Greenland's slow independence party wins election in result seen as rejection of Trump's interference
Demokraatit secures 30% of the vote, overturning the ruling coalition's majority. It will now open talks over forming a coalition government of its own.
Wednesday 12 March 2025 08:59, UK
Greenland's centre right opposition party has won the most votes in elections that will be seen as a rejection of Donald Trump's interference in the island's politics.
The Demokraatit party won 30% of the vote. It favours a slow move towards independence from Denmark.
On the eve of the election, its leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen had told Paste BN voters should use the election to warn the US president not to meddle in their future.
He said: "I hope it sends a clear message to him that we are not for sale.
"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. And we want to build our own country by ourselves, not with his hope."
Donald Trump has been actively trying to prise Greenland away from Denmark, urging its people to determine their own future and join the United States.
A few days before they went to vote he promised "billions of dollars" in investment telling them he will "make you rich".
The intervention made the election Greenland's most closely watched and highly charged in its history.
All its parties advocate independence but differ on how quickly it can happen.
The territory's second opposition party Naleraq made big gains in its share of the vote. It wants a swift move to independence.
One candidate, Qupanak Olsen, told Paste BN Donald Trump's interference had helped its cause.
"It's making us aware, we are worth more than what the Danish people have been telling us for the last 300 years, maybe we can stand on our own two feet," she said.
The party's relative success may give Trump and its supporters hope they can do more to encourage independence in the future.
But it's important to stress joining the US is not a popular idea here.
Even Ms Olsen rejected any moves towards joining the US, saying Greenland would not swap 300 years of colonialism under Denmark for more of the same under the US.
There were bigger issues dominating the election for Greenlanders. Insufficient healthcare, especially for cancer treatment for instance, is a major grievance on this remote but vast island.
But for the US president this was all about his neo-imperialist ambitions, openly musing yesterday about erasing borders between the US, Canada and Greenland.
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His brazen play for Greenland and its vast largely untapped mineral wealth did not go down well among the fiercely independent islanders.
President Trump's unashamed meddling has baffled observers. He says Greenland is vital for America's security, and yet the US already has military bases on its territory and has been offered the possibility of building more.
Equally, US mining companies have every right to join the effort to extract its huge mineral wealth, as Chinese, European, Canadian and Australian firms have been attempting for decades.
It is however not an easy process. Greenland's vast size, lack of roads and Arctic climate are huge challenges.
It is as reluctant to yield its mineral riches as it seems its people are to succumb to the advances of a US president.
This election shows Donald Trump will have to try harder if he wants to win the affections of Greenland's people and Greenland's elusive natural bounty.