Ambassador Michael Zilmer-Johns, Senior Mentor, Institute for Strategi and War Studies, Royal Danish Defence College

Ambassador Michael Zilmer-Johns
Senior Mentor, Institute for Strategi and War Studies
Royal Danish Defence College

Ambassador Michael Zilmer-Johns, was born 19 June 1957 and studied economics at Copenhagen and Kiel Universities. After his graduation in 1982 he began his carrier at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked on a broad range of issues.

10 days before the terror attack on 9/11 2001 he was appointed Political Director and worked intensively during the next two years handling the ensuing crisis i.a. chairing the EU Political Committee during the Danish EU Presidency in 2002. In 2003 he became foreign and security advisor to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen In 2005 he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as State Secretary for Foreign and European Affairs.

2013-14 he was seconded to the European External Action Service and served as Danish Ambassador to NATO 2014-18.

From 2020 to 2022 he chaired the Security Analysis Group with a mandate to write a report on Denmark’s international and security situation in order to prepare the next multiannual Danish Defence spending Agreement. He retired on 1 February 2023 and is now attached as senior mentor to the Danish Defence College.