After ten years of right-wing rule, Social Democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt is Denmark's new prime minister and set to steer the country into a new era.
She replaces Liberal leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose minority government was propped up by the far-right Danish People's party (DPP). Under this government, Denmark stepped up anti-immigration legislation and tightened border controls in a clear breach of the Schengen Agreement. But when Denmark assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council early next year, it's expected to have shed its Europhobic stance.