The King’s New Year’s Speech

His Majesty King Frederik delivered his New Year’s speech on New Year’s Eve. You can read the full speech below in English.

Here is a faithful English translation of the text:

Sorrows and joys go hand in hand.

Some days feel heavy and drag on; others are playfully light and over almost before they begin.

The key and tempo of life rise and fall.

Life’s alternation is life’s lot.

We all experience this over time – this year as well.

Just consider being parents.

Queen Mary and I delight in watching our children grow, find their footing, and gather momentum to fly from the nest. At the same time, the thought of letting go is tinged with melancholy.

This year Princess Isabella turned 18. Just think of it.

The days with small children can at times feel long. But suddenly they are over, and the children are grown before we know it.

On their way out into the world.

A world of possibilities – but also of challenges.

Some greater than we would wish.

The number of wars is high.

One of them is taking place close to us.

Just a couple of thousand kilometers from Denmark, Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom.

For almost four years now, they have endured, held firm, and clung to their right to exist as a free and independent country.

The war brings pain and tragedy to Ukrainians and spreads uncertainty and insecurity across Europe.

The fighting rages on Ukrainian soil, but it concerns the right to security, independence, and sovereignty – on our continent and beyond, because something fundamental is at stake.

Ukrainians never wanted war; therefore, they deserve peace.

Here at home, peace has been a daily reality for decades. Most of us have never known anything else. Thankfully. Those who experienced the liberation 80 years ago have become fewer. Firsthand accounts have become secondhand. We have felt safe for so long that we have almost forgotten that things can be otherwise.

For others, the shadows of the past have not yet faded.

Finland, with its harsh history, is an example of a country that manages to keep the worst imaginable in mind without putting life on hold.

For Finns, the threat from the east has never fully subsided. They live with it but do not submit to it. Queen Mary and I felt this clearly when we visited Finland earlier this year.

In Latvia, peace is still young and was entirely new when I visited the country for the first time as a student in the spring of 1992.
Fifty years of occupation leave their mark on a people, and their reality put my own into perspective.

In Latvia, I sensed what it means when freedom is not a given.

A feeling that is now also stirring here at home.
For something is changing. Not everyone wishes us well. And in the grey zone between peace and conflict, anonymous attacks seek to create unrest, sow division, and frighten us.

It may be websites that suddenly go down. It may be misleading videos that spread mistrust. It may be drones appearing in the sky as vague omens.

What will come next? we wonder.

Turning off the news flow may seem like an escape – many have probably felt the urge – but it is a short-lived comfort. Reality unfolds whether we notice it or not.

The art lies in staying informed without letting fear run away with us. Being attentive without dancing to the wrong tune. Preventing lice from settling into the fur.

Fortunately, we are good at that here at home.

We have a strong understanding of who we are as a people and what we stand on as a nation.
We stay informed and like to think for ourselves.
We trust one another and readily lend a helping hand.
We know our worth without being self-sufficient.

Our greatest strength is standing together – in the Kingdom of Denmark, in Europe, and in NATO.

A saying goes that one should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. In the armed forces, this is not just something one says, but something one does. Queen Mary and I experienced this in practice when, during our visit to Latvia this year, we met the Danish combat battalion at Camp Valdemar.

Together with our NATO allies, they safeguard our shared defence of peace in the Baltic region by both setting the bar high and keeping morale strong.

I would like to thank our deployed personnel, who step forward on our behalf – and their loved ones, who must do without them in the meantime.

I would like to thank everyone who looks after our country – not least the police, emergency services, and armed forces.

In the same spirit – and as a father – I would like to send a New Year’s greeting to our conscripts. Thank you for showing up and doing your part for the community. I hope that you – like the Crown Prince recently and I myself once did – grow through the trust you are given and show to others.

You are the foundation of the armed forces, which will be strengthened going forward – both in duration and in manpower.

The right to serve has become compulsory service for everyone in Denmark, and in Greenland, young Greenlanders are flocking to the new Arctic basic training in Kangerlussuaq. This means a more diverse – and thus stronger – defence.

In truth, the “duty to protect” has neither age nor expiry. We are all obliged to care for our country, and we have a moral and human responsibility toward one another. No one is exempt from that duty.

Our Christian cultural heritage calls on us to be loving – not only toward those closest to us, but toward our neighbour.

That neighbour includes both those we have chosen in life and those we have overlooked or distanced ourselves from. Therein lies the challenge.

Our task is to try to make room in our hearts to be gentle – even when it is difficult.

In the spring, I had the great pleasure of returning to Greenland, and once again I was met with overwhelming warmth and kindness.

It was – and is – a turbulent time. Despite this, Greenlanders do not waver, but stand firm with strength and pride.

They create cohesion inwardly and respect outwardly, cementing the narrative of a strong people in the Arctic.

In early summer, the time finally came to visit the Faroe Islands.
The joy of anticipation had grown strong and was fully fulfilled when Queen Mary and I, together with Princess Josephine, set foot on Faroese soil.

From the air, from the land, and from the sea, the almost otherworldly beauty stretched as far as the eye could see – and the fog allowed.

Everywhere we went in the deep green, rolling, and rugged landscape, we were met by the well-known Faroese hospitality. Even on the dance floor. For when Faroese people dance the chain dance, there is always room for one more.

Communities come in many forms, and traditional dance has the advantage that it simply takes on a new shape when more people join.

It may seem like a small gesture, but for the one standing outside, it can mean the world that the circle does not hesitate to open.

That applies to dancing and to most other things in life.

I would like to thank everyone in the Faroe Islands and Greenland for once again receiving my family and me so warmly.

On behalf of Queen Mary and myself, I would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the many who have gone out of their way for us over the course of the year.

We know that much preparation precedes our visits – whether it involves planning running routes around the city or making room for the Dannebrog in the harbour.

Wherever we have gone, we have enjoyed the flourishing local colour.

Each town has its own character. Each region its charm. Each edge its expertise.

In many places, we encounter proud old craft traditions, passed down and refined through generations.

Glassblowing in Sæby, recreational fishing in Vorupør, seaweed roof thatching on Læsø.

The work of the hands has been refined over centuries and has been a livelihood for many just as long.

Even today, there is great demand for people who are skilled with their hands. Earlier this year, I met Augusta, Casper, Niels, Sofie, and Magnus, who more than live up to that description.

All five competed in the European Championship for young apprentices and skilled workers in Herning.

Their trades were very different, but they shared the ambition to deliver craftsmanship at the very highest level.

Denmark ended up winning a wealth of medals, which is not only impressive but also an important source of inspiration for other aspiring craftsmen and women.

Young apprentices and skilled workers can achieve wonders with their hands, so of course they should not merely assist, but take responsibility with confidence in the workplaces fortunate enough to have them.

We all benefit when young people choose a craft. We need more people who can use both their heads and their hands.

Today, when vast amounts of information are just a click away and many tasks can be solved instantly with the right command, craftsmanship is highly valued.

Good manual skill does not come by itself; it requires time and diligence – and in reality, that is still the path to most skills.

Life’s alternation is our lot.

Whether you are born here or have come here, whether you live here or are a Dane abroad, it is the same for all of us.

Life’s changeability is a condition – and can also be a path to gratitude.

What we appreciate stands out more clearly when we sometimes have to do without it.

That what we are given becomes less taken for granted helps us value it more.

Sorrows and joys.

Good times and hard times.

Sunshine and clouds.

They go hand in hand.

No one can have one without the other.

Perhaps that is just as well.

For the coming of spring is wondrous precisely because we meet it with winter’s cold still in our bodies.

A very Happy New Year.

GOD SAVE DENMARK

This is a translation of the King’s speech, which was delivered in Danish.