Danish Elections and Politics

[Diouf]

The government, Liberals, SPP, Social Liberals, Red-Green Alliance, Liberal Alliance and Christian Democrats has made a deal to help Ukrainian refugees coming to Denmark. The deal exempts those fleeing from Ukraine from the standard procedures of applying for asylum, and instead creates an express track where they will get almost immediately a temporary residence permit, so they are able to work, study and get health care. Those Ukrainians already in Denmark on work permits will also be able to apply for this permit.
DPP and New Right are against the deal because it includes everyone with a legal stay in Ukraine, i.e. including refugees/migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The Conservatives had the same opposition, so weren't a part of the deal when presented. However, the party's spokesperson in these negotiations, hard core immigration-sceptic Marcus Knuth, might have gone too far. The party has been barraged with attacks from the media and the other mainstream parties. Local councillors have spoken against it as well, and it seems obvious that several MPs were very uneasy with it. So now it sounds like, the Conservatives will end up backing the deal as well.

Just to clarify, they are opposed to the deal because non-western migrants legally living in Ukraine are allowed to seek asylum in Denmark? I can’t imagine this would apply to many people in practice so it seems an odd hill to die on given the sympathy for Ukrainian refugees atm.

Yeah, that's basically it. See below for posts from Marcus Knuth + Pernille Vermund.
And yeah, the Conservatives obviously couldn't afford doing this. Don't think DPP and New Right will waver, but probably not something that will help or hurt them much.

https://twitter.com/MarcusKnuth1/status/1499785745241886720/photo/1
https://www.instagram.com/p/CasOQjfI-_S/

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

The government, Liberals, SPP, Social Liberals, Red-Green Alliance, Liberal Alliance and Christian Democrats has made a deal to help Ukrainian refugees coming to Denmark. The deal exempts those fleeing from Ukraine from the standard procedures of applying for asylum, and instead creates an express track where they will get almost immediately a temporary residence permit, so they are able to work, study and get health care. Those Ukrainians already in Denmark on work permits will also be able to apply for this permit.
DPP and New Right are against the deal because it includes everyone with a legal stay in Ukraine, i.e. including refugees/migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The Conservatives had the same opposition, so weren't a part of the deal when presented. However, the party's spokesperson in these negotiations, hard core immigration-sceptic Marcus Knuth, might have gone too far. The party has been barraged with attacks from the media and the other mainstream parties. Local councillors have spoken against it as well, and it seems obvious that several MPs were very uneasy with it. So now it sounds like, the Conservatives will end up backing the deal as well.

Just to clarify, they are opposed to the deal because non-western migrants legally living in Ukraine are allowed to seek asylum in Denmark? I can’t imagine this would apply to many people in practice so it seems an odd hill to die on given the sympathy for Ukrainian refugees atm.

You would think, but there are a surprising number of indians stuck over there.

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

Agreement on support for Ukrainian refugees with big Defence agreement expected to follow

The government, Liberals, SPP, Social Liberals, Red-Green Alliance, Liberal Alliance and Christian Democrats has made a deal to help Ukrainian refugees coming to Denmark. The deal exempts those fleeing from Ukraine from the standard procedures of applying for asylum, and instead creates an express track where they will get almost immediately a temporary residence permit, so they are able to work, study and get health care. Those Ukrainians already in Denmark on work permits will also be able to apply for this permit.
DPP and New Right are against the deal because it includes everyone with a legal stay in Ukraine, i.e. including refugees/migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The Conservatives had the same opposition, so weren't a part of the deal when presented. However, the party's spokesperson in these negotiations, hard core immigration-sceptic Marcus Knuth, might have gone too far. The party has been barraged with attacks from the media and the other mainstream parties. Local councillors have spoken against it as well, and it seems obvious that several MPs were very uneasy with it. So now it sounds like, the Conservatives will end up backing the deal as well.

At the same time, express negotiations have started about a new defence settlement. Three main things seem to be under consideration. The first is an immediate increase in defence spending, the second is making a concrete plan to reach 2% GDP defence spending in 2030, and the third is a referendum on the Danish EU opt out from defence cooperation.

Do you have any articles about that refugees deal to read more about it?

[Diouf]

Agreement on support for Ukrainian refugees with big Defence agreement expected to follow

The government, Liberals, SPP, Social Liberals, Red-Green Alliance, Liberal Alliance and Christian Democrats has made a deal to help Ukrainian refugees coming to Denmark. The deal exempts those fleeing from Ukraine from the standard procedures of applying for asylum, and instead creates an express track where they will get almost immediately a temporary residence permit, so they are able to work, study and get health care. Those Ukrainians already in Denmark on work permits will also be able to apply for this permit.
DPP and New Right are against the deal because it includes everyone with a legal stay in Ukraine, i.e. including refugees/migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The Conservatives had the same opposition, so weren't a part of the deal when presented. However, the party's spokesperson in these negotiations, hard core immigration-sceptic Marcus Knuth, might have gone too far. The party has been barraged with attacks from the media and the other mainstream parties. Local councillors have spoken against it as well, and it seems obvious that several MPs were very uneasy with it. So now it sounds like, the Conservatives will end up backing the deal as well.

At the same time, express negotiations have started about a new defence settlement. Three main things seem to be under consideration. The first is an immediate increase in defence spending, the second is making a concrete plan to reach 2% GDP defence spending in 2030, and the third is a referendum on the Danish EU opt out from defence cooperation.

Do you have any articles about that refugees deal to read more about it?

The official government site is here with quotes from the involved parties: https://uim.dk/nyhedsarkiv/2022/marts/bred-aftale-om-lovgivning-til-fordrevne-fra-ukraine/

A TV2 article here: https://nyheder.tv2.dk/politik/2022-03-04-folketinget-vedtager-saerlov-om-ukrainske-flygtninge

[Diouf]

Agreement on new defence settlement



Tonight, the government, Liberals, SPP, Social Liberals and Conservatives concluded an emergency agreement on a new defence settlement for Denmark. The deal includes five things.
- An additional 3.5 bln. DKK for the Danish defence in 2022 and 2023.
- A steady increase of the Danish defence expenses so that 2% of GDP is reached in 2033.
- A referendum on the Danish EU defence opt-out on 1 June 2022.
- Achieve full independence from Russian energy, and help the rest of Europe to achieve the same objective.
- Loosen the demands in the Budget law, so the structural deficit can now be 1% of GDP a year vs. 0.5% currently, so that it will be possible to finance the new defence investments while maintaining high welfare spending.

The deal is made between the five old parties. Christian Democrats + the Moderates have already announced their support for the deal. DPP + New Right is opposed to the referendum part, and both will hope to benefit from the EU question rising to the top of the agenda as the number of right wing EU-sceptics is surely higher than the two parties' current combined vote. Red-Green Alliance (+ the three small green parties, I would guess) are against the massive increase in defence spending. I haven't seen any comment from the Liberal Alliance. I'm sure they will accept the first four points, but they could perhaps stay away from supporting the complete deal due to the loosening of fiscal policy.

[Diouf]

With the Moderates being approved, we are now at thirteen eligible parties represented in parliament. Tonight, they were all together for the first time in a party leader debate about Ukraine. And in the next election, the Vegan Party is of course also eligible. Plus potentially a Støjberg list + maybe others?

https://twitter.com/BrianVad/status/1501278516918337545

[Diouf]

The wokest of all Danish elected representatives, Social Liberal MEP Karen Melchior, continues to become more distanced from her party. She is currently on sick leave after the revelations of her mental abuse of her European Parliament staff, which have basically all left. However, in the two recent weeks she has still voted in the EP despite being officially on sick leave, which have caused huge criticism. Yesterday, the leader of the party's administrative part, Mikkel Irminger, made the hardest criticism yet:"Karen is on sick leave for good reasons. It is completely untenable for her to continue her political activity instead of prioritizing her health and coming back into politics properly. I'm truly sad to see that". I wonder if she will stay in the party. She is also on really bad terms with the other Social Liberal MEP Morten Helveg Petersen. I think she could go independent at some point, or maybe join one of the small green parties. I actually think her preferences would line up the best with Volt. It should seem a bit crazy to change to a party, which is basically non-existent in Denmark. In the 2021 local elections, it was on the ballot in DK for the first time; in Frederiksberg where it won 105 votes (0.2%). But if you are a no-hoper for the 2024 election anyway, then why not join a movement you believe fully in. And then, she could try to build the party a party a bit in Denmark and/or maybe focus her attention in one of the more successful divisions in another country.

https://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/politik/danskpolitik/farcen-fortsaetter-ganske-uholdbart/9166951?ilc=c

In the Red-Green Alliance, the party's perhaps biggest profile, Pelle Dragsted, has announced that he is running for parliament at the next general election. Dragsted was a MP from 2015-2019, but couldn't run again in 2019 due to the party's rotation principles as he had also worked for the party in parliament in the years before 2015. In 2021, he ran in the local elections in Frederiksberg. He won 4 198 personal votes, only second to the incumbent Conservative mayor Simon Aggesen, and helped turn the long-standing Conservative municipality into one with a Red Bloc majority and a Social Democrat mayor. Once elected to parliament, he will have to leave his councillor seat as the party does not allow double seats, so his tenure as councillor will be at most 1.5 years.
Dragsted is a former, far-left violent activist turned into a modernizing political force in the Red-Green Alliance. He is seen as one of the major figures in turning the party more pragmatic and governable. And he has also recently stated, along with the party's MEP Nikolaj Villumsen, that he will propose that the party changes its platform, so it no longer wants to leave and abolish the EU.

https://www.altinget.dk/artikel/pelle-dragsted-vil-i-folketinget-igen

[Diouf]

Another chapter is written in the story of divisions in minor green parties. Vegan party co-founder Michael Monberg, along with most of those around him in the party, has joined the Alternative. In recent months, Monberg has been part of a intense battle in the Vegan Party against another part of the party led by fellow co-founder Michael Vindfeldt. Monberg's section got Vindfeldt expelled by the party and took over the leadership positions, but in an extraordinary congress Vindfeldt was re-instated as a party member and the entire leadership, including Monberg, were booted from their positions.

[Diouf]

Now that all pollsters have made a poll with the Moderates included, Politologi.dk has made their weigthed average with them included. It shows Løkke's party at 2.8%, but with a significant uncertainty due to the low number of polls they have been a part of and the differences among pollsters.

[JimJamUK]

Diouf, what it the current state of relations between the Social Democrats and trade unions (money, campaigning, government policy etc)?

[Diouf]

Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup has just announced that he is leaving his post, and will instead become CEO of the Danish Brewers' Association. The Hækkerup clan has had plenty of MPs, mayors etc. for the Social Democrats, and Nick has certainly also had several influential posts for the party. He was Mayor of Hillerød from 2000-2007 before becoming a MP in the 2007 Winter election. When Thorning became PM in 2011, he got a fairly significant post as Minister of Defence. Midway through the term he was demoted to Minister of Europe and Trade before finally becoming Minister of Health. He has been Minister of Justice since Mette Frederiksen became PM in 2019.
He has generally been a very solid vote getter in Northern Zealand for the party with a bit more than 11.000 personal votes in both of the last two elections. He has never been the most prominent Minister, but he has a fairly nice underplayed sense of humor and has seemed more human/less robotic than some colleagues can be in positions of influence.
He has just finished an important deal for the Government, in making an agreement with Kosovo where Denmark will loan 300 prison cells down there, where criminal foreigners with a deportation sentence will be sent.

It is as always interesting to see how he will be replaced. Minister of Justice is such a significant post, that it seems less likely for someone from outside the government getting that position. So that opens up the possibility for the ripple effect of a reshuffle with a couple of faces included. I think one of the heavy names, which have been in the same position since 2019 could be promoted to that post. So my guess would be Minister of Employment, Peter Hummelgaard Thomsen. He is perhaps currently the favourite to replace Frederiksen as leader when the time comes and has carried out the government's most significant piece of legislation in shape of the early retirement for those who have worked since a young age. I don't think anymore significant legislation is expected from his Ministry this term, and a role of Minister of Justice could be a chance for him to gain some gravitas. And the Ministry of Employment title in the remaining months is not so important, that you couldn't give it to one of their mediocre remaining MPs for that time period.

I can see four other names in the government who could be big enough for that role. It could be Minister of Health, Magnus Heunicke; Minister of Climate and Energy, Dan Jørgensen; Minister of Immigration Mattias Tesfaye or Minister of Education, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil. At least the first three of them have quite significant policy projects ongoing at the moment, so that could talk a bit against them getting moved, particularly if Frederiksen wants an election fairly soon in the fall. But those seem like the other big name candidates if it isn't Hummelgaard.

[JimJamUK]

I can see four other names in the government who could be big enough for that role. It could be Minister of Health, Magnus Heunicke; Minister of Climate and Energy, Dan Jørgensen; Minister of Immigration Mattias Tesfaye or Minister of Education, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil. At least the first three of them have quite significant policy projects ongoing at the moment, so that could talk a bit against them getting moved, particularly if Frederiksen wants an election fairly soon in the fall. But those seem like the other big name candidates if it isn't Hummelgaard.

How much of a promotion would Justice be compared to their current roles? All 4 seems fairly high profile, important and areas the incumbents care about, so would they be interested in Justice?

[Diouf]

The choice ended up falling on Minister of Immigration, Mattias Tesfaye, who is promoted to the role of Minister of Justice. He is replaced by Kaare Dybvad, hitherto Minister of Housing and the Interior. Dybvad one of the key ideologues behind the current Social Democrat visions. He in 2017 wrote the book "The erudite tyranny - how the creative class creates unequality and undermines the best society in the World". So certainly not someone with a softer approach than Tesfaye to an issue like immigration. Dybvad's empty chair is then filled by a new member of the government. MP Christian Rabjerg Madsen is the new Minister of Housing and the Interior. He has been political spokesperson recently, although not a very remarkble one.

How much of a promotion would Justice be compared to their current roles? All 4 seems fairly high profile, important and areas the incumbents care about, so would they be interested in Justice?

A fine promotion. The Minister of Justice is traditionally considered one of the four big ones, and is almost often a member of the goverment's coordination committee, a sort of inner cabinet with the main figures. Currently this includes the PM, Foreign Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence.

[Diouf]

The replacement MP for Nick Hækkerup will be 33-year old regional councillor Maria Gudme. She wasn't even supposed to be a candidate for the 2019 election. However, all six nomination districts in the Northern Zealand constituency chose male candidates. And since the Social Democrat rulebook says there must be male and female candidates in all constituencies, the party extraordinarily added a seventh candidate to the list in Northern Zealand for a female candidate, who then wouldn't be the lead in any of the nomination districts in the constituency. Maria Gudme won that candidacy. In the general election, she impressively still managed to get 3 176 personal votes, leaving her fourth of the seven candidates. And with 3 MPs elected for the party, she became the first in line as replacement. An extra relief for the party now as she finished ahead of David Trads, so the party now avoids getting him into the parliamentary group.

Gudme received some attention in 2020 when her testimony about Frank Jensen sexually harrassing her was one of the key reasons why the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen had to resign.

[Diouf]

The sole Christian Democrat MP, Jens Rohde, has announced that he won't be running at the next general election. For such a small party, it is probably a disadvantage for one of the few known faces not to run. But he also is "loose missile" who can always ignite a conflict, and certainly is very different to a significant part of the party's base. This is shown fully in that he has just made a proposal in parliament that the government should "work to make abortion an inviolable and inalienable, internationally recognized right" by expanding the right in the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
For a party which has just recently moved in a more abort-accepting direction, it's hardly a good move for party unity to make such a proposal. The fluttering Rohde has probably heard the news about the possible Supreme Court ruling in the US, and became a bit more afraid that his (limited) legacy would be tarnished if he didn't show hardly enough that he disagrees with Christian Democrat hardliners on abortion.

So overall probably a loss, but, if Rohde can keep off from more provocations in his last months in parliament, the party should at least be fairly cohesive. And the vote getting picture will be similar to the one in 2019. Arendt will run in Copenhagen instead of Eastern Jutland, but will be the party's one face nationally again. And then in Western Jutland, a strong local candidate will try to help and perhaps get across the constituency seat threshold. Kristian Andersen is not running, but perhaps the drop in the West will be less than feared as they have drafted in Marianne Karlsmose, the regional councillor, who helped the party lift their score in the Central Jutland region in the recent regional election, getting above 9 000 personal votes across the whole region.

[Diouf]

In other news, the leader of the Defence Intelligence Service has been jailed and charged with leaking highly classified information. I guess there could be some political effects of such a scandal.

This one keeps developing. Today it was made public that the police also wants to charge MP, and former Minister of Defence, Claus Hjort Frederiksen with the same crime. It requires parliament to lift his immunity.

Today, the state prosecution announced that it will charge Hjort Frederiksen with this crime. The new Minister of Justice will start negotiations with the parties in parliament to get majority to lift Hjort Frederiksen's parliamentary immunity. That might be difficult for him to achieve if they insist on not making the charges against him available for parliament. So far the Liberals, Liberal Alliance, DPP, New Right, Red-Green Alliance and Independent Greens have all said that can't vote to lift the immunity if parliament is not presented with the charges.

[Diouf]

Isabella Arendt leaves the Christian Democrats

The Christian Democrat party leader Isabella Arendt today decided to resign as party leader and leave the party completely. She says that she wants to make Denmark greener, freer and more charitable, but that she no longer feels any support in the party. She states that the conflict level in the party has been high for a long period, and that her job had therefore lost all satisfaction. She explains how she often lost her energy when entering a room of party officials, where there seemed to be little appetite for her ideas.
She states that she hasn't lost the energy nor her visions for Denmark, but that she needs a new platform to carry out those visions.

So it seems like there has been a too significant opposition in the party to Arendt's project with Jens Rohde, the party's only MP, who announced just days ago that he wouldn't run again at the next election. She made a bet that the benefits of adding Rohde to the party, the increased profile and the party's official representation in parliament and legislative negotiations, would outweigh the negatives, his socially liberal views clashing with the membership. And she has just lost that bet. She is not on Rohde's liberal line on abortion, but has tried to build a bridge between him and the party hardliners; a draining battle.

A tough hit for the party, and I would expect that this basically kills off their chances at the next general election. The three biggest names the party had, Rohde, Arendt and Kristian Andersen, aren't running. Deputy leader and regional councillor Marianne Karlsmose will temporarily take over the reins, and perhaps also become the new permanent leader. She also had that role from 2002-2005, which didn't end happily with the party crashing out of parliament in the 2005 general election. In 2019, Arendt and Andersen helped the party towards a result of 1.7% and being 200 votes away from seats in parliament, but now the most likely scenario seems a return to results around 0.8% which the party got in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Arendt seems eager to join a new party, and it will be interesting to see where she ends up. A logical outcome could be the Moderates, which is already in a fairly similar space to the Christian Democrats, particularly the Rohde-Arendt Christian Democrats. And I'm sure Løkke would be happy to attract a young, fairly well-known politican to his party.

[BlueSwan]

Marianne Karlsmose is probably the driest politician in all of Denmark. Zero chances that they will obtain representation with her at the helmet.

[Diouf]

In other news, the leader of the Defence Intelligence Service has been jailed and charged with leaking highly classified information. I guess there could be some political effects of such a scandal.

This one keeps developing. Today it was made public that the police also wants to charge MP, and former Minister of Defence, Claus Hjort Frederiksen with the same crime. It requires parliament to lift his immunity.

Today, the state prosecution announced that it will charge Hjort Frederiksen with this crime. The new Minister of Justice will start negotiations with the parties in parliament to get majority to lift Hjort Frederiksen's parliamentary immunity. That might be difficult for him to achieve if they insist on not making the charges against him available for parliament. So far the Liberals, Liberal Alliance, DPP, New Right, Red-Green Alliance and Independent Greens have all said that can't vote to lift the immunity if parliament is not presented with the charges.

After a fair bit of hesitation, the Conservatives also opted not to lift his immunity. The 8 ex-DPP + ex-Conservative MPs also didn't want to lift Hjort's immunity. So therefore, there is a majority against lifting Hjort's immunity without parliament being informed about the charges. The new Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye didn't want to follow the majority's demand to inform parliament about the charges, so he has instead chosen to tell the state prosecution that they can't prosecute Hjort. However, Hjort has announced that he isn't running again, so he could be prosecuted once he's out of parliament.
Independent Greens ending up backing lifting immunity.

It is not publicly known what exactly Hjort is charged with, but apparently it's about a agreement Denmark has with the US which allows the Americans to tap tele + internet traffic (although supposed to filter out Danes, but apparently sometimes some got through the net). It was already revealed in 2014 by Snowden. Then in August 2020, the case exploded again when the Intelligence Inspection Authority came out with tough criticism of the Defence Intelligence Service for withholding information to it, and that it information about Danish citizens have been transferred illegally. This caused Minister of Defence Trine Bramsen to suspend the leader of the Defence Intelligence Service plus other high-ranking officials there. In two newspapers afterwards, Hjort Frederiksen confirmed that the criticism was about the cabels from the 2014 story, and criticized Bramsen for letting the Inspection Authority release its criticisms + for suspending high-ranking officials.

The suspended officials were intensely surveilled, and in early December 2021, the suspended leader + other officials were imprisoned and charged with leaking highly classified information. In February 2022, he was released but is still charged. It remains unclear who he is accused of leaking to.

An independent commission was set down in August 2020 to investigate the Inspection Authority's claims, and later in December 2021 that commission concluded that the Defence Authority hadn't done anything worthy of criticism, and thereby swept away the Inspection Authority's criticism.

In interviews around this time Hjort again confirmed, as everybody knew, that the cases were all about this cabel tapping. And Hjort was charged with leaking classified information, presumably for those interviews.

[Diouf]

The government has agreed a deal on media policy with SPP, Social Liberals, Red-Green Alliance, Independent Greens, Alternative and Christian Democrats. The parties have agreed to introduce a 6% revenue tax on the streaming services. These funds will be used to support Danish movies, TV drama, documentaries and cultural tv shows. The parties also change the subsidy rules for private news media. The subsidy cap for national news media will be lowered, while it will be raised for local and regional media. Finally, the parties will give statebroadcaster DR an additional 50 mio. kr. DKK a year. Like in the last term, the media agreement is a pure bloc thing (not counting the 1 Christian MP). The Blue Bloc parties are of course dissatisfied with the left-wing biases of DR, while particularly the non-Social Democrat left wants to shower it with money. So in the previous Blue media agreement, DR was cut down 20%, while the Red Bloc in power has increased it back with minor increases a few times. Also the Blue parties were mostly opposed to the new revenue tax.


https://twitter.com/DJintweets/status/1527950238404722689

In other news, the Social Liberals, which does not have a formal exclusion procedure, has adapted a resolution which encourages their MEP Karen Melchior to resign from her seat, and states that she does not speak for the party. The wokest of all Danish elected representatives has come in bad standing after her continued abuse of parliamentary staff, and exacerbated by her then going on "sick leave", but continuting to work and vote in parliament. She must be expected to leave the party shortly. I previously speculated that she could perhaps end up in Volt, despite them basically not existing in Denmark. Another option could be a social liberal (or green) party from another EU country. Maybe it can't be ruled out with a move to another Danish party like the Alternative or Independent Greens, but that would almost be too normal a move for her to make. Also such a party would probably be pressed a bit more on why they take in someone with a known abusive behaviour.

[Diouf]

Inger Støjberg today held a "thank you party" at the Visborggard Castle for around 4 000 supporters. Her 60 day eletronic tagging sentence has now been served, and she wanted to thank them for their unfettered support after the court of impeachment's insane sentencing of her.
Kristian Thulelsen Dahl was among those present, and the two will now go a busy campaign schedule for the last days before the referendum.
She repeated that she hasn't lost the passion for politics, and that there will be news about her political future before the fall.

https://twitter.com/TV2Nord/status/1529844951252488192

[Diouf]

Mette Frederiksen: "I'm open to a government across the centre"

On the day where the Moderates have their founding party congress, PM Mette Frederiksen comes with an interesting announcement which echoes many of the thoughts Lars Løkke has made in recent years. Frederiksen says that while her preference would be to continue with her current one-party government, she is open for discussions about a broad government across the political centre after the next election. In explaining why her line of thought is different on this than four years ago, the PM points to the crises with Covid + Ukraine. She is cheerful about the national compromise on defence, and says the population seems to be happy about those broad agreements, which was seen in the clear yes vote in the referendum.
The PM does not want to exclude any parties from such a cooperation or define the outlines of a political program too narrowly, but states that such a govenment will need very high green ambitions, a responsible economic policy, controlled immigration + commitment to the welfare system.
When asked specifically about whether a government with the Moderates would fulfill the criteria of a broad government across the centre, she says that it should probably be broader than that.

The reaction from the Blue Bloc parties are quite negative so far. Both the Conservatives + Liberals have said that there are too big political differences between them and the Social Democrats. Also both say that Frederiksen might know that the independent Mink Commission, which will publish its reports in late June, will criticize her heavily, and that's why she's trying to court the other parties now.
The Red-Green Alliance is obviously also very negative as they fear they could be left out of power. Mai Villadsen said the announcement sent shivers down her spine. She calls it the Social Democrats letting their mask slip, and brings back horrible memories of the Thorning - Corydon government which should scare ordinary citizens. Villadsen states that a vote for the Social Democrats would be a vote for the right wing's welfare cuts, tax cuts for the wealthy, inequality and too hesistant climate action.

Sofie Carsten Nielsen from the Social Liberals is ecstatic. She again argues that better solutions can be created across the political centre, and is happy that Frederiksen now shares that view.

[JimJamUK]

Mette Frederiksen: "I'm open to a government across the centre"

On the day where the Moderates have their founding party congress, PM Mette Frederiksen comes with an interesting announcement which echoes many of the thoughts Lars Løkke has made in recent years. Frederiksen says that while her preference would be to continue with her current one-party government, she is open for discussions about a broad government across the political centre after the next election. In explaining why her line of thought is different on this than four years ago, the PM points to the crises with Covid + Ukraine. She is cheerful about the national compromise on defence, and says the population seems to be happy about those broad agreements, which was seen in the clear yes vote in the referendum.
The PM does not want to exclude any parties from such a cooperation or define the outlines of a political program too narrowly, but states that such a govenment will need very high green ambitions, a responsible economic policy, controlled immigration + commitment to the welfare system.
When asked specifically about whether a government with the Moderates would fulfill the criteria of a broad government across the centre, she says that it should probably be broader than that.

The reaction from the Blue Bloc parties are quite negative so far. Both the Conservatives + Liberals have said that there are too big political differences between them and the Social Democrats. Also both say that Frederiksen might know that the independent Mink Commission, which will publish its reports in late June, will criticize her heavily, and that's why she's trying to court the other parties now.
The Red-Green Alliance is obviously also very negative as they fear they could be left out of power. Mai Villadsen said the announcement sent shivers down her spine. She calls it the Social Democrats letting their mask slip, and brings back horrible memories of the Thorning - Corydon government which should scare ordinary citizens. Villadsen states that a vote for the Social Democrats would be a vote for the right wing's welfare cuts, tax cuts for the wealthy, inequality and too hesistant climate action.

Sofie Carsten Nielsen from the Social Liberals is ecstatic. She again argues that better solutions can be created across the political centre, and is happy that Frederiksen now shares that view.

Is there a clear sense of whether this is a genuine change of heart or trying to appear reasonable/get ahead of the likely election result?

On the one hand, the crisis mentioned have led to more cooperation and perhaps some good political manoeuvring can get blue parties to back her agenda. Radikale also look likely to have the seats for a majority so their support is necessary and may require blue block participation. On the other hand, the Social Democrats have still been arguing with the blue block about economic policy (covid related measures, tax cuts, Arne pension etc), so it’s hard to see how they could find a compromise that keeps both sides happy (and it’s hard to talk about a cross-block coalition while slagging each other off). It’s also hard to imagine the Social Democrats wanting to let Radikale in government again given the latter’s ability to control the agenda. Is there a decent chance Frederiksen just wants to make herself look reasonable/centrist but when negotiations arrive she is unable to agree to ‘unreasonable’ blue block demands and is ‘forced’ to maintain her current governing basis?

[H. Ross Peron]

In other news, the Social Liberals, which does not have a formal exclusion procedure, has adapted a resolution which encourages their MEP Karen Melchior to resign from her seat, and states that she does not speak for the party. The wokest of all Danish elected representatives has come in bad standing after her continued abuse of parliamentary staff, and exacerbated by her then going on "sick leave", but continuting to work and vote in parliament. She must be expected to leave the party shortly. I previously speculated that she could perhaps end up in Volt, despite them basically not existing in Denmark. Another option could be a social liberal (or green) party from another EU country. Maybe it can't be ruled out with a move to another Danish party like the Alternative or Independent Greens, but that would almost be too normal a move for her to make. Also such a party would probably be pressed a bit more on why they take in someone with a known abusive behaviour.

Has there been any case of a MEP joining a party not of his or her home country before?

[Leading Political Consultant Ma Anand Sheela]

In other news, the Social Liberals, which does not have a formal exclusion procedure, has adapted a resolution which encourages their MEP Karen Melchior to resign from her seat, and states that she does not speak for the party. The wokest of all Danish elected representatives has come in bad standing after her continued abuse of parliamentary staff, and exacerbated by her then going on "sick leave", but continuting to work and vote in parliament. She must be expected to leave the party shortly. I previously speculated that she could perhaps end up in Volt, despite them basically not existing in Denmark. Another option could be a social liberal (or green) party from another EU country. Maybe it can't be ruled out with a move to another Danish party like the Alternative or Independent Greens, but that would almost be too normal a move for her to make. Also such a party would probably be pressed a bit more on why they take in someone with a known abusive behaviour.

Has there been any case of a MEP joining a party not of his or her home country before?

Off the top of my head, Dutch PVV MEP Laurence Stassen quit her party and unsuccessfully ran for re-election in the UK for a minor UKIP splinter in 2014. Not quite the same thing, but LREM also put a member on Renzi's Italia Viva on their list in 2019, and he did get elected.