On Wednesday, December 14, the Council hosted Minister Villy Søvndal in a working lunch and strategy session to discuss NATO involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Minister visited Washington following his trips to Helmand Province and Kabul for meetings with ISAF and Afghan leaders, and his leadership of Denmark’s representation to the Bonn conference last week.

The roundtable discussion included several NATO and regional experts, and centered on the internal political issues in Afghanistan, the neighbors in the region and the complicated geo-political tensions, and how to move forward with a strategy for a post-2014 Afghanistan.

Villy Søvndal is the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs and the chairman of the Socialist People’s Party, a modern left-wing party. He has been a member of the Danish Parliament since 1994. He is particularly engaged in foreign and defense policy and social affairs and has served multiple terms as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Defense Committee and the Social Affairs Committee. Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Villy Søvndal was a public school teacher and a member of the City Council in Kolding.