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 intending for a third term.
Frederiksen, 48, called the vote months earlier than anticipated, buoyed by popular support for her handling of US President Donald Trump's risk to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
Her Social Democrats have lost support because the 2022 elections and she is facing a strong challenge from two celebrations on the centre-right, consisting of the Liberal Venstre party of Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
Denmark is run by union federal governments and Tuesday's vote will choose whether power will stick with a left-win bloc or move to the right.
Latest viewpoint polls offer 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 betting that the "Trump bump" that boosted her poll numbers after her bold 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 rebuffed Trump's quotes to take control of Greenland, and the Danes and their European partners sent a military contingent to the island last January.
Broadly-speaking, nevertheless, there is a large 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 a concern for citizens, with some parties including Frederiksen's calling for a ban.
However, her celebration's lead in the polls is not likely to be adequate to keep the 90 seats she requires to hold a bulk in parliament.
After a commanding win in 2022, led a union throughout the middle, that saw her Social Democrats team up with the centrist Moderates and right-of-centre Liberals, and all three parties are down significantly in the surveys.
Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberals has actually become another candidate for prime minister, but he needs a strong proving in Tuesday's vote.
Even with the biggest vote share, the Social Democrats are heading for their weakest result in more than a century. In in 2015's regional elections, they slumped to 17%.
The polls suggest neither the "red" left-wing bloc nor the "blue" bloc on the right will be able to form a majority without depending on the centrist Moderates of Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen to function as kingmaker.
The four parliamentary seats held by Greenland and the Faroe Islands, might also prove influential, with the possibility for the very first time in decades that a minimum of one of the Greenlandic seats flips from red to blue.
Rasmussen, who also impressed Danes with his handling of the Greenland stand-off, has currently voiced his aspiration to take on the job of royal detective - a key function in forging a governing coalition.
However, the royal investigator typically becomes the next prime minister, and Rasmussen has suggested he has no desire to lead the country once again, having served 2 terms as prime minister in the past.
He informed press reporters that he wished to be at the forefront of forming the next government's policy, with Denmark requiring to "stand together at a time of department".