European Contexts Seminar Series
With
Rune Stubager, political scientist and professor at Aarhus University,
an expert on voter behaviour, and Michael Jarlner, journalist and
foreign affairs commentator at Politiken newspaper.
When: Thursday, 19 March 2026, 9:00–10:00 CET
Where: Online
Registration Form
Speakers
Rune
Stubager is an award-winning professor at the Department of Political
Science at Aarhus University. His research focuses on electoral
behaviour, public opinion, and political sociology in Denmark.
Michael Jarlner is a journalist and foreign affairs commentator at Politiken.
Background
On
26 February 2026, Denmark’s Prime Minister called early elections to be
held on 24 March 2026. As the popularity of her party began to decline,
Mette Frederiksen used her suddenly improved ratings — triggered by the
Greenland crisis — to call a snap election. Prime Minister underlined
that Greenland was not for sale, despite President Trump’s requests.
However,
analysts suggest that Greenland does not appear to be a key concern for
voters. The topic was not even mentioned during the first election
debate. Instead, voters are more focused on the deportation of migrants,
despite Denmark having maintained one of the strictest migration
policies in Europe for the past 25 years.
What are the key
electoral issues? There seems to be a consensus regarding Denmark'
active foreign and defence policies: support for Israel and Ukraine has
prompted a significant increase in military spending, bringing Denmark
to the forefront of Europe’s defence heavyweights.
Frederiksen
leads a coalition government. Her Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen
of the Moderates, played a prominent role in negotiations with the
United States,over Greenland while Defence Minister Troels Poulsen,
leader of Venstre, has overseen the increase in military spending.
Greenland issue is not over and the war in Ukraine continues.
All
179 seats in the Danish parliament (Folketing) will be contested: 175
in Denmark proper, two in Greenland, and two in the Faroe Islands.
Will elections bring any policy changes?
Format
Brief presentations followed by a live Q&A
Concept and Moderation
Mirjana Tomic, fjum/Presseclub Concordia
Target Groups
Media representatives and academic researchers.
Maximum: 100 participants.