Nuuk, Greenland – Greenland’s hottest social media influencer introduced her political bid simply weeks forward of Tuesday’s elections as she felt the winds of change blowing throughout the huge Arctic island.
“That is really a historic second. I really feel like we’re lastly voting on independence. This has primarily occurred as a result of the US is displaying larger curiosity in Greenland,” Qupanuk Olsen, the 39-year-old working with the pro-independence opposition social gathering Naleraq within the parliamentary vote, instructed Al Jazeera. “It’s an enormous wake-up name.”
Normally, she spends her time updating her a whole bunch of hundreds of social media followers about on a regular basis life in Greenland, from revealing how a lot a pair of Sketchers value at a mall in Nuuk, the capital, to the kind of seafood eaten on festive days.
To Olsen and lots of different Greenlanders, Tuesday’s vote appears like probably the most crucial election within the territory’s current historical past.
Greenland has captured the world’s consideration since United States President Donald Trump doubled down on his intentions to soak up the island, an uncomfortable prospect that has renewed a long-running debate over independence from Denmark.
Whereas the extent of self-governance has expanded through the years, full sovereignty stays a distant but highly effective aspiration for a lot of Greenlanders – and the problem is on the coronary heart of the snap election that was referred to as after Trump underscored his ambitions.
Within the run-up to the vote, Nuuk has been overrun with worldwide journalists taking an unusually eager curiosity in Greenlandic politics.
Among the many questions being regularly requested: Will Greenland take concrete steps in direction of breaking away from Denmark, or will financial realities preserve it tethered to Copenhagen?
“I don’t assume full independence will occur anytime quickly – it has all the time been a think about Greenlandic elections. Nonetheless, I don’t see it occurring shortly, despite the fact that some political events are pushing for it. Possibly in 20 to 30 years,” Maria Ackren, a professor of political science at Greenland College, instructed Al Jazeera.
“Nearly each social gathering in Greenland helps independence. Nonetheless, the timing, situations, and tempo of the method range.”
An immense Arctic island of simply 56,000 folks, Greenland has been a semi-autonomous territory throughout the Kingdom of Denmark since 1979. Till 1953, it was a Danish colony.
Below a 2009 home-rule settlement, Greenland has full management over its home affairs however nonetheless depends closely on Denmark, which maintains authority over international coverage and defence.
Denmark gives Greenland with an annual subsidy of about $570m, masking almost a 3rd of the island’s price range.
“It’s about time that we take a step ahead and form our personal future, together with deciding who we collaborate intently with and who our commerce connections might be. {Our relationships} with different international locations can not occur solely by means of Denmark,” stated Mute B Egede, Greenland’s premier and chief of the pro-independence democratic socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) social gathering, in his New Yr’s speech.
Some events are calling for Greenland to carry a referendum on a particular article within the home-rule legislation throughout the subsequent 4 years. If the result’s a sure, negotiations on independence and statehood would start with Denmark.
Current polls counsel a big majority of Greenlanders don’t need to be a part of the US and most again the concept of independence.
One survey confirmed that 70 p.c of Danes consider that if Greenland leaves the Danish Realm, the annual subsidy – the so-called “block grant” – ought to be discontinued.
Navigating the snow-covered streets of Nuuk, a Greenlandic Trump supporter admired the pink MAGA hat he positioned on high of the dashboard of his automobile.
“It’s the unique one – from again in 2016. It has been in my automobile for 9 years,” Jorgen Boassen instructed Al Jazeera proudly.
He works with a Republican-affiliated organisation referred to as American Dawn, which goals to extend the US’s affect in Greenland.
Beforehand, Trump has refused to rule out army or financial coercion to grab Greenland.
In current days, the US chief has reiterated his want to snap up the island.
“I feel we’re going to get it. A technique or one other,” Trump stated in an handle to Congress.
The day after, Prime Minister Egede posted on Fb, “We don’t need to be Individuals, nor Danes – we’re Greenlanders. The Individuals and their chief should perceive that.”
In 2019, when Trump, then president, steered that the US should purchase Greenland from Denmark, he referred to as it a “strategic actual property deal”, angering each Copenhagen and Nuuk.
Greenland is geographically a part of the North American continent however has been culturally related with Europe for a lot of centuries.
“The Greenlandic events have but to current a transparent and concrete imaginative and prescient for independence. It stays unclear precisely what they imply by it. Nonetheless, it’s evident that Donald Trump’s curiosity has given them a way of momentum, which they’re utilizing to place strain on Danish politicians,” stated Ackren, the professor at Greenland College.
Since Christmas, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the US ought to search larger management over the island’s sources and broaden its Arctic army presence; Greenland is already house to a big US base.
In January, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, visited. Whereas formally described as a personal journey, the tour gave the impression to be a well-planned social media stunt geared toward placing strain on Greenland and Denmark.
Boassen stated he helped organise the controversial go to, footage of which confirmed some Greenlanders carrying MAGA hats. Danish media later claimed a few of these donning the pink caps had been bribed.
“I’m not serious about Greenland turning into an American state,” stated Boassen. “However I need a bigger American army presence right here. Denmark has not finished what they promised relating to army build-up, and we are able to’t solely depend on Europe any extra.”
Analysts consider Trump’s administration views Greenland, which has immense untapped sources corresponding to rare-earth minerals, oil and gasoline, as a strategic asset – a key Arctic territory as geopolitical tensions between China, Russia and the US are heating up.
Whereas native politicians have insisted Greenland is open for enterprise, Greenlanders are definitely not serious about a brand new colonial ruler.
As for Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, he has said a number of occasions that the way forward for Greenland is solely as much as the Greenlanders to determine.