COPENHAGEN, June 1 (Reuters) – Denmark’s Social Democratic leader Mette Frederiksen said on Monday she has agreed to form a centre-left coalition government, maintaining her grip on power amid a crisis in ties with U.S. President Donald Trump over the future of Greenland.
The deal to form a minority cabinet gives Frederiksen a third consecutive term as prime minister, ending months of uncertainty after a March election in which 12 parties won seats in the Danish parliament.
“I have been to see His Majesty the King and announced that a government can be formed after long negotiations,” Frederiksen told reporters.
Her centrist coalition lost its majority in the March 24 vote as Danes revolted over a cost-of-living crisis, although the Social Democratic Party remained the biggest group in parliament with 38 out of 179 seats, down from 50.
After more than two months of haggling, where the Social Democrats and the right-wing Liberals each sought to lead a new government, it was the 48-year-old Frederiksen who secured the necessary backing from parties in parliament.
The government’s immediate to-do list includes diplomatic talks over Greenland, which Trump has threatened to annex, and a rapid build-up of Denmark’s military as security in Europe deteriorates amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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