In many ways, we are polar opposites. We are a Greenlander and a Dane, with very different political careers behind us, living on separate continents and on opposite sides of the political spectrum.
But as President Trump once again threatens our peoples and our countries — making the same overtures today that he did in his first term about buying Greenland, an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark — we are uniting with one message: Greenland is not for sale and never will be.
One of us, Mr. Lynge, has spent decades fighting for Greenlanders’ right to self-determination and was a founder of the leftist political party Inuit Ataqatigiit, which governs Greenland. The other, Ms. Seeberg, has served in the Danish and European Parliaments as a member of Denmark’s Conservative People’s Party, for which king, God and country to this day remain the holy trinity.
In that way, we represent both the colonized and the colonizer — Greenland was a colony of Denmark until 1953, and the island gained home rule in 1979.
For years, though, the two of us have worked together to strengthen civil society in Greenland and ensure that the wishes and concerns of the Greenlandic people are heard and acted upon when it comes to their country’s natural resources. In the 2010s, Chinese interest in Greenland and its minerals was intense, and huge projects were proposed with little or no regard of the effect they would have on Greenlanders’ everyday life and their future. That rush led Greenlanders to rethink how to benefit from their land’s potential, and today Greenland is better prepared for dealing with foreign interest.
The most important takeaway, over time, has been that even in the most abstract sense, Greenlanders aren’t interested in their country being sold or letting the fate of their nation be decided by others seeking profit or promoting their own narrow interests.
It is against the law for anyone to privately own land in Greenland; and since 2009, the rights to its resources have belonged, collectively, to the Greenlandic people. This might be hard for a real-estate mogul like Mr. Trump to appreciate, but when people are building a nation and furthering its culture and values, the allure of the dollar is less than he might think.
Greenlanders, after finally gaining greater autonomy in recent years, have no desire to trade hundreds of years of Danish rule for American rule. When Greenlanders hear Mr. Trump say that owning Greenland is “an absolute necessity” for the United States and that he thinks “we’re going to have it” — even declining to rule out taking our land by force — we hear only the menacing imperialism of another era. Greenlanders and Danes have considered the United States a good friend for decades, which makes all of this even more astonishing. Friends don’t threaten friends.
Greenlanders want to chart the course of their country’s development, and have been doing just that since self-rule was established 16 years ago, taking over the principal responsibility in many areas of public policy while still working closely with Denmark in others.
Americans, including Mr. Trump, must understand that Greenlanders are not Danes, they are predominantly Inuit — yes, the same as some of the indigenous people of Alaska. Though Danish and even English are widely understood and spoken, Greenlandic is the official language and Greenlandic Inuit culture remains strong. With Greenlanders working to gain more and more knowledge of traditions and culture that had been neglected and suppressed for hundreds of years, their sense of unique identity is perhaps stronger than ever.
Across the Arctic, Inuit people in the United States, Canada and Russia are inspired by the progress Greenlanders have made, of the nation they are building, and of their quest to define their own future. The way that indigenous peoples are often treated in America, where their languages and cultures have been marginalized, is hardly a good sales pitch for the idea of Greenland as part of the United States.
Greenlanders, in general, have no desire to be Americans. Many have no wish to be Danish either. But the truth is they don’t have to. They can continue to be Greenlanders. A recent poll conducted by a Greenlandic and a Danish newspaper found that only 6 percent of Greenlanders want to leave the Danish realm and join the United States while 85 percent oppose it. The only way to secure and advance the rights and freedoms Greenland has won over the last several decades is in partnership with Denmark.
As we see it, the union of Greenland and Denmark, along with the Faroe Islands, can be likened to the relationship between siblings. From time to time, it is tough love, to say the least; our three societies certainly don’t agree on every issue. One of the siblings has, up until now at least, always been stronger than the others, and that sometimes creates tensions. But when the schoolyard bully, in this case Mr. Trump, comes after one of us, we’re going to unite and tell him off.
This doesn’t mean that there is no role for the United States to play in Greenland. American forces have been present since World War II. As the Arctic becomes increasingly militarized, and Russia and China further their ambitions in the region, America’s military presence will most likely expand. Both Danes and Greenlanders are grateful for how America has guaranteed the security of the West for decades — and we hope and expect that America will continue doing so. Greenlanders understand the importance of the American military presence and Denmark is dedicated to its membership in the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
Likewise, if American companies want to invest in the development of Greenland’s tourism, mining, exploration of minerals or other industries, they are welcome to do so, as long as they do it with respect for local laws and regulations.
But Greenland is not just a parcel of land up for grabs — it is a nation. And on this issue, Greenland and Denmark both benefit from standing together. With Mr. Trump’s strange insistence that Greenland should belong to the United States, all that he’s doing is strengthening our bonds.
The post Greenland Is Not for Sale. And It Never Will Be. appeared first on New York Times.
