(Adnkronos) – Greenland is voting to elect its new national parliament. The news, in the past, had never had much resonance outside the capital Nuuk and – albeit almost only by reflection – in Copenhagen. Tomorrow’s vote, however, will have a particular meaning for the country and beyond. The “credit” goes to the American president, Donald Trump, whose statements of intent on the control of Greenland – a strategic island in the Arctic and rich in natural resources – could influence the choices of the approximately 41,000 voters called to choose the 31 members of the local parliament.
The American president continues to reiterate that he wants to take control of Greenland “one way or another”, even though it is a largely inhospitable territory and whose surface is 80% ice. “As I made clear in my speech to Congress, the United States strongly supports the right of the Greenlandic people to determine their own future,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth a few hours before the vote. “We are ready to invest billions of dollars to create new jobs and make them rich. And, if they wish, we will welcome them into the greatest nation in the world: the United States of America,” he added.
Already during his first term, Trump had submitted an official offer to Denmark to buy Greenland, underlining the strategic importance of the island on which the United States has maintained the Pituffik space base, in the northwest, since 1950. Already then, the responses from Copenhagen and Nuuk had been clear: the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, called the idea of selling Greenland to the United States “absurd” and reiterated that the island “is not for sale”. Frederiksen stressed that Greenland is a self-governing region with the right to decide its own future and that Trump’s proposal had no realistic basis.
For his part, the then Greenlandic Prime Minister, Kim Kielsen, also firmly rejected the idea, stating that Greenland had no intention of being ceded to another nation and that it would continue to work for its own autonomy and, one day, independence from Denmark. The episode led to a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Denmark. After the refusal, Trump canceled an official visit to Copenhagen scheduled for September 2019, calling Frederiksen “nasty” for the way she had rejected the proposal.
Six years later, the “sentiment” of Greenlanders does not seem to have changed too much. Prime Minister Mute Egede expressed concern about Trump’s “unpredictability”, stating in an interview with Danish public television that the tycoon’s insistence on talking about his plans for the island is influencing “various global scenarios”. According to Egede, Greenland no longer looks at the United States with the same interest as in the past, precisely because of the pressure exerted by the president.
Egede, leader of the left-wing independence coalition in government since 2021, is the clear favorite for reconfirmation, although polls indicate a decline in consensus. His party, Inuit Ataqatigiit, is expected to get 31% of the vote, nine points ahead of its current ally, Siumut. The surveys also indicate a growth in opposition parties, including the centrist populists of Naleraq, who are pro-independence but in favor of closer ties with Washington. Among their candidates is the influencer Qupanuk Olsen, famous for her Youtube series “Q’s Greenland”. The unionist parties Demokratiit and Atassut are also in the running.
In 2009, the Greenlandic population voted by a large majority in a referendum in favor of self-government, also establishing a path towards independence, which has now returned to the center of political debate. Many Greenlanders want to free themselves from Danish control, which still manages monetary policy, defense and foreign affairs. However, it is unclear how and when this might happen, considering that Copenhagen covers more than half of the Greenlandic budget, funding essential services such as healthcare, education and employment.
The independence movements are counting on the island’s natural resources to finance a future sovereign state: rare earths hidden under the ice and oil fields yet to be exploited. However, foreign investment is needed to develop these projects, and the crux of the matter remains under what conditions Greenland should enter into agreements with foreign powers. The small Greenlandic community – made up of about 56,000 inhabitants, mostly Inuit – is deeply connected to nature, and the debate on the future of the island also hinges on the sustainability of large-scale economic exploitation.
