“I’m obviously disappointed that we’ve lost ground. But I think it’s an acceptable result,” Frederiksen said as she arrived at a post-election event, according to Denmark’s TV2.
Frederiksen said in a speech that she intends to remain as prime minister but acknowledged that forming a new government will not be easy. She told reporters afterward she had already been in contact with “several” party leaders.
Frederiksen’s performance in Denmark – where the Social Democrats sagged but still held on – also reflects a broader pattern across Europe where the center-left is showing renewed fight. In recent votes from Castilla y León in Spain, to Marseille and Paris, to Slovenia and now Denmark, there are signs that standing up to Trump-style politics, or pushing back against Trump himself, can be a winning strategy.
Frederiksen called the snap election earlier this year after enjoying a surge in the polls following her clash with Trump, as Copenhagen fended off the U.S. president’s bid to take over the massive Arctic island.
The center-left boss, who promotes taxing the wealthy and maintains a tough stance on migration, won just 21.9 percent of the vote on Tuesday, with her red bloc falling short of the 90 seats needed to claim a majority, with all votes counted early Wednesday morning.
But Frederiksen’s faction, in winning 84 seats, edged out rivals from the right-leaning “blue bloc,” led by the Venstre and Liberal Alliance parties, which totaled 77 seats. Center-right Venstre, with 10.1 percent of the vote, suffered the worst result in its history.
