Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Thursday announced that Denmark will hold an early general election on March 24, as the country continues to process the recent confrontation with U.S. President Donald Trump over his ambitions regarding Greenland, the semiautonomous Danish territory.
Frederiksen appears to be banking on public approval of her response to the Greenland dispute, during which she projected a firm and direct stance, to strengthen her position with voters.
“It is now up to you, the voters, to decide what direction Denmark will take over the next four years. And I am looking forward to it,” Frederiksen, 48, said while delivering the announcement in parliament.
Voters in the NATO and European Union member states will elect representatives to the 179-seat parliament. That body includes two lawmakers each from Greenland and from the Faroe Islands, Denmark’s other semiautonomous territory.
Trump’s campaign to secure U.S. control of Greenland, which peaked last month when he briefly threatened to impose additional tariffs on Denmark and several other European nations, posed a significant test for the Danish government over the past year.
In response, Frederiksen warned that an American takeover of Greenland would effectively signal the collapse of the NATO military alliance.
Recent polling indicates that the Social Democrats, led by Frederiksen, have experienced a rise in support during weeks dominated by concerns over the Greenland issue.
Public frustration in Denmark over Trump’s repeated comments about acquiring Greenland has also manifested in protests and consumer boycotts of American products in supermarkets.
Addressing parliament as she called the election, Frederiksen said: “This will be a crucial election for us, because in the next four years, we as Danes and as Europeans will really have to stand on our own two feet.”
“We must define our relationship with the U.S. We must arm ourselves to ensure peace on our continent. We must keep Europe together,” she added, referencing Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, now entering its fifth year.
Following Trump’s decision to step back from his Greenland threats last month, the United States, Denmark, and Greenland initiated technical discussions focused on Arctic security cooperation.
Nonetheless, Frederiksen indicated earlier this month that she remains cautious regarding the situation. When asked at the Munich Security Conference whether the crisis had subsided, she responded: “No, unfortunately not. I think the desire from the U.S. president is exactly the same. He is very serious about this theme.”
Frederik Hjorth, associate professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, observed: “The Greenland crisis has played a major part in the noticeable bump that the government parties have received over the last couple of months.”+
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
Although Trump is unlikely to dominate the campaign directly, Hjorth noted that “he will be a sort of a background theme in the campaign because that speaks to the government message of the importance of having, competent people in charge.”
Frederiksen, a center-left Social Democrat, is widely recognized for implementing some of Europe’s strictest immigration policies.
Last month, her administration introduced legal reforms permitting the deportation of foreigners sentenced to at least one year of unconditional imprisonment for serious crimes. Even before other European countries explored outsourcing asylum processing to third countries or establishing “return hubs” outside the European Union for rejected asylum seekers, Frederiksen had advocated for such measures.
Beyond foreign policy and immigration, the rising cost of living in Denmark is also expected to emerge as a key campaign issue, according to Hjorth.
Although Denmark must hold a general election at least once every four years, the prime minister has the authority to call one at any time. The most recent election took place on Nov. 1, 2022, resulting in a three-party coalition spanning both left and right political blocs.
Frederiksen has served as Denmark’s leader since mid-2019. She currently heads a coalition government that includes the Liberal Party, led by Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, and the centrist Moderate Party of Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, a former prime minister. A victory in the upcoming vote would secure her third term.
Campaigning began almost immediately after the announcement. Major commercial news outlets aired political advertisements for the Social Democrats, while members of the populist, anti-immigration Danish People’s Party distributed leaflets inside parliament in Copenhagen.
For some Danes, Frederiksen’s decision to call an early election was not unexpected.
“I can see the support for her. It’s up. So I mean, strategically, I think it’s a smart choice,” said Laura Beyer, 33, who works in social media marketing, speaking in Copenhagen.
Beyer also praised the prime minister’s management of the Greenland crisis, saying she herself would have struggled under the intense American pressure.
“I think if I were in that situation, I would have just passed out from stress,” Beyer said, adding: “I think she’s done the best that she could. And from my perspective, I don’t think how anyone could do differently.”
