After criticism from several colleagues at Christiansborg, Messerschmidt now says that in the future he will be more cautious about whom he shows around.
Vladislav Dajković, leader and founder of the party Free Montenegro, and Morten Messerschmidt, chairman of the Danish People's Party. Collage: Nathalie Nystad. Photo: Søren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix and private photo/Facebook 14 min. ago
Morten Messerschmidt is backing down after it, according to TV 2, has caused a stir that he on Monday gave right-wing politician Vladislav Dajković a tour of Christiansborg.
- I need to be more cautious about whom I agree to show around Christiansborg, is the admission from the DF chairman to DR News.
Dajković is the leader and founder of the party Slobodna Crna Gora (Free Montenegro, ed.) and has made a name for himself on the home front by being pro-Russian and against the NATO defense alliance.
The Montenegrin party leader has posted a video on the social media Instagram, where Messerschmidt is seen showing him around Christiansborg, before the DF chairman at the end of the video shakes his hand and says "go win".
Both Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus (S), SF's foreign affairs spokesperson Karsten Hønge, and Liberal Alliance's group chair Ole Birk Olesen criticize, in statements to TV 2, Messerschmidt's tour for Dajković and his "go win" comment.
- While we are fighting to strengthen NATO, he supports and wishes victory to a man who works for the opposite, praises Russia, works to destroy NATO and to achieve a regime change in Montenegro – a NATO country. I think that is poor judgment, says the Defense Minister among others.
To DR News, Messerschmidt says that the tour for Dajković was "purely private" and that it came about because a mutual Danish acquaintance had asked if the DF chairman could show the party leader around Christiansborg while he was on holiday in Denmark.
Why do you say "go win" to him?
- It is purely a friendly gesture that is taken out of context. I mean, it's like when there's an election campaign in Denmark, and you meet someone - regardless of party - you also say 'good luck with the campaign'. So this idea that it was some kind of major political meeting, as it is being portrayed, is very far from how I remember this almost tourist-like tour that it was.
Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus (S) believes that Messerschmidt has shown poor judgment by showing the pro-Russian Montenegrin party leader around Christiansborg. (Photo: © Vikki Søholm, Ritzau Scanpix)
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Did not know who he was
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Asked what the DF chairman thinks about the fact that Dajković is pro-Russian, Messerschmidt says that "I have not looked into that at all."
- I have never met him before, and I have never heard of either him or his party. And it was not something that was even part of the conversation when I showed him around Christiansborg.
According to Messerschmidt, he and Dajković talked about developments in the EU, migration, and NATO, where the DF chairman, in his own words, explained why he himself and most of Denmark are strong supporters of the defense alliance.
So what are your thoughts on the visit in hindsight?
- I think that I need to be more cautious about whom I agree to show around Christiansborg, when this can become such a big story. It is clear that if showing my office and the chamber of the Folketing can almost be interpreted as a foreign policy summit, then it is something I must reflect a bit more on in the future regarding saying no when some of my friends ask if I will show people I don't know around.
But shouldn't you have been better at doing some kind of background check on a political leader from Montenegro who comes to visit, who is a well-known figure in that part of the world?
- That may well be. I mean, when a buddy asks me to show a local politician from Montenegro around, I really didn't think that it could be used for some major political purpose. But it certainly calls for me to consider more carefully in the future who I am giving tours to.
It is not the first time DF chairman Morten Messerschmidt has received criticism for his judgment. He also got it when he spoke at a conference at Mar-a-Lago, Florida in January last year:
Morten Messerschmidt defends visit to Trump's palace
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