Danes Vote as pM Mette Frederiksen Seeks Third Term After Greenland Boost

2 days ago
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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 going for a third term.


Frederiksen, 48, called the vote months earlier than expected, buoyed by popular assistance for her handling of US President Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.


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


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


Latest viewpoint surveys give Frederiksen's Social Democrats by the far the biggest share of the vote, on more than 20%, well ahead of the Liberals and Green Left.


Although the election is not being fought on the Greenland crisis, Frederiksen is gambling that the "Trump bump" that boosted her poll numbers after her defiant stance on Greenland will suffice to hand her a 3rd term in a tight election race.


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


Broadly-speaking, however, there is a broad agreement in Denmark on foreign policy, so it is domestic concerns that have controlled the project trail.


Instead, the state of the economy and the expense of living are crucial problems, with Frederiksen proposing a 0.5% wealth tax for the wealthiest 20,000 Danes.