Greenland's election: A pivotal moment for independence aspirations
Greenlanders will elect a new parliament on Tuesday, March 11. The election's outcome could influence the island's quest for independence from Denmark. U.S. President Donald Trump has previously expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, and in his most recent social media post, he mentioned billion-dollar investments.
The world's largest island, inhabited by only 56,000 people, will have polling stations open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time (8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time). Due to challenging Arctic conditions and a lack of infrastructure, no pre-election or exit polls are conducted in Greenland. The first results of Tuesday's election are expected to be known overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Greenland's elections
Greenlanders will elect 31 representatives to the unicameral parliament (Inatsisartut). They can vote for six parties, including the left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) of Prime Minister Mute B. Egede and the coalition partner, the social-democratic Siumut party. Both groups advocate for the island's independence.
The third force in the current parliament is the populist Naleraq party, which has long been the strongest proponent of Greenland's independence from Denmark and the development of the local economy. This party promotes a strong alliance with the United States, advocating for a new defence agreement with the USA, independent of Danish mediation, and for economic contracts.
A new party contesting the elections is Qulleq, which supports rapid independence and the commencement of oil extraction on the island.
The Liberal Democrats and the conservative Attasut, which traditionally advocate for maintaining ties with Denmark, play a minor role in the current parliament.
One-third of Greenland's GDP comes from grants from the Copenhagen government. The Declaration of Independence would result in the loss of these funds.
Donald Trump's interest in Greenland
During the campaign, the most pressing issue was independence, which resurfaced whenever U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about acquiring Greenland. The Prime Minister, Mute B. Egede, who supports the country's independence from Denmark, declared that his island "is not for sale," and that the Greenlanders will decide its future.
In an interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR, the politician stated that if he remains in power, he will form a government from parties striving for independence. The first task of the new cabinet is to create a plan to achieve this goal.
Even during the overnight period from Sunday to Monday, when the campaign in Greenland was coming to a close, Donald Trump on the platform Truth Social offered the island's inhabitants "billions of dollars" in American investments. He promised that they would become wealthy.
Until now, Greenlandic authorities have allowed an alliance with the Americans, but purely economic—they wanted to collaborate, for example, in extracting critical metals that are becoming increasingly accessible due to melting ice, and in infrastructure development.
Greenland's economy relies mainly on fishing, and there are hopes of developing tourism. However, the island faces numerous social challenges, including 40-50 suicides annually. Social services are costly due to the large distances between the main towns and fishing settlements, which are not connected by roads, necessitating travel by ships, helicopters, or local aircraft.
The island does not have its doctors or nurses, with medical personnel brought in on temporary contracts from other Nordic countries.
The results of the elections to Greenland's parliament will be closely watched by the government in Copenhagen, which, after Trump announced his interest in the island, has begun talks with the Greenland government about expanding autonomy, including foreign affairs. At the same time, relations between Denmark and the USA have deteriorated following Trump's claims that the Danes are not fulfilling their obligation to provide defence for Greenland.
