The latest questionable decision by the minister may have sealed her fate

A slew of job-related missteps by Lene Espersen have almost guaranteed that she will soon be replaced as foreign minister, according to several experts.

Since Espersen committed her first major gaffe in the office in March – skipping a high-level meeting for the Arctic countries and instead going to Mallorca on holiday – she has compounded her situation with five other decisions that have turned voters decidedly against her.

Beginning with a decision in late May not to attend a meeting with Israel’s ambassador over the country’s controversial attack on an aid ship, Espersen subsequently approved an advertisement that stereotyped Greeks, in her role as leader of the Conservative Party. The move resulted in sharp criticism from that country’s ambassador.

She was then prevented from reaching an International Security Assistance Force summit in Afghanistan last week, and this week chose again to go on holiday instead of attending an EU foreign ministers meeting and a high-level Community of Democracies in Poland.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, was in attendance at the Poland meeting, as well as the Arctic and Afghanistan assemblies.

Ole Wæver, political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, told TV2 News that the minister’s gaffes have ‘severely weakened’ the country's foreign relations, adding that Espersen will now have to ‘act defensively to save her own skin’.

Political expert Peter Goll agreed, saying Espersen’s had hurt her already wounded Conservative Party.

‘The Conservatives are now well below the 10 percent voter backing they had when Espersen took over,’ Goll told financial daily Børsen. ‘I can’t see her being able to pull herself up again before the next election.’