Talks to begin in Denmark to form new government

Copenhagen: Negotiations to form a Danish government following this week s general election will formally open on Friday, Prime Minister Mette Frederi...

Copenhagen: Negotiations to form a Danish government following this week's general election will formally open on Friday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's Social Democratic party, which came out on top in the vote, announced.

The coalition-building process was expected to take weeks, as neither the left nor the right bloc won a majority in Tuesday's election that left parliament deeply splintered.

Frederiksen, whose Social Democrats registered their weakest score since 1903 but remained the biggest party by far, was tasked by King Frederik X on Wednesday with leading the negotiations.

She will on Friday meet with the four other parties on the left, two parties on the right, and the centrist Moderates party which emerged as kingmaker.

The eight parties -- out of the 12 represented in parliament -- together represent 129 of the 179 seats in parliament, a large majority.