Mette Frederiksen Agrees to Form New Minority Government After Two Months of Talks

Mette Frederiksen announced on Monday that she had agreed to form a centre-left minority government, ending more than two months of political deadlock that followed Denmark’s March 24 general election. The 48-year-old Social Democratic leader told reporters in Copenhagen that she had informed the king a government could be formed after long negotiations.

The agreement came after more than 60 days of talks involving 12 parties and followed a brief, unsuccessful attempt by the centre-right Liberals to assemble a rival cabinet.

Frederiksen secured a third consecutive term as prime minister. Her previous centrist coalition lost its majority in the March 24 vote, with the Social Democratic Party’s seats falling from 50 to 38 in the 179-seat parliament — its lowest total since 1903. Voters cited frustration with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis.

The incoming cabinet takes office amid an immediate foreign-policy dispute with the United States over Greenland. Frederiksen has rejected any suggestion that Denmark will cede sovereignty over the self-governed territory. S. Pituffik Space Base in the northwest of the territory.

Beyond the Greenland standoff, the new government confronts a deteriorating security environment in Europe linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Denmark has raised defence spending above 3 percent of GDP and expanded military conscription to women.