Now, fraught coalition talks will begin, with control in Copenhagen likely hinging on which direction Rasmussen — the current foreign minister and leader of the Moderates party — will swing. His party has enough seats to hand power to Frederiksen, or to Venstre’s Troels Lund Poulsen atop the blue bloc.
Rasmussen called on both Poulsen and Frederiksen to “drop the trench warfare” after they spent much of the campaign attacking one another, despite serving in the coalition government together. “Come down and join us. You’re standing out by the corner flags; we’re in the middle. Come and play with us,” he said Tuesday night.
But Poulsen has ruled out forming a government with Frederiksen again, instead making a plea to Rasmussen to help form a conservative government.
After Denmark’s last parliamentary election in 2022, it took 42 days to form a government, when the results were far more clear-cut than what was produced by Tuesday’s vote.
Complicating the negotiations, the Red-Green Alliance — part of Frederiksen’s red bloc — has said it won’t join any government unless it’s strictly left-leaning, which could mean shutting out Rasmussen and the Moderates. “If she wants to use our mandates, she must put forward a red government,” said party leader Pelle Dragsted on Tuesday, after snagging 6.3 percent of the vote.
Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left in the red bloc, which finished in second place at 11.6 percent, judged that all options — red, blue or broad government — remain on the table, adding that coalition talks “will be tricky.”