Denmark votes in early elections after crisis over US plans on Greenland

Copenhagen, Denmark.

Copenhagen, Denmark. An exit poll indicated a disappointing performance for the Danish prime minister’s party in the Tuesday election, following a campaign that prioritised fundamental issues over the US president’s management of the crisis. Donald Trump’s ambitions towards Greenland.

All three parties appear to be losing ground in the government led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, according to a survey conducted by the Megafon Research Institute for broadcaster TV 2. It suggested that left-leaning and right-leaning blocs could fall short of the majority in parliament.

If that’s the case, veteran Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen – a former prime minister – could play the role of kingmaker. His centrist Moderate Party could determine whether Frederiksen can serve a third term at the helm of the EU and NATO country of about 6 million people.

48-year-old Frederickson is known as a strong player. support Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression and for his restrictive approach to migration – continuing what has become a tradition in Danish politics.

The survey indicated that Frederiksen’s centre-left Social Democrats remain the largest single party with about 21% of the vote, significantly less than the 27.5% it got in the 2022 election.

Frederiksen elections were called in February. He had to do this several months ago. He clearly hoped Trump’s push for control of Greenland and his steadfast image in the standoff at uniting European allies behind Denmark would help voters.

His support had already declined due to the rising cost of living, which has been a major campaign issue along with pensions and a potential wealth tax.

Social Democrat MP Morten Clasen said the outgoing government had performed well, but “there’s been a lot of trouble in Europe and I think our government has focused too much on Ukraine and I think we’ve lost a little bit in domestic votes for that.” He argued that “We need Mette Frederiksen in Europe for solidarity.”

No single party was expected to come close to winning a majority. Denmark’s system of proportional representation typically forms coalition governments, traditionally composed of several parties from a “red block” on the left or a “blue block” on the right, after several weeks of negotiations.

Frederiksen’s outgoing administration was the first in decades to bridge the left-right divide.

Former minister Caroline Stage Olsen, who called for elections for the moderates, argued that “a large portion of the Danish population wants a centrist government.”

He said that “difficult times demand cooperation and call upon parties and politicians to come together, men to come forward, and women to come forward and cooperate.”

Two centre-right challengers hoped to remove Frederiksen as Prime Minister. They have one in the current government – Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberal or Venstre, party, who led several recent administrations but on Tuesday appeared on track to win even fewer seats.

The other opposition leader was Alex Vanopslagh, 34, of the Liberal Alliance, who demands lower taxes and less bureaucracy and calls for Denmark to refuse to use nuclear power.

Further to the right, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party was set to make a significant improvement in 2022 after its fragile performance in the last election.

Greenland, which consumed most of the government’s energy in recent months, was not a key issue in the campaign due to widespread consensus on its role in the state.

Frederiksen warned in January that a US occupation of Greenland would be tantamount to the end of NATO. But the crisis has subsided, at least for now.

After Trump retreated over threats to impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that objected to the US taking control of the vast Arctic island, the US, Denmark and Greenland. started technical talks on the Arctic Security Agreement.

The Folketing, Denmark’s single-chamber parliament, has 179 seats. Of those, 175 go to MPs from Denmark itself and two each to representatives from sparsely populated Greenland and the kingdom’s other semiautonomous territory, the Faroe Islands.

More than 4.3 million people were eligible to vote.

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Molson reported from Berlin. James Brooks in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.