Danes began voting on Tuesday in an election that could hand Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen a third term after she gained political momentum by rebuffing a threat from then-President Donald Trump to seize Greenland.
Frederiksen, 48, who called the snap vote well before an October deadline, timed the election after her party’s standing recovered from losses last year driven by rising living costs and controversy over strict asylum reforms. Observers say she chose the moment carefully to capitalize on that recovery.
Her Social Democrats have risen in the polls to about 21%, up from a December low of 17%, buoyed in part by her handling of the Greenland episode. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory in the Arctic under Danish sovereignty, and Frederiksen’s firm response to the US overture boosted her standing domestically and internationally.
Polling stations opened at 08:00 local time and will close at 20:00, when exit poll results are expected.
Domestic issues have returned to the forefront of the campaign, with debates over a proposed wealth tax and immigration taking prominence. Frederiksen has campaigned on her record of decisive leadership, arguing she can steer Denmark of nearly six million people through a complicated relationship with Washington and help shape a European response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Frederiksen has led Denmark since 2019, when at 41 she became the country’s youngest-ever prime minister. She previously headed a coalition that bridged the left-right divide for the first time in more than four decades.
The political landscape is now fragmented, with 12 parties contesting the ballot. Projections put the left-wing bloc that includes the Social Democrats narrowly ahead but still likely short of the 90 seats needed for a majority in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament. Four seats allocated to representatives from Greenland and the Faroe Islands could prove decisive.
With the left expected to hold relatively steady and the right likely to split, Frederiksen remains the favorite to cobble together a parliamentary majority and form a coalition government. Edited by: Wesley Dockery