COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) 鈥� Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen is set to begin a third term as Denmark鈥檚 prime minister, leading a center鈥憀eft coalition of four parties after two months of negotiations.
Besides Frederiksen’s own party, the new government will include the centrist Moderate party of outgoing Foreign Minister Lars L酶kke Rasmussen, the Green Left (SF) and the Danish Social Liberal Party, the Danish Royal House said in a statement Monday.
It will be a government working for “the people of Denmark, for the generations to come and for the animals,鈥� Frederiksen said Monday night.
Animal welfare was one of several issues that was debated during the campaign.
Frederiksen had in February, apparently hoping her party would receive a boost from her straight-talking image in the standoff with U.S. President over the future of the kingdom鈥檚 semiautonomous territory of .
Neither left-leaning nor right-leaning blocs won a majority in Parliament after . Denmark鈥檚 system of proportional representation typically produces coalition governments that are traditionally made up of several parties from either left or right.
Frederiksen’s ruling coalition was created after two failed attempts to form a government, one by Frederiksen and another by outgoing Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, who had sought to form a center-right government.
The new government’s priorities will be presented Tuesday with the names of new ministers announced Wednesday.
Frederiksen is a center-left politician with conservative stances
The 48-year-old prime minister has led the European Union and NATO member country since mid-2019. This time around, her party won 38 seats in the 鈦�179-seat single-chamber parliament, which was 鈥�12 less than in the 2022 elections.
Frederiksen is known for strong in its defense against Russia鈥檚 invasion and for a restrictive approach to migration.
Seeking to counter pressure from the political right and pointing to a possible surge in migration because of the , Frederiksen announced proposals this year that include a potential 鈥渆mergency brake鈥� on asylum and tighter controls on criminals who lack legal residence. Her government already had unveiled a plan to allow who have been sentenced to at least one year in prison for serious crimes.
In her second term, her support waned as the cost of living rose. But she enjoyed a bump in popularity as the government navigated the crisis over Trump鈥檚 designs on Greenland, which in a short-lived threat to impose tariffs on European nations that opposed his call for U.S. control of the vast Arctic island.
Greenland wasn鈥檛 a big campaign issue
Greenland, which took up much of the government鈥檚 energy in recent months, wasn鈥檛 a significant issue in the campaign because there is broad agreement on its place in the kingdom.
Frederiksen warned in January that a U.S. takeover of Greenland would amount to the . But the crisis has simmered down.
After 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 on an Arctic security deal.
The rising cost of living, pensions and a potential wealth tax ended up as prominent campaign issues instead.
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