Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday. </s> Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced the election on Tuesday, with latest opinion polls showing the opposition left-wing bloc, headed by the Social Democrats, ahead with 54 percent of votes, compared to 46 percent for Rasmussen and his right-wing bloc.

Observers have suggested that the Social Democrats, the largest party currently in opposition, could form a minority government that would cooperate with the right-wing bloc on immigration issues and with the left on other policies.

That would be a significant break from the clear left- and right-wing or ‘red and blue bloc' party politics around which Danish politics has been based for decades.

The Social Democrats could also reach out to Danish People's Party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl, who last year hailed the left party's shift towards a more restrictive immigration policy.

That change has been eyed warily by other left-wing parties, who are yet to pledge their full support for Social Democrats leader Mette Frederiksen.

A former employment minister who later took over the justice portfolio, Frederiksen presented proposals last year to send "non-Western" foreigners and "non-ethnic Danes" to UN camps in Africa.

Such anti-immigrant rhetoric, first introduced by the far-right, is now commonly used by the Social Democrats and other parties.

"The political climate has been anti-immigration for years. The Danish People's Party's agenda has been adopted by mainstream parties," Anders Widfeldt, a lecturer at Scotland's University of Aberdeen who specialises in Nordic politics, told AFP.

In this climate, two new far-right parties, pushing agendas to the right of the Danish People's Party, have emerged and are vying for seats in the election.

One of them, the New Right, which promotes libertarian economic policies, has called for even tighter immigration rules.

The other party, Stram Kurs, which means "Hard Line" in English, is headed by Rasmus Paludan, a vehemently anti-Muslim provocateur already convicted of inciting racial hatred and blocked by Facebook.

Rasmussen and Søren Pape Poulsen, leader of junior coalition partner the Conservatives, both said on Tuesday that they would not form any government that relies on Paludan's parliamentary support, should the fringe party reach the required threshold of 2 percent of votes required to enter the legislature. Last week, both Rasmussen and Poulsen initially declined to rule out working with Paludan, Politiken reported.

For Prime Minister Rasmussen, 54, an election defeat would in all likelihood put an end to his 25-year career in Danish politics.

At the head of the centre-right Liberal Party since 2009, he has served as prime minister, from 2009 to 2011 and 2015 to 2019, interrupted by a four-year Social Democratic government.

"Lars Løkke Rasmussen knows that if he loses he will also be finished as leader of his party," said Christine Cordsen, political analyst at public television DR.

Yet under his leadership, Denmark's economy has thrived. It is expected to grow by 1.8 percent in 2019 against 1.3 percent in the eurozone.

The country also has almost full employment, with a jobless rate of just 3.7 percent in March compared to 7.7 percent in the eurozone.

The Danish parliament, the Folketing, has 179 seats, including two each for its autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Parties must win at least two percent of votes to be represented in parliament.

Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In 2015, 85.9 percent of the 4.5 million eligible voters cast their ballots.

READ ALSO: Denmark general election: what party leaders are saying after vote date announced </s> COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday. </s> COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> fottodk/iStock(LONDON) — Six people have died and 16 more were injured in Denmark after debris detached from a cargo train and hit a passenger express train on the Great Belt Bridge, authorities said Wednesday.

The trains were on parallel tracks but traveling in opposite directions, Deutsche Bahn, the cargo train operator, told ABC News.

The accident took place around 7:35 a.m. local time. The area was experiencing high winds and powerful waves caused by Storm Alfrida.

There were 131 passengers and three crew members on board the train.

The Great Belt Bridge connects the western island of Funen with the island of Zealand to the east. The bridge has now reopened for road traffic in both directions but remains closed to trains, police said in a tweet. Commuters have been advised to not slow down or take any pictures or video of the accident site in order to “have respect for the dead and injured.”

The Denmark Accident Investigation unit and Funen police have launched a joint investigation into the accident. The express commuter train departed from Aarhus at 5:19 a.m. local time and was headed for Copenhagen.

The cargo train involved in the incident was shipping goods for the beer company Carlsberg. Kasper Elbjorn, a spokesman for Carlsberg, told ABC News the company would be doing “everything to help.”

“Deutsche Bahn Cargo, the shipper of our goods has unfortunately confirmed to us that cargo train carrying our goods was involved in the accident,” Elbjorn said. “We are deeply concerned about the accident. Our compassion goes to all involved.”

Jan Wildau, a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn Cargo Scandinavia, told ABC News that it would be fully cooperating with the investigation. The cargo train had been traveling to the Carlsberg Brewery in Frederecia, he said. The train had received the green light to cross the bridge from Banedanmark, the company in charge of train traffic control, he added.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said his thoughts were with the victims and their families and he thanked the authorities for their response to the accident.

“The morning’s tragic accident on the Great Belt Bridge with many fatalities and wounded has shaken us all together,” Rasmussen said in a statement. “Ordinary Danes on their way to work or home from Christmas holidays have broken their lives.”

The prime minister of neighboring Sweden also expressed his condolences for the victims.

“Terrible train accident on Great Belt Bridge in Denmark as a result of the Storm Alfrida,” Stefan Löfven said in a tweet. “Our thoughts are with the injured and with the families and relatives of the dead. I have also said this in the morning to my fellow prime Minister, Mr Lars Løkke Rasmussen.” </s> Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Tuesday called a general election for June 5, with opinion polls suggesting a left-wing opposition bloc will kick his centre-right coalition out of office.

Rasmussen, whose minority government relied on the informal support in parliament of the far-right Danish People's Party, has passed a string of laws tightening asylum and immigration rules.

"I want to use all of my strength, my capabilities and my experience to continue to lead Denmark. And I ask Danes to re-elect me in the legislative elections to be held on June 5," Rasmussen said in parliament.

His four-year term ends on June 17 and he was required to hold legislative elections before then.

The latest opinion polls suggest the opposition left-wing bloc, headed by the Social Democrats, will win 54 percent of votes compared to 46 percent for Rasmussen and his right-wing bloc.

The right-wing has struggled in recent polls amid voter apathy and an erosion in support for the far-right.

The Danish People's Party's longstanding anti-immigration line has now been broadly adopted by most political parties, including the Social Democrats.

Observers suggest that if the Social Democrats were to emerge as the biggest party, they would likely form a minority government that would cooperate with the right-wing bloc on immigration issues and with the left on other policies.

The Social Democrats could also reach out to Danish People's Party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl, who last year hailed the left party's shift towards a more restrictive immigration policy.

That change has been eyed warily by other left-wing parties, who are yet to pledge their full support for Social Democrats leader Mette Frederiksen.

A former employment minister who later took over the justice portfolio, she presented proposals last year to send "non-Western" foreigners and "non ethnic Danes" to UN camps in Africa.

The anti-immigrant rhetoric, first introduced by the far-right, is now commonly used by all parties.

"The political climate has been anti-immigration for years. The Danish People's Party's agenda has been adopted by mainstream parties," Anders Widfeldt, a lecturer at Scotland's University of Aberdeen who specialises in Nordic politics, told AFP.

In this climate, two new far-right parties, pushing agendas to the right of the Danish People's Party, have emerged and are vying for seats in the election.

One of them, the New Right, which promotes libertarian economic policies, has called for even tighter immigration rules.

The other party, Stram Kurs which means "Hard Line" in English, is headed by Rasmus Paludan, a vehemently anti-Muslim provocateur already convicted of inciting racial hatred and blocked by Facebook.

For Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, 54, an election defeat would in all likelihood put an end to his 25-year career in Danish politics.

At the head of the centre-right Liberal Party since 2009, he has served twice as prime minister, from 2009 to 2011 and 2015 to 2019, interrupted by a four-year Social Democratic government.

"Lars Lokke Rasmussen knows that if he loses he will also be finished as leader of his party," said Christine Cordsen, political analyst at public television DR.

Yet under his leadership, Denmark's economy has thrived. It is expected to grow by 1.8 percent in 2019 against 1.3 percent in the eurozone.

The country also has almost full employment, with a jobless rate of just 3.7 percent in March compared to 7.7 percent in the eurozone.

The Danish parliament, the Folketing, has 179 seats, including two each for its autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Parties must win at least two percent of votes to be represented in parliament.

Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In 2015, 85.9 percent of the 4.5 million eligible voters cast their ballots. </s> Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen became Denmark's youngest ever prime minister Wednesday after finalizing the support of three other leftist parties to form government.

Frederiksen, 41, will lead a one-party minority government backed by the Socialist People’s Party, the Red-Green Alliance and the Social-Liberal Party.

A left-wing opposition bloc won a majority at Denmark's June 5 election, ending the rule of former conservative Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, but it took three weeks for Frederiksen to secure majority support for her new government.

"It is with great pleasure I can announce that after three weeks of negotiations, we have a majority to form a new government," she said, according to Reuters.

The June 5 left-wing electoral victory signalled Danish voters' rejection of austerity politics. The Social Democrats, who lost ground compared to the 2015 election but still hold the largest vote share, campaigned on a platform of higher taxes to bolster the welfare system.

In her bid for the prime ministership, Frederiksen mediated disagreement among the leftists on issues such as immigration and welfare. She rose to prominence with a pro-welfare, anti-immigration stance. But the new governing bloc will soften slightly on immigration, including allowing more foreign labor and reversing government plans to hold foreign criminals off-shore. Binding emissions targets were also part of the new government agreement.

Denmark's Social Democrats join their Finnish and Swedish counterparts in securing electoral victories in 2019. </s> Opinion polls put the opposition centre-left Social Democrats, led by Mette Frederiksen, at 27.2 percent, a comfortable lead of almost 10 percentage points ahead of Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen's ruling Liberal Party, which has been in power for 14 of the last 18 years.

"Many voters want change. In particular, the 'millennials', who can vote for the first time," Flemming Juul Christiansen, a political scientist at Roskilde University, told AFP.

Like Gustaf Lindegaard who is voting for the first time, 57 percent of Danes think the next government should prioritise climate change, according to a Gallup poll published in February. For those aged between 18 and 35, the figure was 69 percent.

"I really think global warming is the most important issue," Lindegaard said.

**REMINDER: Join The Local from 8pm on Wednesday to follow the results of the Danish general election LIVE**

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New priorities

The Socialist People's Party, heavily focused on environmental issues, is also expected to see a surge in its numbers, with opinion polls suggesting it could take 8.3 percent of votes, almost double its 2015 score.

If the Social Democrats emerge victorious, they intend to form a minority government -- common in Denmark's proportional representation system -- relying on the support of the left or the right on a case-by-case basis to pass legislation.

As Denmark enjoys robust growth, almost full employment and strong public finances, the party has focused its campaign on climate issues and the defence of the welfare state, promising to reverse budget cuts to education and healthcare.

Analysts believe the Social Democrats would likely collaborate with the right on immigration and the left on other matters in the Scandinavian country, which is a member of the European Union but not the eurozone.

However, with a splintered political landscape featuring an abundance of political parties, the party could also find it necessary to forge long-term alliances to ensure stability.



Immigration backdrop

While the Liberal Party is expected to lose its grip on power, its performance is projected to match that of the 2015 election.

On the eve of the election Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced a dramatic shift for the Liberals by declaring his priority was now to form a government with traditional rivals the Social Democrats.

But opinion polls indicate the far-right Danish People's Party, which has informally supported Rasmussen's minority government, could lose almost half its support, shrinking to 10.7 percent.

For the last two decades the anti-immigrant party has supported successive right-wing governments in exchange for the implementation of their restrictive immigration policies.

But as those policies have now been broadly adopted by almost all Danish parties, the Danish People's Party has lost its unique appeal with voters.

The Social Democrats for instance last year announced their own proposal to crack down on immigration, including sending asylum seekers to North African camps while their requests are being processed.

"Mette Frederiksen has loved the Danish People's Party to death with her tough line on foreigners," Anja Westphal, an analyst at Denmark's public broadcaster DR, told AFP.

"We stand by our firm and realistic policy when it comes to immigration. We believe that Denmark and other countries have a responsibility to help people in need but there is a limit to the numbers we can take in," said Nicolai Wammen, political spokesman for the Social Democrats.

The Danish People's Party's slide has in part benefitted the Social Democrats, but it also coincides with the emergence of two more extreme far-right parties, New Right and the anti-Muslim Hard Line.

The Danish parliament, the Folketing, has 179 seats, four of which represent the autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which have two seats each.

To be eligible for a seat, a party must win at least two percent of votes.

Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In 2015, 85.9 percent of voters cast their ballots.

Polls will be open from 8 am to 8 pm (0600 to 1800 GMT), with some 4.2 million people eligible to vote. </s> Denmark's centre-right prime minister resigned Thursday after a general election that ended with a gain for left-leaning parties and a big loss for populists who were supporting the government.

Lars Loekke Rasmussen's resignation means the centre-left Social Democrats, Denmark's largest party, will start talks to form a one-party minority government.

Social Democrat Leader Mette Frederiksen had rejected forming a coalition with Loekke Rasmussen's Liberals.

Loekke Rasmussen failed to maintain a majority in parliament after his allies, the populist Danish People's Party, saw their vote share plunge to 8.7 per cent in Wednesday's election from 21.1 per cent in 2015.

Rune Stubager, a politics professor at Denmark's University of Aarhus, said the election results showed a "considerable swing to the left" on the topics of welfare and climate.

Mette Frederiksen of the Danish Social Democrats thanks supporters after the election results poured in at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen early Thursday. Rasmussen has the opportunity to form the next government. (Liselotte Sabroe/AFP/Getty Images)

The Social Democrats are promising to put welfare first again and reverse some of centre-right government's cuts. But they also say they will seek support from the right on immigration issues, and will continue the current government's tough anti-immigration stance.

Pressed by his populist supporters, Loekke Rasmussen's government has tightened immigration laws in recent years. Face-covering garments have been banned, and newly arrived asylum seekers are required to hand over valuables such as jewelry and gold to help pay for their stays.

Strong turnout

Last year, Denmark made international headlines when officials decided rejected asylum seekers or those with a criminal record awaiting expulsion should be sent to an island that once housed a defunct laboratory for contagious animal diseases.

Stubager called the election outcome "a disaster" for the populists because voters are dissatisfied the protest party "is part of the political establishment."

Like their counterparts in neighbouring Sweden, Denmark's Social Democrats have opted for a tougher stance on immigration since the 2015 refugee crisis, when hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers sought shelter in European countries. Sweden's Social Democratic government has sharply restricted immigration, reversing a long tradition of welcoming migrants and refugees.

On Thursday, Loekke Rasmussen formally handed over his resignation to Queen Margrethe, Denmark's figurehead monarch, at the Amalienborg Palace.

Talks to form a new government, expected to begin later Thursday, could take weeks.

Turnout in Wednesday's election was 85.5 per cent, according to official figures, slightly lower than in the 2015 elections.
After the defeating of his party in the general election, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen resigns, but will remain as acting in the office until his succession.