Independence in focus in Greenland vote, with Trump as backdrop

by Pierre-Henry Deshayes with Camille Bas-Wohlert in Copenhagen

Greenland votes Tuesday in legislative elections following 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 at-times threatening remarks about seizing Greenland have lent fresh momentum to the self-governing territory's independence movement.

Many of the island's 57,000 inhabitants insist they want to be neither American nor Danish -- just Greenlandic.

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"Donald Trump has kind of sparked the issue of independence again," University of Greenland political scientist Maria Ackren told AFP.

"It's nothing new for Greenlanders ... But it is giving the Greenlandic decision-makers and politicians momentum now to actually maybe reach some goals that haven't been available lately," she said.

The issue of independence has featured predominantly in the campaign, alongside education, social affairs, fisheries -- which account for 90 percent of the vast Arctic island's exports -- and tourism.

Almost all of the parties represented in parliament support the idea of full sovereignty for the massive ice-covered island, 50 times the size of Denmark yet 100 times less populated.

Clusters of building cranes towering over the capital Nuuk are a sign of Greenland's rapidly modernising society, one that has left some of its mainly Inuit population -- mostly hunters and fishermen -- by the wayside.

While visible on the streets, the social woes are even more glaring in the statistics: Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, more abortions than births and a life expectancy for men under 70 years.

- Fast track? -

While most parties vying for the 31 seats in parliament back independence, their views differ on the timeline. Some prefer a "fast track" while others want to take it slow.

Among the most impatient is the opposition nationalist Naleraq party, which has been highly prominent in the campaign.

It wants the independence process to begin immediately. In the previous 2021 election, it won 12 percent of votes.

"The interest that we're seeing, not only from the United States but basically from the whole world, which has been there for quite some years now, is turning out to be in our favour," Juno Berthelsen, one of Naleraq's most prominent candidates, told AFP.

When does he think independence will happen?

"We could try and predict that it's going to be within one or two election cycles" of four years each, he said.

But "it depends on how the negotiations are going to go between Greenland and Denmark".

Colonised by Danes more than 300 years ago, the island was granted home rule in 1979, with Copenhagen maintaining control over matters such as foreign and defence affairs.

Since 2009, a law has enabled Greenland to unilaterally initiate the independence process.

The law stipulates that negotiations be held 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.

- 'Jail' -

The outgoing government coalition, made up of Prime Minister Mute Egede's green-left Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) and the social democratic Siumut party, also support independence.

But despite internal divisions, they are in less of a rush to attain it.

They have insisted the island must first gain economic independence. It currently receives around $565 million from Copenhagen in annual subsidies, equivalent to around a fifth of its GDP.

"The independence talk is always on the table. That's the end goal for a lot of us from Greenland but it will be in 10, 20 years or more," said Aaja Chemnitz, a member of IA and one of two Greenlandic representatives in the Danish parliament.

"It's important to talk about the economic development of Greenland and how we do this in a way that's much more sustainable," she said.

Siumut party leader Erik Jensen, the outgoing finance minister, expressed frustration that the independence issue has eclipsed -- at least in Danish and international media -- issues affecting Greenlanders' daily lives.

"It's also an important part of our programme but everyone here in Greenland talks about health, schools and kindergarten," he told AFP.

In the chilly, windy streets of Nuuk, residents swing between wanting to break free and economic realism.

"Of course we want to have independence from Denmark, because we are seen as lower-ranking people," said Peter Jensen, an entrepreneur.

But with its subsidies, Copenhagen has "kept us in this 'jail'," he said.

The exploitation of Greenland's mineral resources, often seen as an economic springboard to independence, is in its infancy.

"We should think about how we can become self-sufficient in our food and fuel. Because everything we've got is from abroad," added Ole Moeller, a middle manager at a transport company.

"And as you can see right now, the world is not very safe right now."