Danes Think the Unthinkable at Landmark Election Shaped by Trump

Foreign and security policy has leapt up the list of voter concerns following the US president’s grab for Greenland, leading to a raft of about-turns on Europe, defense and energy.Author of the article:You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.(Bloomberg) — In a prime-time evening broadcast this month, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen walked out alongside her foreign and defense ministers to announce that Denmark would deepen cooperation with France on nuclear deterrence, a dramatic move for a country long opposed to atomic weapons.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.What made her appearance before the nation all the more striking was that it came days into Denmark’s election campaign, just weeks before the vote.The introduction of such an emotive issue gets to the heart of the highly unusual nature of the March 24 ballot, one in which security and Denmark’s place in an increasingly unstable world have risen to the top of voter concerns over staples like jobs, health or the economy.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.The new reality is causing a reassessment of longstanding policies including Denmark’s lukewarm relations with the European Union to huddle closer to the bloc, and a reappraisal of the country’s energy mix in a bid to become more self-reliant. “We are in the middle of a geopolitical earthquake,” said Soren Lippert, a former political adviser to Frederiksen’s Social Democrats who went on to found GeoPolitik, a forum for political analysis.For the first time in modern Danish history, geopolitics has become the main lens through which voters will choose their leaders, said Lippert.

President Donald Trump’s renewed claims over Greenland have had the effect of turning foreign and security policy into a domestic concern, he said, meaning voters will above all assess politicians on their leadership and their capacity to handle the unknown.“There is a threat to Danish sovereignty,” said Lippert. “And that’s why it’s so important.”Denmark, a nation of six million, has directly felt the shift in the global order through Trump’s ongoing attempts to wrest control of sovereign Danish territory. With great-power politics brought uncomfortably close to home, Trump and his antagonism of core US allies has loomed over the election from the outset.Frederiksen called the vote seven months before a constitutional deadline to capitalize on a surge in support resulting from the standoff. The rupture bolstered the 48-year-old premier’s standing, reinforcing her image as a disciplined and steady leader during periods of national crisis. She leads a rare cross-bloc government spanning the Liberals to the right and the Moderates, a new centrist party.The prime minister has framed the vote as a “decisive election” as Danes define their relationship with the US and the future of the kingdom, which includes Greenland and the Faroe Islands. In what analysts say is a clear advantage for the governing parties, 33% of respondents to a poll published by TV2 last month said foreign and security policy was top of mind. “Denmark is adapting to a new world order,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Liberal prime minister who led Denmark in the early 2000s and later served as NATO secretary general, said in an interview.For decades, Denmark saw itself as a small but pragmatic country sheltered by its alliances. It sent troops to fight in US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and prided itself on being a reliable ally, conscious that its own security ultimately depended on larger powers. At the same time, it’s espoused very European sensibilities, upholding a peacetime ban on nuclear weapons on its soil, cutting defense spending after the Cold War, and framing the Arctic as a zone of cooperation rather than confrontation.The advent of a Russia that’s waging all-out war in Europe, a more assertive China and an aggressive US openly contemptuous of its allies has upended those certainties, sending a shock through Danish society and forcing a widespread policy rethink. That includes broad public and political support for strengthening the military and for taking greater responsibility within NATO.“If we had known then what we know now, there are a number of political decisions we would have made differently,” Rasmussen said of his time as premier, giving the example of rearmament.The new geopolitical reality is prompting decisions that until recently would have been hard to imagine. In 2023, the government scrapped a public holiday to help fund defense and Denmark’s support for Ukraine, later encouraging citizens to keep basic emergency supplies at home. It’s hiked defense spending to 3.5% of GDP this year, from 1.4% in 2022.In the 1990s, Danes were among the most vocal critics of France’s nuclear tests in the Pacific, staging boycotts of French products. French wine consumption in Denmark never fully recovered. Now, polls suggest about a third of Danes are open to hosting nuclear weapons on their soil.“Denmark has had such a close relationship with the US, and that rug was pulled out from under us so quickly that the shock has been immense,” said Isabel Bramsen, an associate professor in peace and conflict studies at Lund University. “The Danes now feel much more naked and vulnerable when it comes to security policy.”The shift is spilling over into other policy areas. EU skepticism, once a defining feature of Danish politics, has largely faded from the mainstream as parties across the spectrum acknowledge the union’s growing importance in a more fragmented world. Parties such as the Moderates have called for ditching the krone in favor of the euro to deepen integration, reviving a debate that’s been largely off the agenda since voters rejected the single currency in a 2000 referendum.One of Europe’s most outspoken critics of nuclear energy, Denmark is now also openly reconsidering atomic power in a desire to strengthen energy security and reduce reliance on Russian fossil fuels. Several parties are actively campaigning to overturn a ban on nuclear energy, while the government has established a commission to examine whether it could play a role in Denmark’s future energy mix — a striking shift for a country that outlawed atomic power in 1985 and built a global reputation for wind energy.The daily news flow of US attacks on Iran constantly reminds Danes of an insecure world — and a president who is willing to launch wars to achieve his foreign policy goals.The sense of global uncertainty is clearly weighing on Danes at the election, said Christian Friis Bach, a Liberal Party lawmaker who chairs parliament’s foreign affairs committee. At one event at a school, he said young people questioned him whether it’s safe to have children in such a world. At another, an elderly man asked how politicians could focus on superficial local issues when so much violence is unfolding around the globe. Denmark has reaped the “peace dividend” for too long, said Friis Bach. “Now we simply have to acknowledge that things are moving in the opposite direction.” Even though foreign and security policy has taken on greater urgency, it’s unclear whether it will move enough votes to swing the election. The relative consensus on the issue across Denmark’s political spectrum leaves little opportunity for candidates to draw contrasts. The difficulty scoring points was demonstrated in a debate between Frederiksen and Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberal Party, who are contesting the election as rival candidates for prime minister. When Poulsen proposed expanding conscription, Frederiksen quickly signaled her support, leading to an awkward exchange as each agreed with the other.Candidates are instead directing much of their energy toward domestic issues such as taxes, pension reform and agriculture, where party divides are clearer. Yet polls suggest voter preferences have shifted little during the campaign: Frederiksen is still on track to secure a third term, with her Social Democrats leading in the polls.The Greenland crisis has also lifted Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the Moderates — another former prime minister — as voters reward his handling of tricky diplomacy with Washington. His centrist party may end up playing an important role in determining the next government, as could the two members of the Danish parliament elected in Greenland.The same tensions shaping the race inject an element of unpredictability into the outcome, leaving it vulnerable to events beyond Denmark’s control. The country’s intelligence service has warned that foreign powers including Russia and even the US may seek to interfere in the election, given the Trump administration has made no secret of its wish to see EU-skeptic, anti-immigration forces govern across Europe. The risk hanging over Danish politics now is that a social media post from Trump or his lieutenants could suddenly upend the campaign, said Carsten Bach, speaker on defense matters for the opposition party Liberal Alliance.“That’s a nightmare scenario I can easily imagine happening,” he said.Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.