Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland.

The PET police intelligence service and FE military intelligence said in a joint statement the election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyberattacks “to sow division, influence the public debate or to target candidates, parties or specific political programmes”.

“The threat of interference targeting Denmark comes mainly from Russia but could also emanate from other state actors,” they said. “The United States’ stated desire to take possession of Greenland has led to the spread of disinformation concerning the kingdom of Denmark, which could create uncertainty” ahead of the election, the agencies said.

And “the attention paid by the United States” to Denmark has “created new international fault lines that foreign states like Russia and China could exploit for influence purposes.”

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the election on Thursday saying the shadow cast by Russia was one of Denmark’s biggest threats. She also highlighted US president Donald Trump’s demands to control the Arctic territory of Greenland.

Frederiksen had to call an election before 31 October and experts said she deliberately chose the 24 March date as her popularity has risen in recent opinion polls because of her rejection of Trump’s demands to control Greenland.

According to a recent poll released by TV2 television, 21% of voters would back the prime minister’s Social Democrat party, which would put it in first place, even though it would be 6.5 percentage points lower than its score at the previous election in 2022.

The Social Democrats suffered badly in municipal elections last year, losing nearly half of the municipalities it controlled, including Copenhagen.