COPENHAGEN, Denmark — An exit poll suggested that left-leaning and right-leaning blocs are likely to fall short of a parliamentary majority in Denmark's election Tuesday. The vote followed a crisis over U.S. President Donald Trump 's designs on the kingdom's semiautonomous territory of Greenland.
The poll conducted by the Megafon research institute for broadcaster TV 2 showed Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s center-left Social Democrats remaining the biggest single party with about 21% of the vote, but well below their showing in the 2022 election.
Frederiksen has led a three-party government that is unusual in straddling the left-right divide in her second term. The centrist Moderate party of Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen may well end up as the kingmaker again, according to the exit poll.
Frederiksen called the election in February, several months before she had to. She apparently hoped that her resolute image in the standoff over Trump's push for control of Greenland would help her with voters in the European Union and NATO member country.
“Some people are talking about a Greenlandic moment this year when Europe stood up, stood together, and hopefully I can be a part of that after this election as well,” Frederiksen said after meeting voters on Tuesday.
In her second term, her support had waned as the cost of living rose — something that, along with pensions and a potential wealth tax, has been a prominent campaign issue.
No single party was expected to come anywhere near winning a majority. Denmark’s system of proportional representation typically produces coalition governments, traditionally made up of several parties from either the “red bloc” on the left or the “blue bloc” on the right, after weeks of negotiations.
Frederiksen’s outgoing administration was the first in decades to cross the left-right divide. It remains to be seen whether this election will result in a repeat.
The 48-year-old Frederiksen is known for strong support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion and for a restrictive approach to migration — continuing what has become a tradition in Danish politics.
Seeking to counter pressure from the right and pointing to a possible surge in migration because of the Iran war, Frederiksen announced proposals this month that include a potential "emergency brake" on asylum and tighter controls on criminals who lack legal residence. Her government had already unveiled a plan to allow the deportation of foreigners who have been sentenced to at least one year in prison for serious crimes.
Two center-right challengers hoped to oust Frederiksen as prime minister. One is in her current government — Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberal, or Venstre, party, which headed several recent administrations but also appeared on course to win fewer seats Tuesday.
The other was Alex Vanopslagh, 34, of the opposition Liberal Alliance, which calls for lower taxes and less bureaucracy, and for Denmark to abandon its refusal to use nuclear power.
Further to the right, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party was set to improve significantly on its very weak showing at the last election in 2022.
Greenland, which took up much of the government’s energy in recent months, wasn't a significant issue in the campaign because there is broad agreement on its place in the kingdom.
Frederiksen warned in January that an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of NATO. But the crisis has simmered down, at least for now.
After Trump backed down on threats to impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that opposed the U.S. taking control of the vast Arctic island, the U.S., Denmark and Greenland started technical talks on an Arctic security deal.
Denmark’s single-chamber parliament, the Folketing, has 179 seats. Of those, 175 go to lawmakers from Denmark itself and two each for representatives from thinly populated Greenland and the kingdom’s other semiautonomous territory, the Faroe Islands.
Denmark has about 6 million people and more than 4.3 million were eligible to vote.
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Moulson reported from Berlin.
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