Denmark's far right is mired in contradictions
Morten Messerschmidt, president of the Danish People's Party, in Lyngby, Denmark, October 21, 2025. SEBASTIAN ELIAS UTH VIA REUTERS In a steady stream of posts on social media, Morten Messerschmidt, the head of the Danish People's Party, is trying to extricate himself from the quagmire he has created for himself. "Portraying me as someone who serves a cause other than Denmark and who would sympathize with threats to our kingdom is unhealthy. It is slander," he wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday, January 18. And yet, how can one not be surprised by the 180-degree turnaround of that same person? After all, a year ago he was posting selfies on X from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's property in Palm Beach, Florida; now, he is criticizing the Danish government, accusing it of trying to maintain dialogue with the US about Greenland. This position has left Messerschmidt isolated on the Danish political scene, where there is broad consensus around the strategy adopted by the coalition led by Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen. Messerschmidt, who is thus no stranger to contradictions, was the only one to oppose the meeting between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on January 14. For him, "walking into the lion's den" and "inviting oneself to meetings with a nation that threatens Denmark" was dangerous. You have 43.54% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
