By AFP - Agence France Presse
Independence in focus at Greenland vote, with Trump in the background
Pierre-Henry Deshayes with Camille Bas-Wohlert in Copenhagen
Greenland votes on Tuesday in legislative elections after a campaign largely focused on when - not if - to cut ties with Denmark without falling into the clutches of the United States.
President Donald Trump's sometimes threatening comments about taking over Greenland have given fresh impetus to the autonomous territory's independence movement.
Many of the island's 57,000 inhabitants insist that they want to be neither American nor Danish - just Greenlandic.
“Donald Trump has kind of reignited the independence issue,” Maria Ackren, a political scientist at the University of Greenland, told AFP.
“It's nothing new for Greenlanders... But it is giving Greenlandic politicians and decision-makers an impetus now to perhaps achieve some goals that have not been available recently,” she said.
The issue of independence featured prominently in the campaign, along with education, social affairs, fishing - which accounts for 90% of the vast Arctic island's exports - and tourism.
Almost all the parties represented in parliament support the idea of full sovereignty for the huge ice-covered island, 50 times the size of Denmark but 100 times less populated.
The clusters of construction cranes towering over the capital, Nuuk, are a sign of the rapid modernization of Greenlandic society, which has left part of its predominantly Inuit population - mostly hunters and fishermen - by the wayside.
Although visible on the streets, the social problems are even more evident in the statistics: Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, more abortions than births, and a life expectancy for men below 70 years.
- Fast track?
Although most of the parties vying for the 31 seats in parliament support independence, their opinions differ on the timetable. Some prefer a “fast track”, while others want to go slowly.
Among the most impatient is the opposition nationalist party Naleraq, which has been prominent in the campaign.
It wants the independence process to begin immediately. In the previous election in 2021, it won 12% of the vote.
“The interest we're seeing, not just from the United States, but basically from around the world, which has been there for a few years, is showing in our favor,” Juno Berthelsen, one of Naleraq's most prominent candidates, told AFP.
When does he think independence will happen?
“We could try to predict that it will be within one or two election cycles” of four years each, he said.
But “that depends on how the negotiations between Greenland and Denmark go”.
Settled by Danes more than 300 years ago, the island received local government in 1979, with Copenhagen retaining control over matters such as foreign affairs and defense.
Since 2009, a law has allowed Greenland to initiate the independence process unilaterally.
The law stipulates that negotiations take place between the Danish and Greenlandic governments to reach an agreement, which must be approved by the Greenlandic parliament, endorsed by a referendum on the island, and voted on by the Danish parliament.
- 'Prison'
The outgoing government's coalition, made up of Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), Prime Minister Mute Egede's left-wing Green party, and the social-democratic Siumut party, also supports independence.
But despite internal divisions, they are in no hurry to achieve it.
They insist that the island must first achieve economic independence. Currently, the island receives around $565 million from Copenhagen in annual subsidies, the equivalent of around a fifth of its GDP.
“Talk of independence is always on the agenda. That's the ultimate goal for many of us in Greenland, but it will be in 10, 20 years or more,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a member of AI and one of Greenland's two representatives in the Danish parliament.
“It's important to talk about Greenland's economic development and how to do this in a much more sustainable way,” she said.
The leader of the Siumut party, Erik Jensen, the outgoing finance minister, expressed his frustration that the issue of independence had eclipsed - at least in the Danish and international media - the issues that affect the everyday lives of Greenlanders.
“It's also an important part of our program, but everyone here in Greenland talks about health, schools, and kindergarten,” he told AFP.
In the cold, windy streets of Nuuk, residents oscillate between the desire to break free and economic realism.
“Of course, we want to be independent from Denmark, because we are seen as a lower class of people,” said Peter Jensen, a businessman.
But with its subsidies, Copenhagen has “kept us in this ‘prison’”, he said.
The exploitation of Greenland's mineral resources, often seen as an economic stepping stone to independence, is in its infancy.
“We should think about how we can become self-sufficient in our food and fuel. Because everything we have comes from abroad,” added Ole Moeller, middle manager of a transportation company.
“And, as you can see now, the world is not very safe at the moment.”
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