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New Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Minerals and a strategic location: Why Greenland is coveted
Greenland's location puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States. Washington has "legitimate complaints about the lack of surveillance of the airspace and submarine areas east of Greenland," said Ulrik Pram Gad, also of the Danish Institute of International Studies. Also its strategic position for when new shipping lanes are freed up due to melting ice adds importance, but Pram Gad believes Trump is using "exaggerated terms". Trump in 2019, during his first term in office, floated the idea of a US purchase of Greenland, but that was rebuffed. Potential mining sector Since 2009, Greenlanders have been in charge of deciding how their natural resources are used. Access to Greenland's resources is considered crucial by the United States, which signed a cooperation memorandum for the sector in 2019. The EU followed four years later with its own agreement. Greenland's soil is well-explored, which has enabled a detailed map of resources to be drawn up. The EU has identified 25 of the 34 minerals on its official list of critical raw materials in Greenland, including rare earths. "As the demand for minerals is rising, there is a need to go and look for untapped resources," said Ditte Brasso Sorensen, an analyst at Think Tank Europa. "Actors are more and more aware they need to diversify their sources, especially when it comes to the dependence to China on rare earth elements." Adding to this is the fear that China will get its hands on the mineral resources, she explained. Yet mining in Greenland is currently largely non-existent. There are only two mines on the island -- one for rubies, which is looking for new investors, and the other for anorthosite, a rock containing titanium. Financially dependent Economically, the territory, which is seeking to move away from Danish rule, depends on annual subsidies from Copenhagen -- which account for a fifth of its GDP -- and on fishing. The population's hopes are partly pinned on the opening of an international airport in the capital, Nuuk, in November to help develop tourism in the Arctic region. Infrastructure is also a key issue for the development of the mining industry. "When it comes to extractive industries, Trump is putting Greenland on the mining map in discourse but it's hard to say how it could evolve as there is a lack of investors," noted Lill Rastad Bjorst, an associate professor at Aalborg University specialising in Greenland. Sorensen also stressed the inherent difficulties of extracting resources in Greenland, with its "very harsh weather conditions, a protected environment and lots of costs with the need to develop the physical and digital infrastructure". Public opposition to uranium mining in southern Greenland prompted legislation banning the extraction of radioactive products. Another potential resource to be exploited is oil but this is at a standstill. "The government of Greenland has paused their commitment to oil exploration in Greenland and sees a great potential in hydropower," Rastad Bjorst said.
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
In Trump's shadow, Greenland votes for a new government
The winner was Demokraatit, a party that has been critical of Trump's rhetoric. It has taken a moderate stance on the subject of independence from Denmark, which most Greenland politicians support as a long-term goal. The second most popular party, Naleraq, however, has pushed hard for independence as soon as possible, which some of its members have said would enable Greenland to associate more freely with other countries, including the United States. One of Naleraq's most prominent figures is very pro-Trump and attended the American president's inauguration. Greenlanders are clearly divided, experts said, on how to handle this crossroads. Advertisement 'What has become clear during the election — and what Denmark must now recognize — is that across the political spectrum, there is dissatisfaction with the current constitutional arrangement,' said Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen. 'Regardless of the outcome, there will be calls for renegotiating the structure of the kingdom of Denmark.' Denmark colonized Greenland more than 300 years ago, and while the island is now considered a semiautonomous territory, Denmark still controls foreign policy, defense, and other aspects of its governance. Demokraatit, which won just less than 30 percent of the vote, ahead of Naleraq's 24.5 percent, has consistently argued that independence must not imperil economic and social stability. There are only 56,000 people living on the island, and the difference between first and second place in this election was around 1,500 votes. Lars Trier Mogensen, a political analyst based in Copenhagen, said he did not expect any drastic changes in Greenland's geopolitical situation, at least for now. 'The new Greenlandic government is unlikely to rush into major shifts in US relations anytime soon,' he said. Advertisement In interviews with voters these past few weeks and during town hall events with candidates, local issues such as health care, schools, and fishing (the island's main industry) kept coming up. Some observers said the two leading parties were clearer about what needs to be changed. For example, they both campaigned on revamping the fisheries law, said Svend Hardenberg, a mining executive and, more recently, a star in a popular Danish Netflix series that, serendipitously, had a whole season about Greenland. "The main direction is independence," he said. "I think that can go quicker than most people expect." Greenland boasts a trove of minerals and is strategically located near increasingly important Arctic Ocean shipping lanes. Trump, in an address to Congress last week, said, 'I think we're going to get it — one way or the other, we're going to get it.' On Sunday, two days before the election, in a social media post, he made a direct pitch to Greenlanders: 'We are ready to INVEST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to create new jobs and MAKE YOU RICH.' But Greenlanders have been clear that despite Trump's entreaties, they don't want to be absorbed by the United States, with polls showing that at least 85 percent oppose the idea. 'We don't want to be Americans. No, we don't want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders. And we want our own independence in the future,' Demokraatit leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Sky News after the election. Still, Kuno Fencker of Naleraq, who is Greenland's most pro-Trump politician, got far more votes than he did in the last election, in 2021. Fencker attended Trump's inauguration and took a tour of the West Wing, and his push for stronger ties with the United States drew fierce criticism from his rivals, some of whom labeled him a traitor. In a recent podcast, Fencker argued that Trump had been 'misunderstood.' Advertisement Naleraq's second-place finish means that pro-independence voices will remain influential, and the party could push for greater engagement with Washington. But Fencker's enthusiasm for Trump might have turned off some voters, analysts said. 'Naleraq positioned itself in a way that made it seem like a vote for them would bring Trump too close,' Gad said. Still, Naleraq doubled its seats from four to eight in Greenland's 31-seat parliament. At an election night party on the outskirts of Nuuk, the capital, party members and supporters embraced, danced, and cheered. Analysts predicted that Demokraatit was likely to form a governing coalition with the more moderate Inuit Ataqatigiit party, or IA, which finished third, with 21.4 percent of the vote. Inuit Ataqatigiit, the dominant party in the outgoing governing coalition, embraced a go-slow approach to breaking off from Denmark. Greenland, the world's biggest island, is home to a mostly Inuit population that Denmark sidelined during the colonial era. Over time, demands for self-rule have led to greater autonomy and a Greenlandic government.
