‘There is no such thing as a better colony’: Inuit strongly reject US annexation of Greenland
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US President Donald Trump says that his country needs Greenland for national security. That makes the people of Greenland worry about the security of their country.
Inuit advocacy groups, as well as Greenlanders living in Canada, are staunchly opposed to American projects in their country. And, they say, they are tired of being used as geopolitical chess pieces by powerful people in distant capitals.
“We want to say out loud that there is no such thing as a better colony,” said Sara Olsvig, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and a former member of both the Greenlandic and Danish parliaments.
“We have already passed through the colonies and we know what it means when the interests of others and powerful nations and people affect us negatively and when decisions are made thousands of kilometers away from us.”
Trump’s desire to control Greenland, whether through purchase, diplomacy or some form of military action, seems to ignore the fact that Greenlanders do not want to become American citizens, according to a recent study by the Verian Group. Many also do not want to be Danes, according to the same survey.
Olsvig said that although the Inuit want independence, they also want to see strong international forums like the Arctic Council.
“We have been able to work together based on mutual respect. We have been able to maintain a peaceful environment in the Arctic even in difficult times before,” he said. “And I think it is up to every leader who has something to say in the Arctic to stand firm in those values, in calling for diplomacy to work.”
Laakkuluk Williamson, an Iqaluit resident who is Greenlandic on his mother’s side of the family, said he fears Greenland will become the Arctic equivalent of American Samoa or Puerto Rico: US overseas territories where residents lack constitutional protection and representation in Congress.
Williamson, who still has family in Greenland, said the US capture and detention of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro was a wake-up call. He said that Greenland, with a population of 56,000, would have little power to resist American occupation.
“This skill [Trump] uniting the whole island is not a far-fetched thing,” he said.
“It’s very scary. It’s very worrying. It’s scary, really. I’m worried about the safety of my family. What are they supposed to do? What are the plans to make sure the Inuit are safe in their homeland?”
Front burner28:25What if Greenland is next?
Right now, Greenland’s future hangs in the balance. And with it, the entire system of military and political cooperation that has supported the global order since the end of the Second World War. So when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would meet with Danish leaders to discuss Greenland this week, that’s what officials, historians and politicians around the world said. This could have major implications for Canada, both as a member of NATO and a target of Trump’s expansionist ambitions. Casey Michel joins us. He is a journalist and author of the forthcoming book ‘United States of Oligarchy’. He recently wrote a piece for Foreign Policy titled “Annexing Greenland would be a Strategic Disaster.”
Aaju Peter, a lawyer who was born in Greenland and moved to Iqaluit in the 1980s, agrees that there is little Greenland can do if the US is determined to use force. But he said Trump’s threats violate international law and the Inuit’s right to self-determination.
“The Greenlandic leaders and the population are willing to discuss with the president, or with the administration in the White House, officially, respectfully … that the Greenlandic Inuit are independent and can make their own decisions,” he said.
Trump said that if the United States does not get Greenland, Russia or China. China this week rejected that claim, as did officials in Greenland, Denmark and the United States.
“There is no imminent threat to Greenland from the Chinese and Russians,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Democratic Alliance in the US congressional delegation headed to Copenhagen for meetings with Danish officials scheduled for later this week.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland will meet with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump’s comments about Greenland continue to reverberate around the world. CBC’s Meghan Roberts sat down with the interim president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada to talk about how it’s affecting Inuit in Greenland and beyond.
