- Title: Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's Trump-defying prime minister, seeks third term
- Date: 20th March 2026
- Summary: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (FILE - FEBRUARY 5, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTEST AGAINST THE PROPOSED SCRAPPING OF A PUBLIC HOLIDAY NUUK, GREENLAND (FILE - MARCH 12, 2025)(REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DANISH PATROL VESSEL HDMS VAEDDEREN ON PATROL NUUK FJORD, GREENLAND (APRIL 3, 2025)(REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FREDERIKSEN TALKING TO DANISH MILITARY REPRESENTATIVE HELICOPTER ON DECK VARIOUS OF F
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Donald Trump Greenland Mette Frederiksen Ukraine covid election minks prime minister
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Denmark
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA005514618032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has staked her leadership on defying U.S. President Donald Trump over Greenland. Convincing voters at home to give her a third term, however, is proving harder.
She heads into a March 24 general election betting that her defiant stand over the Arctic island will overcome growing doubts about whether she has paid enough attention to a cost-of-living crisis in Denmark.
Frederiksen, whose Social Democrats suffered a historic defeat in municipal elections last November, has seen a revival this year. Support for the Social Democrats plummeted to 17% in December opinion polls, well below the 28% it won in 2022, before rebounding to around 22% in recent weeks amid what many Danes said was resolute handling of the Greenland dispute.
48-year-old Frederiksen entered parliament at 24 and has led the Social Democrats since 2015, becoming Denmark's youngest prime minister four years later and only the second woman to lead the Nordic country's government.
She built much of her early career on defending Danish control over welfare, labour rules and borders, while casting deeper EU integration as a constraint on sovereignty.
However, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing uncertainty over U.S. security guarantees caused her to shift. She dropped Denmark's opposition to collective EU debt, backed joint defence procurement and last year moved away from the other members of the fiscally conservative "Frugal Four", saying European unity had become a security necessity.
One of the most damaging episodes for Frederiksen came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when her government in 2020 ordered Denmark's entire mink population culled over fears they could carry the virus. A public inquiry later concluded that the move lacked a legal basis, and that Frederiksen and her government "grossly misled" the public, though it also found she had not personally been aware that she overstepped her authority.
The mink scandal was not an isolated episode. Her government's decision to abolish a public holiday to help finance increased defence spending has angered workers across the country.
The election will test support for a leader who has navigated an extraordinary sequence of crises, including a global pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, drone incursions, the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and the confrontation with Washington over Greenland.
Each crisis has raised Frederiksen's international profile, even as it deepened some voters' sense that her attention lies elsewhere.
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