In Trump’s shadow, Greenland seeks more leverage from Danish vote
Greenlandic candidates competing for two seats in Denmark’s election next week hope to leverage the unprecedented attention brought to their island by U.S. President Donald Trump to wrangle concessions from its former colonial power.
Trump’s ambitions for the U.S. to acquire Greenland have drawn sharp focus on the Arctic island of 57,000 people, exposing longstanding questions about the level of Danish investment in defense, infrastructure and economic development.
“The most important thing for us in this election is the sovereignty of the Greenlandic people,” said Juno Berthelsen, 43, running for the opposition and pro-independence Naleraq party. “The Greenlandic people … should always be at the center of any conversation about Greenland.”
Naleraq, meaning point of orientation in the local Kalaallisut language, is fielding five candidates, including Berthelsen, to vie for two seats in the Danish national assembly representing Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Historic opportunity
While many Greenlanders believe Naleraq’s calls for a quick divorce from Copenhagen are premature or wrong, some see Trump’s demands for more control as leverage to press Denmark over long-standing grievances.
With major powers now openly competing for influence in the region and melting ice opening up new shipping routes and natural resources, Greenland’s strategic importance is clear and Copenhagen finds itself having to prove its worth as a partner rather than assume it.
Many Greenlanders accuse Denmark of unfairly benefiting from their fishing industry, holding back economic independence and failing to protect the more than 17,000 Greenlanders living in Denmark from discrimination.
Anna Wangenheim, Greenland’s health minister and a candidate for Demokraatit, the party of Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said Trump’s pressure has forced an overdue reckoning.
“The fact that we are in the eye of the hurricane in the Arctic means that we have a very great opportunity to have much greater influence than we have had before,” Wangenheim said.
Demanding a seat at the table
For Aage Josefsen, a 55-year-old bus driver in the capital Nuuk, the election comes down to a simple question: who actually speaks for Greenland?
“The Greenlandic government should have more say in meetings, instead of Denmark just speaking on Greenland’s behalf,” he said.
Policy proposals put forward by Greenlandic candidates ahead of the election include creating a coastal surveillance force drawn from local fishermen and hunters, restructuring the fishing economy to retain more value within Greenland and ensuring that Danes learn more about the island in school.
Mette Frederiksen, the left-leaning prime minister of Denmark, faces a tight race despite a boost from her defiant stance against U.S. pressure over Greenland, with many Danes frustrated over rising living costs and welfare pressures.
Some analysts say Frederiksen will struggle to carve out a majority in the next parliament, the Folketing, and any small-grouping votes, including those of Greenlandic lawmakers, might be crucial to her ability to retain power.
Among other demands candidates are bringing to Copenhagen is a renegotiation of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the U.S., which excluded Greenland’s input.
“It must be something that Greenland can also see itself reflected in, a defense agreement about our land,” said Ane Lone Bagger, representing the Siumut party.
Change of tone
She added that Trump’s pressure had already shifted Danish attitudes.
“Suddenly there are apologies and this and that,” she said.
Last year, Denmark apologized to thousands of Greenlandic women subjected to involuntary birth control practices between the 1960s and 1991. That shift in tone from Copenhagen has been embodied by Frederiksen, who has positioned herself as Greenland’s staunchest defender, travelling repeatedly to the island and rallying European leaders against U.S. pressure.
She has also been explicit that Greenland’s future is for Greenlanders alone to decide. But for many islanders, the geopolitical noise risks drowning out the reality of daily life.
For Inuujuk Louis Petersen, a 24-year-old taxi driver running for Demokraatit in Nuuk as a candidate in the Danish election, the stakes are personal as much as political.
Greenland never asked to be at the center of a superpower rivalry, he said.
“It is of course at the expense of the life we have always been used to,” he said. “And that was peace and quiet.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Canada bets on ‘Build at Home’ defence strategy to reclaim sovereignty — and revive readiness, CBC News
Denmark: Denmark to provide four F-35 fighter jets to NATO’s Arctic Sentry, Reuters
Finland: Greenland clash left a mark on EU-US relations says Finnish PM, Yle News
Greenland: New Italy Arctic policy adds U.S. Greenland ambitions to growing Arctic competition narrative, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: NATO chief to Arctic Allies: “We’re all frontline states now,” as Iceland’s role grows, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Europeans step up submarine hunting in the North, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Russia claims first-ever North Pole aerial refuelling, TASS reports, Reuters
Sweden: Swedish military intelligence on the great power rivalry over Greenland, Radio Sweden
United States: Rubio says technical talks with Denmark, Greenland officials over Arctic security have begun, The Associated Press
