Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has formed a new centre-left minority government after over two months of political deadlock. The government will face immediate foreign policy challenges regarding Greenland amid ongoing tensions with the United States.
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Denmark’s Social Democratic leader Mette Frederiksen has announced that she has agreed to form a centre-left minority government, securing a third consecutive term as prime minister.
The breakthrough, announced on Monday, ends more than two months of political deadlock following a highly fractured March general election. The incoming cabinet will take power facing an immediate foreign policy crisis with the United States over the future of Greenland.
The agreement to form the government comes after more than 60 days of political haggling involving 12 parties. A brief failed attempt by the centre-right Liberals to form a rival government cleared the way for Frederiksen to finalise her minority cabinet.
“I have been to see His Majesty the King and announced that a government can be formed after long negotiations,” Frederiksen told reporters in Copenhagen.
However, the 48-year-old prime minister faces a deeply precarious landscape. In the March 24 election, voters frustrated by a prolonged cost-of-living crisis stripped her previous centrist coalition of its majority.
Her Social Democratic Party saw its representation drop from 50 to 38 seats in the 179-seat parliament, marking its lowest finish since 1903.
However, the sternest challenge for the returning premier will be the tension between Copenhagen and Washington over Greenland, which have spiked following threats by President Donald Trump to annex the autonomous Arctic territory.
Frederiksen has firmly rejected any suggestion that Denmark will cede sovereignty, stating that an American takeover would “signal the end of NATO”.
Navigating the strategic standoff over Greenland’s defence installations, vast mineral resources and the operational future of the US Pituffik Space Base will be her administration’s central challenge.
Beyond the Greenland dispute, the new government faces a rapidly deteriorating security environment in Europe. Frederiksen’s immediate tasks include managing a build-up of Denmark’s military defence capabilities, heavily driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Under her stewardship, Denmark has already rapidly increased defence spending to over 3% of its GDP and taken the historic step of expanding military conscription to women.
The new government was formed after more than 60 days of political negotiations following a fractured March general election.
The incoming cabinet faces an immediate foreign policy crisis with the United States concerning the future of Greenland.
The March election resulted in Frederiksen's previous coalition losing its majority due to voter frustration over a prolonged cost-of-living crisis.
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