Greenland caught between the US, Denmark and independence in election

The Greenlanders go to the polls on Tuesday during a pivotal parliamentary election shaped by the lasting debate on the independence of the Denmark supervisor – and by the ambitions of the American president Donald Trump to grasp the island “in one way or another”.

The majority of the six main political parties of the Arctic island support independence, and The last survey of voters in January suggested that the Inuit Pro-Independence Ataqatigiit party could preserve power in the parliament of 31 places, the inateisartut, probably Followed in second place by his former coalition partner, Siumut.

The two parties say that they want to have a referendum on the political and economic independence of Denmark, although none of the two has established a clear period.

Denmark oversees Defense and foreign policy in Greenland, but leaves internal questions to the Greenland government. However, Copenhagen provides an annual block subsidy of approximately $ 511 million to the island which represents around 20% of GDO GDP and more than half of the public budget, according to the International Trade Data Data.

Copenhagen insisted several times that Greenland is “not for sale” and that there will be part of his kingdom, but he is wary of the momentum behind independence and was silent before the elections, prudent to seem to dictate how the islanders should vote.

There is no doubt that Trump’s conceptions on the island and its abundance of rare earth minerals, however, caused an alarm in Denmark. Danish Prime Minister puts Frederiksen described the idea as “absurd” when Trump made it advance in 2019.

This feeling was reiterated by Greenland following Trump’s comments in December when the American chief said that the “property” of Greenland was essential for American economic and national security. The Prime Minister of Greenland Mute Egede replied That “we are not for sale and that we will not be to sell” and that “Greenland belongs to the inhabitants of Greenland”.

He doubled on this position last week, declaring “Kalaallit Nunaat [Greenland in the Greenlandic language] is ours. “”

“We do not want to be Americans or Danes; we are Kalaallit. The Americans and their leader must understand this. We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland,” He said on Facebook.

Apparently not discouraged by the rejection by Greenland and Denmark of his advances, Trump returned several times about the claim of ownership of the United States. He also refused to exclude military action to seize the vast freezing territory which is located geographically closer to the United States than Denmark.

Last week, Trump declared in his spouse in the Congress that the United States would suppose control of Greenland “in one way or another.” He relaunched the subject on Sunday before the elections, commenting that “strongly supports us the law of the law of Greenland to determine their own future”.

“We will continue to ensure security, as we have done since the Second World War. We are ready to invest billions of dollars to create new jobs and make you rich – and, if you choose, we invite you to be part of the largest nation in the world, in the United States of America,” Trump posted on the Truth social media platform.

Greenland’s economy is mainly centered on fishing, but deposits on the island of rare land and critical minerals, used in electronics, energy and defense, have aroused international interest. The global warning and the loss of ice make some of the largest critical mineral reserves in the world more accessible.

While Greenland is an autonomous territory in the kingdom of Denmark and has historical links with the United States, sheltering American military facilities since the Second World War. The growing geopolitical competition in the Arctic between Russia, China and the United States has also strengthened the attraction of the island, which is on potentially very lucrative shipping routes through the Arctic Ocean.

Although Denmark’s independence was a rallying cry for the political parties that disputed the elections, and most Greenlanders – do not want to be part of the United States either.

An opinion poll Drive in January by the Verian sounder For the Berlingske newspaper, found that 85% of the Greenlanders interviewed did not want their country to leave Denmark and become part of the United States, with only 6% saying that they supported such a decision.

Nevertheless, the same poll revealed that the majority of 56% of the Greenlanders would vote for independence if a referendum took place today, with 28% against and 17% uncertain.

Rasmus Jarlov, a conservative legislator in Denmark and president of Denmark DefensCommittee E, said on Monday that the Nordic nation was not too worried that the Greenlanders kiss the United States, regardless of the result of Tuesday’s vote.

“Not a single candidate in the Greenland elections wants to join the United States. So it will never be the result of the election. He cannot be influenced in this direction,” Jarlov commented on the social media platform X.

“An in-depth survey a month ago has shown that only 6% of Greenlanders AF wish to join the United States while 85% rejected the idea. The statement that Greenland wants to join the United States is completely composed. They absolutely do not do.“”

Jarlov insisted that Greenland has “full rights in Denmark” and a representation in Parliament, when he said that “in the United States, Greenland would be a territory abroad without the voting rights or any influence. Puerto Rico with 3.2 million people have never become a state and neither Greenland with 57,000 people. “

Analysts say that Trump goes in his Nuptial Greenland parade in the wrong direction and should rather seek to deepen economic and geopolitical ties with the island rather than pursuing the high cost exercise of “possess”.

“One thing is very clear: the inhabitants of Greenland have little interest in being acquired by anyone,” said Otto Svendsen, associated with the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a recent analysis.

“The Danish government of Copenhagen also does not have an appetite to negotiate a sale of Greenland, as it would probably violate international law and the law of Greenland to self-determination,” he added.

Svendson argued that instead of continuing “an effort probably futile to acquire Greenland against its will”, the United States would be better served by staying the course and finding profitable means of strengthening links with the territory.

This, he said, understood the repetition “of its commitment to the forums and the mechanisms which promote government links to government with Greenland”, as well as its small aid packages to develop the mining sector of Greenland, as well as its education and its tourism.

By deploying this commitment strategy, the United States can “take advantage of the significant advantages while adopting the big note of directing the island in Denmark”, he noted, with the status quo therefore allowing Washington to “have its cake and eat it too”.