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It was an election that was fought on the global stage with sporadic commentary from Donald Trump. But in the end, it was domestic issues that drove Greenlanders to the polls to vote overwhelmingly for change.
Ever since his son, Donald Trump Jr, touched down in a Trump-branded plane at Nuuk’s new airport in January, the US president has made no secret of his renewed desire to gain control of the Arctic island, refusing to rule out economic or military force to do so.
During his address to Congress, Trump said that he would acquire Greenland, part of the kingdom of Denmark, “one way or the other”. And just a day before the vote, he promised the island’s people that the US was ready to “make you rich”.
But Greenland’s election was fought and won on domestic issues such as business, fisheries, pensions, people’s livelihoods and healthcare.
Naleraq, the most US- and Trump-friendly party, did well, coming second overall. But it was the centre-right Democrats, led by Jens Frederik Nielsen, who replaced former prime minister Múte B Egede’s Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) as the party with the most seats – and thus now have the opportunity to form a coalition government.
Naleraq advocates collaboration with the US in the pursuit of rapid independence from Denmark (which ruled Greenland as a colony until 1953 and still controls its foreign and security policy).
Nielsen favours a much slower transition, saying Greenland “must have a calm course”, and “must first build the foundation” for success as an independent country.
What direction the new government takes on issues that could have international ramifications will depend on how the coalition is formed. Talks could go on for weeks, and while Nielsen has indicated he is open to talks with Naleraq, he has not ruled out working with other parties.
“Greenland needs us to stand together,” Nielsen told the territory’s public broadcaster, KNR. “That will be the starting point for our negotiations. Many big things are happening on a global scale, and it is important that we have one voice and one common vote.”
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The Naleraq leader, Pele Broberg, told the Guardian the election was less a vote for or against independence and more about “fear for or against the US”, because of the way the vote was framed in international media.
Trump could now sell the result as a victory, because it is a rejection of the status quo. But the tone of US-Greenland relations may depend on whether Naleraq ends up inside or outside the coalition.
Tom Dans, Trump’s former Arctic commissioner and an investor with interests in Greenland, congratulated Nielsen on his victory but also made a point of praising Naleraq as “only slightly edged out”. He told the Guardian that Broberg’s party “continues to be a guide point towards Greenlandic self-determination and independence”.
