Danish PM postpones wedding because of EU summit

In this Friday, May 29, 2020 file photo, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks during a news conference in Copenhagen. Frederiksen is postponing her wedding next month because of a European Union summit on the future of the bloc’s budget. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is postponing her wedding next month because of a European Union summit on the future of the bloc’s budget.

“The Council meeting in Brussels takes place on the Saturday in July, where we had planned a wedding. Darn. But I have to take care of my work and take care of Denmark’s interests. So, we have to change plans once again,” Frederiksen said on her Instagram account.

It is the second time she has rescheduled the ceremony. In 2019, Frederiksen postponed it because of national elections on June 5 that led her Social Democrats to form a one-party, minority government.

Frederiksen and her fiance Bo Tengberg met in 2014 and got engaged in 2017, according to Ekstra Bladet.

Frederiksen said she would “probably succeed in getting married soon” and praised her fiance’s patience.

After a number of virtual meetings, The EU has scheduled a physical meeting of the European Council July 17-18 to discuss, among other things, a new long-term EU budget.

Denmark is one of four countries that oppose grants, as opposed to loans, under the recovery fund, and also insists on the 2021-27 EU budget not exceeding 1.0% of the bloc’s gross national income. The four countries — Demark, Sweden, Austria, and the Netherlands — have been arguing for a smaller sum after Britain’s departure from the EU.

They oppose the plan by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have agreed on a one-off 500 billion-euro ($543 billion) fund to help the EU recover from the coronavirus pandemic, a proposal that would add further cash to an arsenal of financial measures the bloc is readying to cope with the outbreak’s economic fallout. That plan would involve the 27-member bloc borrowing money in financial markets to help sectors and regions that are particularly affected by the pandemic.