel disadvantaged by large cuts.

But there is also speculation that Obama will visit Denmark in October, while the International Olympic Committee is holding its 121^st session, 7-9 October, to support the bid of his home town, Chicago, to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Steny Hoyer’s visit provides opportunities to discuss political issues of common interest with one of the most influential people in American politics, said Thor Pedersen, the President of the Danish Parliament.

Among items discussed at a news conference in the Danish Parliament were the closure of the Guantánamo prison on Cuba and the fate of the remaining prisoners; torture of prisoners and possible disappearance of documents related to this; and North Korea’s test of a nuclear weapon.