WASHINGTON—The eyes of the world have turned to Greenland as its inhabitants prepare to vote in its March 11 parliamentary elections. The results could herald a push for independence from the Kingdom of Denmark.
Depending on how the next weeks and months unfold, the elections may even pave the way for a successful American bid to acquire or closely partner with the territory, in line with statements from U.S. President Donald Trump—though Trump has opted for a softer touch in recent days.
“We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and, if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump told the people of Greenland in his March 6 joint address to Congress. He used similar language in a March 9 Truth Social post, vowing that Greenland would gain jobs and money by joining the United States. Greenland’s current economy is heavily dependent on fisheries.
Trump’s case for how America would benefit from acquiring Greenland hinges on the island being a possible source of wealth for its rare earth deposits, which are used in batteries, lasers, and a range of other technologies, including ones with crucial defense applications. Trump has also emphasized Greenland’s strategic position in the Arctic, which may raise its vulnerability to Chinese and Russian incursions. The United States already maintains a military presence in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base.
While Ulrik Pram Gad of the Danish Institute for International Studies wrote in January that additional buildup could drive escalation and isn’t merited by facts on the ground, GreenMet CEO Drew Horn, a retired Green Beret who served in the first Trump administration, cited his national security expertise to say that the threats from Russia and China are very real.
“The question is, who’s actually going to contain that? And the answer is, it’s not Denmark, right? It’s the United States,” Horn, who visited Greenland in January to develop mining ties, told The Epoch Times. “It should be a part of North America if it wants to be.”
In Trump’s March 6 joint address, he told the American people, “I think we’re going to get” Greenland.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede swiftly responded, telling Trump that Greenland “is ours.” Egede leads a pro-independence party, Inuit Ataqatigiit. He called for the March 11 election amid Trump’s talk of acquiring Greenland in the weeks before Inauguration Day.
In his March 6 and March 9 pitches to Greenland, the president struck a less forceful tone than he did in a Dec. 22 Truth Social post, in which he wrote that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” Shortly afterward, the president’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., visited the autonomous territory.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who introduced a bill authorizing the president to negotiate for Greenland and to rename it “Red, White, and Blueland,” echoed Trump’s recent endorsement of Greenlandic self-determination in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, adding that he hopes the country will ultimately opt to become part of the United States.
“This deal would be a boon for both sides, and I have confidence in our negotiator-in-chief to get it done,” he said.
Lawrence “Chip” Muir, an attorney who served in the first Trump White House, told The Epoch Times he thinks the U.S. president is “basically letting things take their course” in Greenland.
Trump “doesn’t want to be seen as putting his thumb too heavily on the scales because ultimately, it is a decision for Greenlanders to make for themselves, about themselves,” Muir added.
The March 11 election will determine the composition of the 31-member parliament, or Inatsisartut. It is expected to elevate parties and politicians that support the full independence of Greenland, an Arctic nation of almost 57,000 people dominated by the Inuit people, most of whom speak Greenlandic rather than Danish. If pro-independence parties carry the day, an initial independence referendum may follow.
However, a recent poll shows that any attempt to incorporate Greenland into the U.S. could face headwinds.
Published in late January by UK-based research agency Verian, the poll of Greenlanders found that 56 percent of Greenlanders would vote for independence, with 28 percent opposing it and 17 percent being unsure. The same poll found that 85 percent of respondents opposed joining the United States.
The Norse first reached Greenland, the largest island in the world, during the 900s. The modern Danish colonial presence on the North American territory began in 1721. It became an administrative district of Denmark in 1953. In 1979, more than 70 percent of voters in Greenland voted in favor of home rule, endowing Greenland with even greater autonomy.
In 2009, Greenland was granted the Act on Greenland Self-Government, creating a multi-stage process through which the district could seek independence from Denmark. That roadmap includes a referendum by the Greenlandic people and, ultimately, the consent of the Folketing, Denmark’s parliament.
Muir predicted the Folketing would not seek to undo an independence push if it reached that late moment in the process.
“Parliamentary intervention at this stage would jump the line and undercut the will of the Greenlandic people as expressed through the election and referendum, should matters get to that point,” he said.
He thinks the United States should send trade emissaries at an earlier stage of the independence process—specifically, when the Greenlandic executive ministers, the Naalakkersuisut, are negotiating with the Danish government.
“Political risk is a factor in any overseas investment. If the U.S. is going to invest a lot of money into Greenland, the U.S. should want to help ensure that the protections against risks from nationalization or legislative changes, so that their investments are not lost or reduced due to Greenlandic governmental activity,” he said.
An independent Greenland could take multiple paths to partnering with the United States.
Pelé Broberg, who leads Greenland’s pro-independence Naleraq party, wrote in U.S. News and World Report that Greenland could seek independence and then “pursue ‘free association’ status, whereby we would get U.S. support and protection in return for military rights, without becoming a U.S. territory.”
The United States has compacts of free association with Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.
Two months before Greenlanders prepared to ponder their options at the polls, Qupanuk Olsen, a Greenlandic influencer, weighed in.
“I strongly believe in Greenland’s independence. To achieve this, we must expand our collaborations and establish business relationships with countries beyond Denmark,” she said in a January video post on the social networking website Instagram.
“I hope we will strengthen our connections with our fellow Inuit in Canada and Alaska significantly more in the near future,” she added.
From The Epoch Times
