COPENHAGEN/NUUK – Danes voted on Tuesday in an election that could hand Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen a third term thanks to her staunch line against U.S. President Donald Trump over Greenland, even though cost-of-living worries have hurt her leftist credentials.
Opinion polls show her Social Democrats are headed for their weakest result since before World War Two – many Danes blame Frederiksen for not doing enough to protect their Nordic welfare model, while others point to growing weariness after nearly seven years of her leadership.
With the right divided, however, she is seen as favourite to return to power at the head of a reconfigured coalition.
Boost from Trump
Frederiksen, 48, called the vote months before an October deadline, in what analysts said was an effort to capitalise on an uptick in popularity when Trump’s rhetoric about controlling Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, intensified in January and he refused to rule out military force.
But Greenland has since moved to a less heated diplomatic track and has been overtaken by domestic concerns, including a proposed wealth tax, debates on immigration and calls for restrictions on agricultural pesticides affecting the groundwater.
“The environment is the most important. And also to have a stable government. That’s the two main things I’m voting for,” said Kenneth Gall, a theatre producer casting his ballot at Copenhagen’s City Hall.
Polling stations close at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), with exit polls due shortly after.
Denmark Prepares for a more uncertain world
In all, 12 parties are contesting the ballot. Additionally, four seats allocated to candidates from Greenland and the Faroe Islands may prove decisive.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who took office last year after winning an election for the island’s devolved parliament, told Reuters it was crucial to boost cooperation between Copenhagen and Nuuk.
“This is perhaps the most important parliamentary election we’ve had… we must secure greater equality in our union and stand together against outside forces, including the United States who has unfortunately shown a will or desire to own and control us,” Nielsen said as he cast his ballot.
Frederiksen has campaigned on a promise that her tough and tested leadership skills will help the nation of 6 million navigate a complex relationship with Washington and a European response to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“I know that sometimes I express myself a bit bluntly,” she said during a recent campaign event. “But given the times we live in, it is perhaps very good that there are some things that cannot be misunderstood: that Russia should not be allowed to win or that Greenland is not for sale.”
Frederiksen, who has led Denmark since 2019, was the first premier to bridge the left-right divide in Denmark in more than 40 years, but her grand coalition is now projected to lose its parliamentary majority.
Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the centrist Moderates Party, who may end up as a post-election kingmaker, said he was still hoping for a bipartisan government, even as the current coalition looked set to lose its grip on power.
“This is basically about Denmark preparing ourself for a world which is absolutely more uncertain than we were used to in the past,” Rasmussen told reporters as he cast his ballot in the town of Graested, north of Copenhagen.
Rasmussen, himself a former two-times prime minister, reiterated that he was not seeking a third term as head of the government, but would like to lead talks to explore the formation of a coalition.
