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 expected, buoyed by popular assistance for her handling of US President Donald Trump's danger to annex Greenland, a self-governing Danish area.
Her Social Democrats have actually lost support because the 2022 elections and she is facing a strong difficulty from two parties 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 stick with a left-win bloc or transfer to the right.
Latest opinion surveys give 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 fought on the Greenland crisis, Frederiksen is gambling that the "Trump bump" that improved her poll numbers after her bold stance on Greenland will suffice to hand her a third term in a tight election race.
Denmark, which has long been one of the closest US allies in Nato, has actually rebuffed Trump's bids to take over Greenland, and the Danes and their European partners sent a military contingent to the island last January.
Broadly-speaking, nevertheless, there is a broad consensus in Denmark on diplomacy, so it is domestic concerns that have actually dominated the project trail.
Instead, the state of the economy and the cost of living are essential issues, with Frederiksen proposing a 0.5% wealth tax for the richest 20,000 Danes. The high level of pesticides in drinking water since of pig farming and agriculture has also become an issue for voters, with some celebrations consisting of Frederiksen's calling for a restriction.
However, her party's lead in the polls is not likely to be adequate to keep the 90 seats she needs to hold a bulk in parliament.
After a commanding win in 2022, Frederiksen led a union across the middle, that saw her Social Democrats group up with the centrist Moderates and right-of-centre Liberals, and all three celebrations are down substantially in the surveys.
Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberals has become another prospect for prime minister, however he needs a strong showing in Tuesday's vote.
Even with the biggest vote share, the Social Democrats are heading for their weakest outcome in more than a century. In last year's regional elections, they dropped to 17%.
The polls suggest neither the "red" left-wing bloc nor the "blue" bloc on the right will be able to form a bulk without depending on the centrist Moderates of Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen to function as kingmaker.
The 4 parliamentary seats held by and the Faroe Islands, could likewise prove prominent, with the possibility for the first time in years that a minimum of one of the Greenlandic seats turns from red to blue.
Rasmussen, who also impressed Danes with his handling of the Greenland stand-off, has already voiced his aspiration to handle the task of royal detective - an essential function in creating a governing coalition.
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 forefront of forming the next federal government's policy, with Denmark needing to "stand together at a time of department".