Danes Vote As PM Mette Frederiksen Seeks Third Term After Greenland Boost

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Adrienne Murray, In Copenhagenand


Paul Kirby, Europe digital editor


Danes are enacting an election with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats aiming for a third term.


Frederiksen, 48, called the vote months earlier than anticipated, buoyed by popular assistance for her handling of US President Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland, a self-governing Danish area.


Her Social Democrats have actually lost assistance because the 2022 elections and she is dealing with a strong challenge from 2 on the centre-right, consisting of the Liberal Venstre party of Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.


Denmark is run by union federal governments and Tuesday's vote will decide whether power will remain with a left-win bloc or move to the right.


Latest opinion polls provide Frederiksen's Social Democrats by the far the largest share of the vote, on more than 20%, well ahead of the Liberals and Green Left.


Although the election is not being battled on the Greenland crisis, Frederiksen is gambling that the "Trump bump" that improved her poll numbers after her bold position on Greenland will be adequate to hand her a 3rd term in a tight election race.


Denmark, which has long been one of the closest US allies in Nato, has actually rebuffed Trump's quotes to take control of Greenland, and the Danes and their European partners sent out a military contingent to the island last January.


Broadly-speaking, nevertheless, there is a broad agreement in Denmark on foreign policy, so it is domestic issues that have dominated the campaign trail.


Instead, the state of the economy and the cost of living are key problems, with Frederiksen proposing a 0.5% wealth tax for the richest 20,000 Danes. The high level of pesticides in drinking water because of pig farming and agriculture has likewise end up being an issue for citizens, with some celebrations including Frederiksen's requiring a ban.


However, her party's lead in the surveys is not likely to be adequate to preserve the 90 seats she requires to hold a bulk in parliament.


After a commanding win in 2022, Frederiksen led a coalition throughout the middle, that saw her Social Democrats group up with the centrist Moderates and right-of-centre Liberals, and all 3 celebrations are down substantially in the polls.


Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberals has actually become another prospect for prime minister, but he needs a strong showing in Tuesday's vote.


Even with the biggest vote share, the Social Democrats are heading for their weakest result in more than a century. In in 2015's regional elections, they plunged to 17%.


The polls recommend neither the "red" left-wing bloc nor the "blue" bloc on the right will have the ability to form a majority without depending on the centrist Moderates of Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen to serve as kingmaker.


The 4 parliamentary seats held by Greenland and the Faroe Islands, might also prove influential, with the possibility for the first time in years that a minimum of one of the Greenlandic seats flips from red to blue.


Rasmussen, who likewise impressed Danes with his handling of the Greenland stand-off, has currently voiced his aspiration to take on the task of royal private investigator - a crucial function in forging a governing union.


However, the royal private investigator typically ends up being the next prime minister, and Rasmussen has shown he has no desire to lead the nation once again, having actually served two terms as prime minister in the past.


He informed reporters that he wished to be at the leading edge of forming the next government's policy, with Denmark requiring to "stand together at a time of division".