Danish PM’s electoral setback after standing up to Trump

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Contrary to conventional wisdom, it seems that standing up to US imperialism ranked low among the Danish electorate’s priorities in this week’s parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen suffered a major blow as her coalition failed to secure a majority and her Social Democratic Party suffered its worst election result since 1903, winning just 38 seats in the 179-seat parliament — down from the 50 it won four ‌years ago — amid ‌voter concerns over migration, the cost-of-living crisis ‌and ⁠welfare.

The people, it seems, did not reward the prime minister for her “iron lady” show against US President Donald Trump’s push to oblige Denmark to cede the semiautonomous Arctic island of Greenland.

Over the last year, Denmark, the EU and NATO have sailed through very turbulent waters, with Trump having Greenland firmly in his sights. Though the US claim to Greenland has subsided — maybe because Venezuela became an easier target and Iran is now looking like a rather stubborn adversary that could damage Trump’s standing and tame his other whims — Denmark, I believe, owes much to the steadfastness of Frederiksen and her government.

Greenland was ultimately not a big issue in the election campaign, despite the matter becoming a national emergency and taking up much of the government’s energy in recent months. There was a consensus among all parties that Denmark should reject Washington’s advances, which bordered on bullying this small nation.

Though the US claim to Greenland has subsided, Denmark owes much to the steadfastness of Frederiksen Mohamed Chebaro

Though the US claim to Greenland has subsided, Denmark owes much to the steadfastness of Frederiksen

Frederiksen remained calm throughout the crisis. She raised the stakes by warning that the US taking over Greenland would amount to the end of NATO, leading the crisis to simmer down, at least for now. The president instead opted to let the US, Denmark and Greenland start technical talks on an Arctic security pact. Trump also backed down from his threats to impose punitive tariffs on Denmark and the other European countries that opposed the US taking control of the vast Arctic island.

Frederiksen appeared to digest the blow she received from the electorate and claimed that, although she hoped for a better result, she believed it was normal for a party that was seeking a third term in power to lose some ground. The Social Democrats won 21.9 percent of the vote, down 4 percent on 2022 but still the largest for a single party in the fragmented Danish system. This came after seven uneasy years in power, during which her government successfully weathered many challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the threat this war posed to Europe and NATO, as well as the big showdown with Trump over Greenland.

The democratic choices made by voters can sometimes be puzzling and the fate of Fredriksen is a case in point. All of her bravado on the international stage concerning Greenland, standing up to Trump, and even leading the charge within Europe and NATO against Russia did not play in her favor or that of her party. However, Denmark’s proportional representation system could see Frederiksen stay on as PM despite her reduced share of the vote.

Frederiksen, who handed in her coalition government’s resignation on Wednesday, could still emerge as the leader of a new bloc in the coming weeks. The concerns expressed at the ballot box regarded issues that are pan-European and even global, such as the difficult-to-tame migration issue and the persistent cost-of-living crisis, which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic early in her premiership and later compounded by the war in Ukraine and now by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

All that has apparently overshadowed the widespread support for Frederiksen’s defiant stance toward Trump’s repeated attempts to acquire Greenland. However, she is widely seen as having a good shot of returning for a third term as prime minister, but not without lengthy coalition negotiations.

The democratic choices made by voters can sometimes be puzzling and the fate of Fredriksen is a case in point Mohamed Chebaro

The democratic choices made by voters can sometimes be puzzling and the fate of Fredriksen is a case in point

Frederiksen’s left-wing bloc won 84 seats in parliament versus 77 for the right-leaning parties, with both sides falling short of the 90 needed for a majority. That leaves them dependent ‌on the 14 seats won by the unaligned Moderates Party of Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, ⁠a centrist ⁠group that could emerge as kingmakers in the coalition talks.

Since 2022, Frederiksen has led a grand coalition of the Social Democrats, the right-of-center Liberal Party and the Moderates. The leader of the Liberal Party, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, has said he is no longer interested in coalition rule with Frederiksen. Instead, he seems ready to position himself as the potential leader of a coalition of his own.

In a small country of just 6 million people — in a world of 8 billion that is witnessing a series of critical and dangerous upheavals, from Ukraine to Iran, not to mention other insecurities and acts of sabotage against the resilience of the EU and NATO by enemies like the Kremlin and allies in the White house alike — voters and political leaders in Denmark ought to remember, as Rasmussen has said, that they should stay united. They must refrain from falling prey to division when the world is at one of its most dangerous moments, with discord all around and, above all, the erosion of the rule of law amid heightened superpower rivalries.

• Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.

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