The Social Democrats, the center-left party that heads Denmark’s current government, had their worst performance in more than a century in parliamentary elections in the Nordic country, which will require difficult negotiations to form a new government while tensions remain over American President Donald Trump’s plans to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats were the party with the most votes in Tuesday’s election (24), with 21.9% of the votes, but this was the party’s worst electoral result since 1903.
The party won just 38 seats in Parliament, 12 fewer compared to the 2022 election.
The other two parties in Frederiksen’s coalition, the Liberals and the Moderates, both center-right, also lost seats, but the Social Democrats’ weak performance will force them to negotiate with their partners.
The leader of the Liberal Party, the current Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, stated that he is no longer interested in joining a coalition government led by Frederiksen.
In turn, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of the Moderates, called for unity.
“Denmark is a small country of 6 million inhabitants in a world of 8 billion, which is in upheaval — and there is war in Iran and there is war in Ukraine,” he declared, according to information from CNN. “We are one tribe. We must unite. We cannot be divided.”
The party that grew the most in this election was the right-wing nationalist Danish People’s Party, which won 16 seats (two more than the Moderates and just two less than the Liberals), increasing its presence in parliament by 11 seats.
Esquerda Verde obtained the second largest representation, with 20 seats, five more compared to 2022.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has stated that he plans to annex Greenland, citing security concerns in the Arctic in relation to China and Russia, an idea that is rejected by politicians in Denmark and the island.
In January, the American president announced that he would impose tariffs on imports from eight European countries (including Denmark) that oppose his annexation plan.
Days later, Trump said that Washington and NATO agreed on the “structure” of an agreement regarding Greenland, but without detailing what this commitment would be. For this reason, the American government suspended the tariffs that would be applied from February. The European Union also suspended plans for a “trade bazooka” in response to Washington.
