Danish PM Mette Frederiksen calls snap election amid popularity surge for resisting Trump’s bid to acquire Greenland

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Thursday announced snap parliamentary elections on March 24 as her party sees a surge in popularity after she pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s aggressive bid to acquire the Danish territory of Greenland. “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 said.

“We need to define our relationship with the United States, and we must rearm to ensure peace on our continent. We must stick together in Europe, and we must secure the future of the Danish Commonwealth,” she told parliament, referring to the Danish Kingdom that consists of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.

In Denmark, a general election is held every four years, but the prime minister can call one at any time.

The last election was held on November 1, 2022, and resulted in a three-party coalition.

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Mette Frederiksen has earned recognition at home and on the global stage for her efforts to push back against President Trump’s efforts to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Recent Danish politics dominated by Trump’s threats to annex Greenland

The past few months of Danish politics have been dominated by Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Last month, Trump dropped threats to use force against the fellow NATO ally to seize the Arctic island he argues is necessary to defend against possible attacks from Russia and China.

More than 100 US military personnel are permanently stationed at a US base in Greenland’s northwestern tip, a facility operated by the US since World War Two.

Under existing agreements with Denmark, the US has the power to bring as many troops as it wants to Greenland.

Backed by their European allies, both Denmark and Greenland have said they will not agree to cede sovereignty to the US.

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‘Security is and will remain the very foundation of Danish politics’

PM Frederiksen told parliament that security is and will remain the very foundation of Danish politics for many, many years to come.

“Whether I will continue to be your prime minister depends on how strong a mandate you give the Social Democrats,” Frederiksen said, mentioning her party, the lead partner in the ruling coalition.

Greenland is sparsely populated, but its location between North America and the Arctic makes it well-placed for early warning systems in the event of missile attacks.

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The Danish government is a cross-partisan coalition of PM Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, the centre-right Liberal Party led by Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, and the Moderates, led by Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the foreign minister who has twice served as prime minister.