(Bloomberg) -- Margrethe Vestager would have the backing of Denmark's next government to become EU Commission chief, prime minister-elect Mette Frederiksen told local media on Friday.
“If Margrethe Vestager is close to being able to become the president of the commission, then it is in Denmark's interest to back her," daily Politiken quoted Frederiksen as saying.
Outgoing Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, whose Liberal Party is in the same group as Vestager's Social Liberals in the European Parliament, had already expressed his support for her. But this is the first time that Frederiksen, who won Denmark's June 5 elections, has openly backed Vestager.
Vestager, who has been the EU's antitrust chief since 2014, is seen as a compromise candidate in the race for the top job, with Manfred Weber, a German conservative, currently seen as the favorite.
Read more on the race for the EU's top jobs
--With assistance from Christian Wienberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Rigillo in Copenhagen at nrigillo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net
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