Nuuk
\nWhen US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets his Danish and Greenlandic counterparts next week, Denmark will be defending a territory that has been moving steadily away from it and towards independence since 1979.
\nUnited States President Donald Trump\u2019s threats to seize Greenland have triggered a wave of European solidarity with Denmark. But the crisis has exposed an uncomfortable reality \u2014 Denmark is rallying support to protect a territory whose population wants independence, and whose largest opposition party now wants to bypass Copenhagen and negotiate directly with Washington.
\n\u201cDenmark risks exhausting its foreign policy capital to secure Greenland, only to watch it walk away afterwards,\u201d said Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n
Strategic relevance
\nDenmark cannot let Greenland go without losing its geopolitical relevance in the Arctic territory, strategically located between Europe and North America and a critical site for the US ballistic missile defence system.
\nYet it may ultimately have nothing to show for its efforts if Greenlanders choose independence \u2014 or strike their own deal with Washington.
\nThe stakes extend beyond Denmark\u2019s national interests. European allies have rallied behind Denmark not just out of solidarity, but because giving up Greenland would set a dangerous precedent that could embolden other powers to pursue territorial claims against smaller nations, upending the post-1945 world order.
\nDenmark\u2019s foreign ministry declined to comment, but referred to joint remarks by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on December 22.
\n\u201cNational borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law,\u201d the two leaders said. \u201cThey are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country \u2026 Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.\u201d
\nThis week, Frederiksen said: \u201cIf the US chooses to attack another Nato country, everything stops, including Nato and the security the alliance has provided since World War Two.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u2018Greenland Card\u2019
\nFor now, the Trump administration says all options are on the table, including buying the territory or taking it by force.
\nCopenhagen professor Rasmussen said any discussion of whether holding on to Greenland is worth the cost has been drowned out by outrage at Trump\u2019s threats.
\n\u201cIt is not part of the political debate in Denmark. I fear we have gone into patriotic overdrive,\u201d he said.
\nDuring the Cold War, Greenland\u2019s strategic location gave Denmark outsized influence in Washington, allowing it to maintain lower defence spending than would otherwise be expected of a Nato ally.
\nThis became known as \u201cthe Greenland Card\u201d, according to a 2017 report by the University of Copenhagen\u2019s Centre for Military Studies.
\nBut Greenland\u2019s aspirations for self-determination have been brewing since the former colony got greater autonomy and its own parliament in 1979. A 2009 agreement explicitly recognised Greenlanders\u2019 right to independence if they choose.
\nAll Greenlandic parties say they want independence, but differ on how and when to achieve it.
\nTrump\u2019s pressure has accelerated a timeline that was already in motion, forcing Copenhagen to spend political capital and financial resources on a relationship with an increasingly uncertain endpoint.
\n\u201cHow much should we fight for someone who doesn\u2019t really care about us?\u201d Joachim B. Olsen, a political commentator and former Danish lawmaker, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The financial burden
\nCopenhagen provides an annual block grant of roughly 4.3 billion Danish crowns ($610 million) to Greenland\u2019s economy, which is near stagnation with GDP growth of just 0.2 per cent in 2025.
\nThe central bank estimates an annual financing gap of approximately 800m Danish crowns to make current public finances sustainable. Denmark also covers police, the justice system and defence \u2014 bringing total annual spending to just under $1bn.
\nIn addition, Copenhagen last year announced a 42bn Danish crowns ($6.54bn) Arctic defence package in response to US criticism that Denmark has not done enough to protect Greenland.
\nSome reject framing the relationship in transactional terms, pointing to Denmark\u2019s legal and moral obligations under international law and centuries of shared history.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re talking about family relations, [a] long history of relations between Denmark and Greenland,\u201d said Marc Jacobsen, associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College. \u201cSo this is much more, it\u2019s not just about defence and economy, it\u2019s about feelings, it\u2019s about culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Difficult balancing act
\nPrime Minister Frederiksen faces a difficult balancing act, said Serafima Andreeva, researcher at Oslo-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute.
\nFor now, Denmark has little choice but to stand firm to maintain its diplomatic credibility, but in doing so risks the relationship with the United States at a time \u201cwhen Russia is an accelerating threat and being on the US\u2019s bad side is no good for anyone in the West\u201d.
\nFrederiksen also faces an election this year, though Greenland has not been a major theme.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t understand why we have to cling to this community with Greenland when they so badly want out of it,\u201d Lone Frank, a Danish science writer and broadcaster, told Reuters. \u201cTo be completely honest, Greenland doesn\u2019t inspire any sense of belonging in me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nuuk When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets his Danish and Greenlandic counterparts next week, Denmark will be defending a territory that has been moving steadily away from it and towards independence since 1979. United States President Donald Trump\u2019s threats to seize Greenland have triggered a wave of European solidarity with Denmark. But the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n