Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced February 26 that Denmark will hold parliamentary elections on March 24. The vote comes seven months ahead of schedule and 26 days after she calls it, the shortest campaign since 2015.
The 179-seat Folketing includes 175 lawmakers representing Denmark proper, plus two each for Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Frederiksen currently leads a three-party coalition formed after November 2022 elections. Her Social Democrats govern alongside the Liberal Party Venstre and the centrist Moderates.
Polling shows the Social Democrats at 22 percent support. That would keep them Denmark’s largest party but marks a 5.5-point drop from 2022. The party lost ground in European and local elections last year, including Copenhagen for the first time in over a century.
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen declared his candidacy for prime minister the same day Frederiksen called the election. The Venstre leader pledged to strengthen national security, tighten immigration policy, and improve economic competitiveness. The Conservative People’s Party and Danish People’s Party endorsed him as the blue bloc’s candidate.
President Trump revived his push to acquire Greenland in early January. He threatened tariffs on Denmark before backing down. The confrontation boosted Frederiksen’s polling numbers as she projected strength against American pressure.
“This will be a decisive election, because it will be in the next four years that we as Danes and as Europeans will really have to stand on our own feet,” Frederiksen told parliament. “We need to define our relationship with the United States, and we must rearm to ensure peace on our Continent.”
Technical talks between Washington, Copenhagen, and Nuuk on Arctic security cooperation began after Trump withdrew his tariff threats. At the Munich Security Conference in early February, Frederiksen said the Greenland crisis has not passed. She believes Trump still wants to annex the territory.
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