Within hours of Denmark’s new government being announced last week, the Social Democrats descended into internal squabbling. This week the Green-Left Party has been beset by scandal over the appointment of an advisor. What’s going on?
When Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced her new cabinet on June 3rd, the international press (and The Local) focused on the fact that it was the first in Danish history with a majority of women of ministers.
For the Danish political press, however, the big news was the apparent demotion of Denmark’s Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen after nearly seven years in the post. Wammen was instead appointed Justice Minister, exchanging places with Peter Hummelgaard, who had previously held the role.
“Crown princes and rivals swap positions – a power struggle is simmering in the Social Democrats,” read the front page of Jyllands-Posten the next day. There were similar stories on the front pages of Børsen, Ekstra Bladet, Politiken, Berlingske and Kristeligt Dagblad.
The newspapers were filled with fevered analysis about what the change might mean and harsh criticism of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen from anonymous Social Democrat MPs.
Why is the swap of two heavyweight ministers so shocking?
For outsiders it’s hard to see why swapping two heavyweight ministers between two heavyweight ministries amounts to the “shock reshuffle” described in the Danish press. But it has been interpreted as Frederiksen sending a signal that Hummelgaard – who has played a big part in dragging the party to the right on immigration – is her chosen successor.
“The ministerial swap between Nicolai Wammen and Peter Hummelgaard is a clear signal about who Mette Frederiksen prefers as chair of the Social Democrats after her,” said DR’s political correspondent,
“This move will undoubtedly kickstart a new war between Social Democrat factions, because large parts of the party prefer Nicolai Wammen and feel Hummelgaard is too left-wing, wwhile another part of the party supports Hummelgaard and sees him as far stronger ideologically.”
She predicted the internal party dispute would be a “huge challenge” for the party.
Denmark’s new finance minister Peter Hummelgaard received a present from Nicolai Wammen as he hands over the Justice Ministry on June 3rd. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix
How have the two ministers reacted?
Both Wammen and Hummelgaard tried to downplay the significance of the swap.
“I have a hard time seeing why being Minister of Justice in Denmark should be such a bad job,” said Wammen. “It is one of the most important ministerial positions in terms of keeping Danes safe, both when it comes to fighting crime and terrorism. I have always wanted to become Minister of Justice, but have not had the chance before.”
“There is no reason to read absolutely everything into this,” agreed Hummelgaard. “We are entering a third consecutive term in government. I think the Prime Minister thinks that things should be shaken up and that people should have new roles. That is how I read it.”
The two then exchanged presents and cracked jokes at the traditional ministerial handover ceremony.
What’s happened since?
But the aftershock has not died down, with the appointment triggering feverish speculation about the future of the party, with local Social Democrat politicians openly siding with either Hummelgaard or Wammen in interviews with DR.
Green Left tried to bring back scandal-hit advisor
With the tumult in the Social Democrats still ongoing, the Green Left was caught up in its own appointment scandal, after the party leader, Pia Olsen Dyhr, brought back Thomas Nystrøm as a special advisor.
Nystrøm had resigned from the party in 2020 after Lotte Kofoed – now a councilor in Frederiksberg – accused him of sexual assault.
Kofoed has protested Nystrøm’s reappointment, outing herself as his victim to the Politiken newspaper on Wednesday and then on Thursday posting on X about her plans to disrupt Olsen Dyhr’s speech at the Folkemødet festival.
“I still haven’t heard from you,” she wrote in a post on X on Thursday evening. “I really shouldn’t have been to Bornholm, but now I’m on my way anyway. I’ll come to your speech tomorrow. That has to be where I get my apology, and where you admit you were wrong.”
Kofoed says she plans to stand in the audience with a sign saying, “Never again in SF (the Green Left)”.
In a text message sent to Politiken, Olsen Dyhr said that six years after the accusations, she had decided to give Nystrøm, who had not then been named, a second chance.
“I know that not everyone will agree with that assessment. I respect that. But I believe that people should both be held accountable for their actions and have the opportunity for a second chance.”
Lotte Kofoed has accused Thomas Nystrøm, a newly appointed advisor to Denmark’s new economy minister Pia Olsen Dyhr, of sexually assaulting her. Photo: Linda Kastrup/Ritzau Scanpix
On Friday Kofoed aid on RADIO IIII that he had put his hands down her pants at a national meeting of the Green Left Party.
“Suddenly out of nowhere, he takes his hand and puts it in my panties and touches my labia,” she said. “And then I push him away and go into another room. Then he comes back and then he splashes beer all over me.”
Nystrøm identified himself as the perpetrator in a post on Facebook on Friday.
“After the national meeting in the spring of 2020, I received a message from Lotte Kofoed, with whom I had previously had an intimate relationship,” he said.
“She said that I had subjected her to completely unacceptable touching on the dance floor. I don’t remember it myself – but I have no reason to believe that it is not true. I was very embarrassed and ashamed of what I had done. It wasn’t okay. I apologized and had several conversations with Lotte about it in the months that followed.”
He said that he had also “patted another person on the back” and sent another an inappropriate message.
For now, Olsen Dyhr is standing more or less firm on the appointment, but she has backtracked a little, defending her decision by pointing out that Nystrøm had not been reappointed to the Green Left Party as “that would be wrong”, but instead to the Ministry of Economy and the Interior.
“You cannot be in the same workplace, that is why it is a different workplace,” she said.
The big stories at Denmark’s annual political festivals
The two stories are so far dominating Folkemødet, Denmark’s annual political festival on the island of Bornholm, with Olsen Dyhr missing an event she was expected to speak at and press following her everywhere.
It remains to be seen if the two stories are the birthing pains of the new government or an early warning of a rocky term ahead.
