The Chairman of the Association Folkemødet (People’s Meeting), Vibe Klarup, has chosen to resign after a period of extensive criticism and debate. According to TV 2 Bornholm, she declared in a press release that the goal for Folkemødet 2024 has been achieved, and that the organization is now strong and healthy. Klarup has been chairman for four years.
The temporary chairmanship is taken over by the two former vice-chairmen, Søs Marie Serup and Carsten Grønning, who now share the responsibility.
The background for Vibe Klarup’s departure is a series of controversies that followed after a controversial statement from the director of Folkemødet, Peter Christiansen. He suggested that demonstrators could be invited on stage if they interrupted events and debates. This statement caused great anger and led, among other things, to the former minister and current finance spokesman for the Social Democrats, Benny Engelbrecht, announcing that he would not participate in this year’s Folkemøde on Bornholm. Engelbrecht also urged the board to consider the future of the then leadership.
Also, Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt criticized Christiansen’s proposal. On the social media platform X, he wrote that Folkemødet “serves the purpose of intolerance and should counteract immediately.”
Folkemødet 2023 took place from June 13 to 15.