{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T12:05:17Z","timestamp":1781093117331,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780444800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018693","name":"Horizon Europe Framework Programme","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CA23102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CA23102"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018693","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Open Res Europe"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>Denmark\u2019s relationship with the European Union is characterised by a balance of active participation and notable ambivalence, as evidenced by its longstanding opt-outs from core supranational areas. This environment has provided fertile ground for populist movements on both the radical right and the left, which leverage Euroscepticism to influence domestic policy without advocating outright withdrawal. This study offers a qualitative analysis of the political discourse and strategies of three key populist actors in Denmark: the Danish People\u2019s Party (DF), Nye Borgerlige (NB) and the Danish Democrats (DD) on the radical right, and the Red\u2013Green Alliance (EL) on the radical left. It examines how these parties articulate their Eurosceptic positions and assesses the responses from mainstream political factions. Findings indicate that Danish Euroscepticism functions as a flexible, \u201csoft\u201d political resource. The radical right (DF, NB) frames the EU as a threat to cultural homogeneity, border security, and welfare sovereignty. Conversely, the radical left (EL) critiques the EU as a technocratic structure that enforces neoliberal constraints, undermining democratic accountability and ecological progress. Mainstream parties, particularly the Social Democrats, have effectively neutralised the electoral threat posed by radical-right populists by adopting more restrictive immigration and welfare policies, thereby internalising Eurosceptic priorities into mainstream governance. Euroscepticism in Denmark rarely functions as an existential project for EU withdrawal. Instead, it serves as an instrumental proxy for broader domestic conflicts over sovereignty, welfare, and democratic control. While populist actors have successfully shifted mainstream policy, their influence remains structurally constrained by robust public and elite support for continued European integration.<\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.23660.1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T11:19:09Z","timestamp":1780485549000},"page":"189","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/openreseurope.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Euroscepticism in Denmark"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0274-6354","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eir\u00edkur","family":"BERGMANN","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Social Science Borgarnes Western Region 311 Bifr\u00f6st University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-3596-668X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Parnell","family":"LEDAGA-NGOUONI","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Namur Walloon Region University of Namur"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"663-684","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-5965.2008.00799.x","article-title":"The Diplomacy of Opting Out: A Bourdieudian Approach to National Integration Strategies.","volume":"46","author":"R Adler-Nissen","year":"2008","journal-title":"JCMS J Common Market Stud."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.22680.1","article-title":"The populism-euroscepticism nexus in a contested Europe: The EUPopLink COST Action [version 1; peer review: 3 approved].","volume":"6","author":"I Andreadis","year":"2026","journal-title":"Open Res Eur."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"610-634","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1475-6765.2008.00777.x","article-title":"Immigration as a political issue in Denmark and Sweden.","volume":"47","author":"C Green-Pedersen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Eur. J. Polit. Res."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctt13wwzbh","author":"A Hellstr\u00f6m","year":"2016","journal-title":"Trust Us: Reproducing the Nation and the Scandinavian Nationalist Populist Parties."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3-37","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-74630-2_1","author":"P Hervik","year":"2019","journal-title":"Racialization, Racism, and Anti-Racism in the Nordic Countries."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.12688\/openreseurope.23109.1","article-title":"Populism, euroscepticism, and the populism-euroscepticism nexus [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review].","volume":"6","author":"M Lorimer","year":"2026","journal-title":"Open Res Eur."},{"key":"ref13","article-title":"Islam as a \"floating signifier\": Right-wing populism and perceptions of Muslims in Denmark.","author":"S Meret","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"541-563","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1477-7053.2004.00135.x","article-title":"The Populist Zeitgeist.","volume":"39","author":"C Mudde","year":"2004","journal-title":"Gov. Oppos."},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"57-71","DOI":"10.1353\/sais.0.0070","article-title":"Radical right-wing populism in Denmark and Sweden: Explaining party system change and stability.","volume":"30","author":"J Rydgren","year":"2010","journal-title":"SAIS Rev. Int. Aff."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1-27","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1475-6765.2004.00143.x","article-title":"Contemporary Euroscepticism in the party systems of the European Union candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe.","volume":"43","author":"P Taggart","year":"2004","journal-title":"Eur. J. Polit. Res."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"141-162","DOI":"10.1080\/14649360120047788","article-title":"Cultural racism: Something rotten in the state of Denmark?.","volume":"2","author":"K Wren","year":"2001","journal-title":"Soc. Cult. Geogr."}],"container-title":["Open Research Europe"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu\/articles\/6-189\/v1\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu\/articles\/6-189\/v1\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu\/articles\/6-189\/v1\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T11:24:08Z","timestamp":1781090648000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu\/articles\/6-189\/v1"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]]},"references-count":11,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/openreseurope.23660.1","relation":{"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.21956\/openreseurope.25616.r75477","asserted-by":"subject"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.21956\/openreseurope.25616.r75477","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2732-5121"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2732-5121","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu\/articles\/6-189\/v1#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"10.21956\/openreseurope.25616.r75477, Greg Simons, Daffodil International University, Dhaka, 10 Jun 2026, version 1, 1 approved with reservations","URL":"https:\/\/open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu\/articles\/6-189\/v1#referee-response-75477","order":0,"name":"referee-response-75477","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"This project has received funding from the European Union\u2019s Framework Programme for Research & Innovation as part of the COST Action CA23102, as supported by the COST Association (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":1,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}