Nuuk, Greenland – The most popular social media influencer from Greenland announced her political offer just a few weeks before the elections on Tuesday when she felt how the winds of change blow over the huge arctic island.
“This is really a historical moment. I have the feeling that we finally agree with independence. This has been done primarily because the United States showed a greater interest in Greenland, ”said qupanuk Olsen, the 39-year-old with the opposition party of pro-independence Naleraq in parliamentary vote, said Al Jazera. “It’s a big wake -up call.”
Usually she spends her time to update her hundreds of thousands of social media followers about everyday life in Greenland by revealing how many sketches in a shopping center in Nuuk, the capital, have been eaten on the type of seafood that were eaten on festive days.
For Olsen and many other Greenlanders, the most critical election in the recent history of the territory feels on Tuesday.
Greenland has attracted the attention of the world since the United States, Donald Trump’s US President, has doubled his intentions to record the island, an unpleasant view that has renewed a long-term debate about the independence of Denmark.
While the level of self-administration has expanded over the years, the full sovereignty for many Greenlanders remains a distant, yet strong endeavor-and the problem is the heart of the snap elections, which after Trump underlined its ambitions.
In the run -up to the vote, Nuuk was overrun with international journalists who are unusual in Greenland politics.
Among the questions that are continuously asked: Will Greenland take concrete steps to break away from Denmark, or are economic realities connected to Copenhagen?
“I don’t think full independence will happen soon – it has always been a factor for Greenland elections. However, I don’t see that it happens quickly, even though some political parties are pushing it. Maybe in 20 to 30 years, ”Maria Ackren, professor of political science at Greenland University, told Al Jazera.
“Almost every party in Greenland supports independence. However, the timing, the conditions and the pace of the process vary. “
Greenland, an immense arctic island with only 56,000 people, has been a half -autonomic territory in the Kingdom of Denmark since 1979. It was a Danish colony until 1953.
As part of a 2009 budget agreement, Grenland has full control over its domestic matters, but still leans heavily on Denmark, which maintains authority about foreign policy and defense.
Denmark offers Greenland an annual subsidy of around $ 570 million, which covers almost a third of the island’s budget.
“It is time for us to take a step forward and shape our own future, including the decision with whom we work closely and who will be our trade connections. Our relationships with other countries can not only take place through Denmark, ”said Mute B Eagegee, Greenland’s Prime Minister and leader of the independent democratic socialist inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party, in his New Year’s speech.
Some parties ask Greenland to prevent a referendum on a specific article in the law of home bill within the next four years. If the result is a yes, negotiations on independence and statehood would begin with Denmark.
Recent surveys indicate that a large majority of the Greenlanders do not want to join the United States and most support the idea of independence.
A survey showed that 70 percent of the Danes believe that the annual subsidy and so-called “block grant” when Greenland leaves the Danish area should be set.
As a snow-capped streets of Nuuk, a Greenland Trump supporter admired the red Maga hat, which he put on the dashboard of his car.
“It is the original – from earlier in 2016. It has been in my car for nine years,” said Jorgen Boassen proudly to Al Jazera.
He works with a Republican organization called American Daybreak, which aims to increase the influence of the United States on Greenland.
Trump previously refused to exclude military or economic pressure to confiscate Greenland.
In the past few days, the US leader has repeated his wish to reach the island.
“I think we’ll get it. One or the other way, ”said Trump in a speech to the congress.
The day after, Prime Minister Eggede wrote on Facebook: “We don’t want to be an American nor Danes – we are Greenlanders. The Americans and their leader have to understand that. “
When Trump, then President, suggested that the United States should buy Greenland from Denmark, he called it a “strategic real estate contract” that annoyed both Copenhagen and Nuuk.
Greenland is geographically part of the North American continent, but has been culturally linked to Europe for many centuries.
“The Greenland parties have not yet shown a clear and concrete vision for independence. It remains unclear what you mean by that. However, it is obvious that Donald Trump’s interest gave them a feeling of dynamics with which they put pressure on Danish politicians, ”said Ackren, professor at Grenland University.
Since Christmas, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States is looking for greater control over the island’s resources and should expand its military presence of the Arctic expansion. Greenland already houses a large US base.
In January, the president’s son, Donald Trump JR, visited. While he was officially referred to as a private trip, the tour seemed to be a well-planned social media stunt that aimed to put pressure on Greenland and Denmark.
Boassen said he had helped organizing the controversial visit, whose recordings showed some Greenlanders, the Maga -Hütät wore. Danish media later claimed that some of those who put on the red caps were bribed.
“I am not interested in Greenland an American state,” said Boassen. “But I want a larger American military presence here. Denmark has not done what you promised in relation to the military structure, and we can no longer rely on Europe. “
Analysts believe that Trump’s administration looks at Greenland, the immense unused resources such as minerals with rare earth, oil and gas. As a strategic asset – an important arctic territory as geopolitical tensions between China, Russia and the USA heat up.
While local politicians have insisted that Greenland is open to business, Grönlanders are certainly not interested in a new colonial ruler.
The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said several times that the future of Greenland only decides the Grönlander.
