Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland have energised the Arctic territory’s long-simmering independence debate ahead of parliamentary elections on Tuesday.
The campaign to elect the 31 members of the Inatsisartut, Greenland’s parliament, has been dominated by discussion of whether the vast island — currently an autonomous territory of Denmark — should break away.
“We’ve talked about independence for many, many, many years. It was talked about in my parents’ generation, and their parents’,” said Masaana Egede, editor of local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “It’s been put on steroids right now. That makes people nervous.”
Sparsely populated, a geopolitically crucial part of the rapidly melting Arctic, full of hard-to-exploit minerals, Greenland has captured international attention since Trump expressed interest in buying or “taking over” the island, and even refused to rule out using military force to do so.
The harshness of the US president’s rhetoric — repeated most recently in last week’s address to Congress — has unnerved many Greenlanders, leaving them worried about becoming pawns in a larger geopolitical game.
“When I see young women with tears in their eyes and afraid for their children’s future because of Trump’s word, it is of great concern,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic MP in Denmark’s parliament. “We are indigenous people in Greenland and it’s important for us to make sure there’s respect for our rights.”
The sharply intensified independence debate has placed extreme pressure on Greenland’s politics. Two of the country’s most well-known politicians controversially left Siumut, the social democratic party that has long dominated the country’s politics, for an upstart group that wants to start the independence process immediately.
In response to Trump, Prime Minister Múte Egede has repeatedly stressed that “we are Greenlanders, we don’t want to be Americans or Danes”. His Inuit Ataqatigiit party (IA) and Siumut — who are in government together — both favoured independence at a cautious pace, to ensure separation from Copenhagen would not hurt living standards.
But Siumut has in the space of a few days changed its own stance on how quickly it wanted independence several times, before ending up where it began.
“The US interest is both fortunate and unfortunate for Greenland,” said Vittus Qujaukitsoq, a former minister. “Independence is a natural development. But we are lacking the economic foundations to achieve independence just now. Greenland, despite its great size, is vulnerable. We are too small in population to counter the US.”
“There’s a misconception that Greenland is going to be independent tomorrow,” said Chemnitz, MP for IA. “It is a long-term goal.”
Relations with Denmark have long been complicated by scandals over enforced sterilisation of Greenlanders and the racism they have faced. Egede said in his new year address that Greenland needed to throw off “the shackles of colonialism”.
Some argue that Greenland has already come a long way. It received home rule in 1979 and more rights 30 years later, including to seek independence. “If we should define ourselves, we should say we are the only nation of indigenous people who have their own right to their land and resources,” said Aqqaluk Lynge, founder of IA. “You don’t find that arrangement anywhere else in the world.”
But Greenland has not used all its potential powers. More than 30 still reside with Denmark, including policing, defence and security. Some in the capital Nuuk argue it will take decades to be able to afford to run most things independently.
But not everyone is prepared to wait that long. Naleraq, the party to which the two Siumut politicians defected, has welcomed Trump’s interest and said they want to start independence talks with Copenhagen straight away.
Kuno Fencker, a Greenlandic MP who is one of the defectors, said: “It’s good for Greenland to get all this attention. Suddenly Denmark is behaving very nicely. Suddenly they could solve some problems immediately.”
Even he, however, sees the limits of Greenland’s push for nationhood. “We know we can’t be fully independent . . . It’s utopia to think that Greenland can handle defence and security with a population of 57,000 people and an area larger than western Europe . . . The US will be the ones to defend this island,” he added, pointing at the current US base, the main military installation on Greenland, on the north of the island.
Denmark itself has reacted cautiously, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen keen not to inflame tensions with either the US or Greenland. She has said Greenlanders’ desire for independence is “legitimate and understandable”. Many in Nuuk say she is the most friendly Danish prime minister ever towards them.
Some Danish politicians argue that Greenland would be best sticking with Copenhagen, otherwise they risk being snapped up by the US. “This US aggression makes it harder for Greenland to become independent. Then they would have to face the Americans alone, rather than together with Denmark,” said Rasmus Jarlov, a former minister and current Conservative MP.
In Nuuk, there are mixed feelings of excitement and foreboding. Some bemoan an election campaign in which other issues such as healthcare and education have got little attention.
“Some people are outright scared — they feel it in their stomach,” said Masaana Egede, of Trump’s threats. “One of the main fears that people in Greenland have: if we go independent, how long would we stay independent? Some people are saying we would have three days as an independent people and then somebody will be at our coast and taking us over.”
