Which Danish politician received the "golden share" and will the pro-Ukrainian PM keep her position
Denmark's pro-Ukrainian Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emerged from the 24 March elections with significant losses but remains in the race for another term.
Neither of the traditional blocs, left nor right, won the required majority of 90 seats. This means Denmark is entering the era of its most fragmented parliament in seven decades, where each of the 12 winning parties seeks to dictate terms.
At the same time, the results clearly pointed to the person who now holds the "golden share" in Danish politics and is capable of bringing order to the chaos, naturally at a price.
Read more about the winners and losers of the Danish elections, Frederiksen’s prospects and implications for Ukraine in the article by Khrystyna Bondarieva, a European Pravda journalist: Beaten but not defeated: will Denmark’s pro-Ukrainian prime minister keep her position.
After the elections, Mette Frederiksen stated she aims to remain prime minister despite declining support for all three parties in her government (the so-called SVM coalition). Before the elections, the Social Democrats, Liberals (Venstre) and Moderates had 89 seats, but now they have only 70.
One of the night’s main triumphs was undoubtedly the nationalist and far-right populist Danish People’s Party, which belongs to Viktor Orbán’s "Patriots for Europe" alliance.
After disastrous results in 2022, when the party was on the verge of dropping out of parliament, it made a major comeback, winning 9.1% of the vote and tripling its number of seats.
Equally historic was the success of the Green Left. With 11.6% (20 seats), the party achieved its best result since 1987 and, for the first time in history, became the second-largest force in parliament.
For the first time since 1953, all 12 parties that participated in the election crossed the 2% threshold and entered parliament.
This means that with such a colorful composition of the Folketing, key agreements will become extremely difficult.
Despite expectations, neither bloc reached the desired 90 seats needed for single-party rule. The left "red bloc" stopped at 84 seats, while the right "blue bloc" managed only 77.
Observers therefore agree that Denmark’s political future is now in the hands of Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leader of the Moderates.
Parliamentary arithmetic shows that his 14 seats are crucial for passing any major decisions.
He received exactly what he wanted: the position of "kingmaker". He can now dictate terms to both Mette Frederiksen and the right-wing leader Troels Lund Poulsen. The latter has publicly urged Rasmussen to form a "blue centrist government", shouting from the podium: "The opportunity is there, Lars!"
It is easy to predict that Rasmussen will now pursue a strategy of raising the stakes.
On Wednesday, King Frederik X officially tasked Mette Frederiksen with forming a new cabinet.
Frederiksen said the most realistic option is to try forming a center-left government with the Moderates. Meanwhile, Rasmussen called for a broad cross-bloc coalition – something neither the "red" nor the "blue" blocs want.
It is also notable that Frederiksen enters negotiations weakened. If she fails to persuade Rasmussen or her left-wing allies, the task of forming a government may pass to another candidate.
For Ukraine, this means one thing: a key ally in Northern Europe is now absorbed by domestic politics, and it remains to hope that Denmark’s consensus on supporting Kyiv proves stronger than coalition intrigues.