after taking on Trump, Danish PM calls snap vote citing Greenland
Updated ,first published
Denmark’s snap election is about to test public support for a leader who has taken a tough line on Europe’s security and immigration while belittling the United States in the dispute over Greenland.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will take the country to the polls on March 24 in an early election framed by her harsh rejection of US President Donald Trump and his claim to the Arctic region.
But the outcome will depend on whether his Social Democrats can sustain their recent surge in support in opinion polls after facing a backlash from voters in local government elections in December.
Frederiksen could have waited months to announce the elections, which were due to be held on October 31, but he cited Greenland as an issue that justified going to the polls early.
“This will be a decisive election because in the next four years we, as Danes and Europeans, will really have to stand on our own two feet,” he said.
“We must define our relationship with the United States and rearm to ensure peace on our continent.”
Addressing parliament, he argued that he “did not expect the world to decide Denmark’s future at the elections”.
“As everyone knows, the conflict over Greenland is not over yet,” he added.
Snap elections had been rumored in the Danish capital this week before Frederiksen announced the date on Thursday (Copenhagen time).
The election will be watched across Europe, as Frederiksen and the other major parties in the coalition government are among Ukraine’s strongest supporters.
This contrasts with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who blames Ukraine for power outages in Hungary and has made it a key campaign issue for the April 12 elections.
Orbán is counting on Trump’s support to stay in power, earning both the US President’s official endorsement and a supportive visit from Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month.
Denmark’s second-largest party, Venstre, has a chance to increase its influence this election with its free-market agenda under leader Troels Lund Poulsen, currently the junior partner in the coalition government with Frederiksen. Poulsen is deputy prime minister and defense minister.
Another important name is former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose party the Moderates form the third pillar of the current coalition government. As the current secretary of state, he led talks on Greenland in keeping with the hard line against the United States.
There are 179 seats in the Danish parliament and the Social Democrats have 50 seats, making them the largest party. Venstre, also known as the Liberal Party, received 23 votes and the Moderate Party received 12 votes.
The Denmark Democrats, a right-wing party, have 16 seats, and the Green Left Party has 15 seats.
Frederiksen has a background in the union movement and was a progressive campaigner during his university years, but in recent years he has led the Social Democrats towards a tougher stance on immigration.
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
