Denmark will hold a parliamentary election on March 24, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday, seeking to capitalise on a surge in support for her defiant stance against US pressure over Greenland
Denmark will hold a parliamentary election on March 24, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday, seeking to capitalise on a surge in support for her defiant stance against US pressure over Greenland.
Frederiksen has spent recent months rallying European leaders against President Donald Trump’s renewed interest in annexing the Arctic island, an effort that opinion polls suggest has bolstered her popularity after public dissatisfaction over rising living costs and pressures on welfare services.
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“This will be a decisive election, because it will be in the next four years that we as Danes and as Europeans will really have to stand on our own feet,” Frederiksen said.
“We must define our relationship with the United States, and we must rearm to ensure peace on our continent.”
Local record also in focus
The Greenland crisis has further raised Frederiksen’s profile on the international stage, boosting the standing she gained through her swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic and for building European support for Ukraine.
The election will test whether voters reward her international leadership and defence of Danish sovereignty or punish her government for what critics say has been an inattention to problems at home.
“The trust in Mette Frederiksen as a leader and her ability to navigate the Greenland and Ukraine crises will be central to the campaign,” political commentator Joachim B. Olsen said.
“Her weakness is that, having been prime minister for two terms, it becomes more difficult to talk about solutions to the problems,” he added. “She wants to talk about inequality, but then voters will ask why she hasn’t addressed those problems until now.”
Denmark’s current government is an unusual cross-partisan coalition of