Government drops parties from budget talks

The Danish government, led by Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen, has ousted the blue alliance parties including Liberal Alliance, Denmark Democrats, Conservative, and Danish People’s Party, along with the Unity List from the budget negotiations. Their demands were too excessive, and they showed no willingness to prioritize. The alliance proposed implausible cuts to administrative positions, wanting to increase from 1,000 to 2,900 by 2025 without a feasible plan, according to Economy Minister Stephanie Lose. The Unity List presented unrealistic billion-kroner demands, far exceeding the allocated 500 million kroner negotiation reserve. The Danish People’s Party expressed disappointment over the lack of broad consensus, hinting at flexibility if the government had been more accommodating. The Unity List’s attempts to increase public pensions and benefits by five percent from 2025 also faltered, citing government intransigence as the reason for their negotiation exit. SF, Radikale, and Alternativet are still participating in the deliberations.