Remove the “shackles of colonialism”: Greenland's Prime Minister Egede spoke out in unusually clear terms in favor of independence from Denmark. Donald Trump and his interest in the island were not mentioned in his speech.
In Greenland, calls for the self-governing island's independence from the Kingdom of Denmark are becoming louder. “It is time for us to take a step ourselves and shape our future,” said the head of government of the former Danish colony, Mute Egede, in his New Year's address. This also applies with regard to who Greenland works closely with and who its trading partners will be.
In recent years, the independence movement in Greenland has gained strength, but the head of government has so far been more reserved about the issue. Shortly before Egede's move, US President-elect Donald Trump – similar to 2019 – had signaled interest in “owning and controlling” the huge island in the Arctic.
Egede promptly rebuffed Trump, and neither the US politician nor the US were mentioned in his most recent speech. Greenland, with its around 57,000 inhabitants, is of great strategic importance for the USA, which maintains an air base there with an early warning system for ballistic missiles. Greenland's capital Nuuk is closer to New York than Copenhagen.
“The people must decide”
Parliamentary elections are coming up in Greenland, which must be held by April 6th. “It is the people of Greenland who must decide whether Greenland should take the next steps towards becoming an independent country. The upcoming election period should therefore be a period in which the people of Greenland decide what Greenland should look like in the future and how the system should look like,” said 37-year-old Egede.
However, he left it open when this might happen. A majority are in favor of independence, although there are differences over the timing and expected impact on living standards.
Greenland's Prime Minister Egede: “It's time for us to shape our own future”
Greenland's economy is fragile
Since 2009, Greenland has had the right to declare independence through a referendum. Despite large mineral resources such as oil and gas, the economy is fragile and Greenland is heavily dependent on donations from Copenhagen and fishing.
“History and current conditions have shown that our cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark has not succeeded in establishing complete equality,” said Egede. “Like other countries around the world, we must work to remove the obstacles to cooperation – which we can call the shackles of colonialism – and move forward.”
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, but is now a self-governing territory of the kingdom. Recently, revelations of misconduct by Danish authorities in Greenland caused a stir, including a campaign for forced birth control in the 1960s.
