What does the prime minister think about the greatest challenges of our time? DR asked her about it.

There is plenty to tackle for Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) and the government as they began a new year in the Danish Parliament today.

Topics such as education and the future pension age are being discussed vigorously, while a new opinion poll shows that a large portion of voters are turning their backs on the three ruling parties.

But what does Mette Frederiksen herself think about it all?

You can find the answer here, as DR had the prime minister in the studio for the DR program 'Meet the Prime Minister'.

Here we asked about some of the biggest themes and challenges in the political landscape right now.

It was the prime minister herself who kicked off a debate about when we will retire in the future. A debate that might have come about anyway, as the pension age automatically rises every fifth year, due to the fact that we live longer on average.

Social Democrats will vote in favor of raising the pension age to 70 next year, but after that, the party will stop supporting the automatic increase. That's the plan so far, but what will happen next, the prime minister hasn't been willing to say.

Can you guarantee that the pension age won't go over 70?

- No, I can't guarantee that, and I don't think there are any responsible politicians who can make that promise, she replied.

- It's a fundamental healthy principle that when we live longer, we should also work longer, so we can finance the education of the young and decent elder care.

In a new survey conducted for DR by Epinion, Danes were asked if they think there should be a political deal about the future pension age before the next election, and 70 percent of those surveyed answered 'yes'.

- Can we make a deal on this side of an election? Maybe, but otherwise we should do it in good time before 2030, the prime minister said, referring to the year in which there will be a vote on the next automatic increase in the pension age.

Another topic that has caused debate is education, as the prime minister announced today that there will be a major reform of vocational education.

From now on, there will therefore be three types of gymnasiums instead of the four that exist today. A general gymnasium, a commercial gymnasium, and a new business and professions-oriented gymnasium.

- That's what many young people want, she said, and made it clear that the government is trying to think about education in a completely new way.

The prime minister rejected the idea that one gymnasium should be better than the others - a criticism that has resonated both at Christiansborg and in the education sector throughout the day.

Read also: New vocational education on the way: The government is investing billions ( )

In a completely new opinion poll, support for the three ruling parties, Social Democrats, Moderates, and Liberals, is down to 34.3 percent. They were together on around 50 percent at the 2022 election.

Read also: Voters have fled from the Moderates ( )

Mette Frederiksen herself called it a 'strange government' at the government handover on August 28 of this year, but what does she really mean by that?

- Strange in the sense that both you and I are used to blue and red governments, and now we have our first government over the center, she said and emphasized that she doesn't believe the opinion polls will change.

- I would love to have better polling numbers, but you can't navigate as prime minister based on that, she said.

- It's really good that we have a government over the center in a time when splits are large elsewhere in the world. It has an independent value that we do the opposite of everyone else.

Recently, Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberals also expressed the hope that he would get a blue government after an election, but Mette Frederiksen would not make such a clear statement.

- When we approach a parliamentary election, social democrats will have to say which government we think is the right one, she said and reiterated that she stands by the current government.

You can see and hear much more from the interview with Mette Frederiksen (S) in 'Meet the Prime Minister' on DRTV right now. Here she is also asked about the need to raise binding climate goals and the situation in the Middle East.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.