COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's election Tuesday ended in an indecisive result that left the prime minister's future unclear, after a campaign that focused on bread-and-butter issues rather than her handling of the crisis over U.S. President Donald Trump's ambitions toward Greenland.
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Official results showed that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's center-left Social Democrats lost ground compared with the last election in 2022, as did her two partners in the outgoing government.
Neither left-leaning nor right-leaning blocs won a majority in parliament. That left experienced Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen — a former prime minister — in the role of kingmaker.
His centrist Moderate party is in a position to determine whether Frederiksen can serve a third term at the helm of the European Union and NATO country of some 6 million people.
Løkke Rasmussen called on rivals on the left and right to climb down from some of the positions they staked out in the campaign, and "come and play with us."
Denmark "is a small country of 6 million people in a world of 8 billion, which is in upheaval — and there is war in Iran, and there is war in Ukraine," he said. He argued that "We are one tribe. We must come together. We must not be divided."
But Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, a center-right challenger to Frederiksen, made clear that he doesn't intend to go into government with her Social Democrats again.
The Social Democrats remained the biggest single party, but with 21.9% of the vote -- well below the 27.5% they took in the 2022 election.
The 48-year-old Frederiksen is known for strong support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia's invasion and for a restrictive approach to migration — continuing what has become a tradition in Danish politics.
Frederiksen called the election in February, several months before she had to. She apparently hoped that her resolute image in the standoff over Trump's push for control of Greenland, rallying European allies behind Denmark, would help her with voters. Her support had previously waned as the cost of living rose, something that, along with pensions and a potential wealth tax, has been a prominent campaign issue.
Moulson reported from Berlin. James Brooks in Copenhagen, Denmark contributed to this report.