Troels Lund Poulsen will now try to form a VLAK minority government with Venstre (Liberals), Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives (Det Konservative Folkeparti), marking a new turn in Denmark’s longest government negotiations. The three-party model would have only 46 seats in the Folketing, far from the 90 normally associated with a majority, but it could still take office if no parliamentary majority votes against it.
Denmark’s longest government talks take another turn
The announcement came during a press conference in Copenhagen, where Lund Poulsen gave a status update on the government negotiations. He said the talks could not be allowed to drag on unnecessarily and argued that Denmark now needs political action.
The Venstre leader said he had reached an overall political framework with Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives, creating the basis for a possible VLAK government. He also made clear that such a cabinet would be led by him.
The announcement comes after weeks of negotiations following the 2026 election. Danish media have described the process as the longest government formation in the country’s history, reflecting both the fragmented election result and the lack of a natural majority.
A minority cabinet with only 46 seats
A VLAK government would be a blue minority government. Venstre holds 18 seats, Liberal Alliance 15, and the Conservatives 13, giving the three parties 46 seats in total.
That is well short of the 90 seats needed for a majority in the 179-seat Folketing. But under Denmark’s system of negative parliamentarism, a government does not need to command a majority in advance. It can take office as long as there is no majority against it.
Lund Poulsen presented that as a strength rather than a weakness. He argued that a minority government would have to find majorities from case to case, a model with a long tradition in Danish politics.
The challenge is that this approach requires reliable tolerance from several parties outside government. Without it, the proposed cabinet could fail before it is even formed.
The political framework has a clear economic profile
The political framework presented by Venstre, Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives has a strong centre-right economic profile.
Among the proposals mentioned are plans to increase labour supply by 30,000 people, strengthen business competitiveness, remove the middle tax (mellemskat), reduce corporate tax from 22 percent to 20 percent, and raise the ceiling for the share savings account.
Lund Poulsen said the package aims to increase prosperity by 60 billion Danish kroner by 2035 — about 8 billion euro.
The three parties also mention a national pesticide ban, defence strengthening, a new citizenship agreement and measures on fuel prices. At the same time, Venstre has softened or reversed some positions compared with the campaign, including on development aid and the citizenship convention.
Several concessions appear designed for Løkke
One of the most important political questions is how Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Moderates (Moderaterne) will respond.
The Moderates are not included in the proposed government. Yet several parts of the framework appear designed to appeal to Løkke’s priorities, especially on economic reform. Liberal Alliance leader Alex Vanopslagh said the framework includes major concessions to the Moderates and that he expects them to support the project.
Venstre has also moved on issues where Løkke had clear positions. Lund Poulsen said Denmark should maintain development aid at 0.7 percent of gross national income, despite Venstre having campaigned on reducing it to 0.5 percent. He also said Venstre no longer has a fixed deadline for leaving the citizenship convention if it cannot be changed from within.
That makes the VLAK plan partly a test of Løkke’s own argument that politics should be about policy rather than personalities.
Dansk Folkeparti will not bring down the proposal
The first reactions from the right suggest that Lund Poulsen may have some room to move.
Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party) said it would not bring down a VLAK government led by Lund Poulsen. Party leader Morten Messerschmidt stressed that this does not mean full agreement with the economic plans, but said the proposed government is one the party can work with.
The absence of the Moderates from the cabinet appears important for Dansk Folkeparti, which has repeatedly opposed a government including Løkke’s party.
Danmarksdemokraterne (Denmark Democrats) also reacted positively to the political framework, while making clear that it still wants to push for its own priorities, including stricter immigration policy.
Løkke remains the decisive figure
Despite the positive signals from parts of the right, the fate of the proposal may depend on the Moderates.
Løkke helped make Lund Poulsen royal investigator, but he has consistently argued for a government across the centre. A VLAK minority government would not include the Moderates and would not be a government across the middle in the way Løkke has described.
That creates the main dilemma. If Løkke rejects the proposal, Lund Poulsen may not be able to show that there are enough seats willing to tolerate the government. If Løkke supports it from outside, he would help install a cabinet in which he has no ministerial role but where parts of his economic agenda may still be reflected.
Lund Poulsen said he had not spoken with Løkke about the proposal before presenting it. That makes the Moderates’ response the most important next step.
A minority government proposal, and a pressure move
The VLAK proposal is not only a government model. It is also a pressure move.
Lund Poulsen is trying to show that there is a concrete alternative to a government led by Mette Frederiksen. By presenting a policy framework with concessions to the Moderates, he is also trying to put pressure on Løkke: if the Moderates refuse, the question becomes whether they are rejecting the content or the absence of ministerial power.
At the same time, the proposal is risky. A 46-seat government would be dependent on shifting parliamentary support from the first day. It would need cooperation to the right on some issues and possibly across the centre on others. The Conservatives’ leader Mona Juul has already stressed that such a government would still need to cooperate across the middle of the Folketing.
The proposal therefore does not end the negotiation crisis. It clarifies the next test: whether a blue minority cabinet can survive without the Moderates inside government, but with enough outside tolerance to avoid being voted down.
What happens now?
The blue parties are expected to continue talks, while the Moderates will have to decide whether they can support the framework from outside government.
If Lund Poulsen can show that no majority will oppose a VLAK cabinet, he may be able to go to King Frederik and recommend the formation of a new government. If he cannot, the negotiations could again return to the question that has shaped the process for weeks: whether Denmark needs a broader government across the centre, possibly involving the Social Democrats.
For now, Lund Poulsen has made his move. The next decision belongs to the parties outside the proposed cabinet — above all, Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Moderates.
