It’s fair to say that, by any metric, Mette is politically and socially part of the working-class left. Besides a brief career as a trade unionist at the turn of the Century, Frederiksen has never had any employment outside politics.
She has seen a steady rise in her status within Danish, and ultimately, international politics. She has two daughters from her first marriage, and is currently five years into her second marriage. Publicly maintaining her maiden name, she has also been cited in Forbes ‘100 Most Powerful Women’ list every year since 2020. She was awarded Commander 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog, a civilian title granted by the monarch, usually for people who have given elongated service in public life.
Political career
Frederiksen worked as a youth consultant for LO, the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions. She was first elected as a Social Democrat to the Folketing in the 2001 general election, a day after her 24th birthday, representing Copenhagen County. This election saw the Social Democrats lose first place for the first time since 1920.
After her election, Frederiksen was named her party’s spokesperson for culture, media and gender equality. In 2002, she received the Nina Bang award for “showing political courage, enthusiasm and impact with social feeling.” In 2012, she received the Ting Prize. She co-authored the books Epostler (2003) and From Fight to Culture (2004
After the Social Democrats won the 2011 general election, she was appointed Minister of Employment by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. She was promoted to Minister of Justice in 2014. After the Social Democrats’ narrow defeat in the 2015 general election, Thorning-Schmidt stood down, and Frederiksen won the subsequent leadership election to replace her, becoming Leader of the Opposition. She has been the leader of the party ever since.
Like most European countries that use the proportional representation method in their elections, Denmark’s parliament is often one of coalitions. Frederiksen led her party into the 2019 general election, which resulted in the bloc of left-wing and centre-left parties (her Social Democrats, the Social Liberals, the Socialist People’s Party, the Red–Green Alliance, the Faroese Social Democratic Party, and Greenland’s Siumut and Inuit Ataqatigiit) winning a majority in the Folketing. Frederiksen was subsequently commissioned by Queen Margrethe II to lead negotiations to form a new government and was sworn in as prime minister on June 27th.
Previous editions of Dynamic have highlighted Scandinavia’s desire for female leaders. At certain times, all five nations have had a woman at the helm, whether as president, prime minister or reigning monarch. In December 2021, she became the longest-serving incumbent female head of government in the European Union.
Foreign policies
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Frederiksen’s government initiated political talks with the five main political parties of the Folketing, and presented the “National Compromise on Danish Security Policy” on March 4th 2022, in which a significant increase in Danish defence spending an emergency allocation of 7 billion DKK (Danish Krone – Denmark is not a member of the Eurozone), a plan for independence from Russian gas, and a referendum on the Danish EU defence opt-out were presented.
As agreed with NATO, the country will gradually increase defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2033 (the UK spends 2.3% of its GDP on NATO contributions), which corresponds to an increase in annual defence spending of around 18 billion DKK (just over £2 billion).
On April 21st this year, together with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Mette re-visited Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At the meeting, Frederiksen promised increased arms and military aid to Ukraine by 600 million DKK (£69m), bringing the total Danish aid to 1 billion DKK (£114m).
On February 24th 2025, Frederiksen stated she did not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants peace in Ukraine” and expressed doubts about US President Donald Trump’s attempts to negotiate a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that “I understand that many people think that a peaceful solution or a ceasefire sounds like a good idea, but we run the risk that peace in Ukraine is actually more dangerous than the war that is going on now.”
Events, even in this short space of time, have shown Trump’s efforts for peace have come with too many caveats to prove internationally acceptable, and as such, no such peace treaty appears to be on the horizon.
European Union
In 2020, Frederiksen was labelled “the most eurosceptic [Danish] Prime Minister in history” by the Danish online newspaper Altinget. In an apparent reversal of this stance in the meantime, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the same source has since pointed out that she “transformed from a sceptic into a strong advocate of [EU] cooperation”.
Greenland
Frederiksen gained international attention in August 2019 when U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled a state visit to Denmark following her refusal to sell Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. On August 15th 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had discussed the possibility of buying Greenland with aides.
Kim Kielsen, the then Prime Minister of Greenland, responded that Greenland is not for sale. On August 18th, 2019, after the White House confirmed the rumour, Frederiksen echoed Kielsen’s comments, saying, “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland” and calling the discussion “absurd.” Two days later, Trump, in a fit of pique he internationally specialises in, cancelled the state visit scheduled for the following month, specifically referencing Frederiksen’s refusal to discuss a possible sale.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Trump, upon returning to the White House, has reiterated his desire for Greenland to be given, rather than sold, to the United States of America. For their part, Frederiksen and now-Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, have referred to Trump’s calls as ‘disrespectful rhetoric’.
At a time of global criticism for the US’s tariffs policy, this issue further unites Danes of all political persuasions - and the wider international community – into increased anger and condemnation, including receiving solidarity from British and EU leaders.
Polls show that the vast majority of Greenlanders want to become independent from Denmark but do not wish to become part of the US. Formed in March, Greenland’s new coalition government is led by Nielsen’s centre-right Democrats party, which favours a gradual approach to independence.
The US has long maintained a security interest in Greenland. After Nazi Germany occupied mainland Denmark during World War Two, the US invaded Greenland, establishing military and radio stations across the territory. After the war, US forces remained in Greenland. Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base, has been operated by the US ever since.
In 1951, a defence agreement with Denmark granted the US a significant role in defending the territory, including the right to build and maintain military bases.
“If Russia were to send missiles towards the US, the shortest route for weapons would be via the North Pole and Greenland,” said Marc Jacobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College. “The Pituffik Space Base is critical in defending th
According to an Arctic Institute paper, China and Russia have begun building up their Arctic military capabilities in recent years. The paper called for the US to further develop its presence in the Arctic to counter its rivals. In January, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Denmark was open to discussions with the US, adding that Washington had “legitimate” interests in the region.
“We see a Russia that is arming itself. We see China also starting to take an interest,” Rasmussen said. Trump is also likely interested in the mining potential across Greenland’s vast landmass, Mr Jacobsen added, especially the rare earth minerals in the south.
Though Trump’s rhetoric may seem unusual, many US presidents have tried to gain control of Greenland for over a century and a half. “The US has tried a few times to push the Danes out of Greenland and take it over as part of the US, or at least to have full security tutelage of Greenland,” said Lukas Wahden, the author of 66° North, a newsletter on Arctic security.
In 1867, after buying Alaska from Russia, US Secretary of State William H. Seward led negotiations to buy Greenland from Denmark but failed to reach an agreement. In 1946, the US offered to pay $100m (£970m today) for the territory, judging that it was vital for national security, but the Danish government refused.
The matter of the three-way tug of Greenland’s future sovereignty remains unresolved. Certainly, Greenlanders, in their drive for independence, really don’t want to be American, nor are Americans all that fussed about owning the largest island in the world. Denmark’s stance is one of open negotiation with Greenland’s autonomy, while retaining a ‘highly offended’ opinion on the US’s unwanted advances.
In the final reckoning, the least likely scenario – even with greater military cooperation that the Danes generally, and Frederiksen specifically, are open to – is for the US to gain outright sovereignty. After that, Greenland’s future is all down to diplomacy – an open, warm, genuine diplomacy that Frederiksen herself excels in.
