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A man walks as a Danish flag flutters next to Hans Egede Statue ahead of a March 11 general election in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025.
Snubbing Trump, Greenland votes to stick closer to Denmark – for now
Greenland’s center-right parties trounced the ruling left-wing coalition in Tuesday’s election. In a blow to US President Donald Trump’s plans to annex the Arctic territory, a once-marginal party that favors a slow separation from Denmark is set to lead the next government.
The pro-business Demokraatit party – whose platform calls for maximizing “personal freedom” and ensuring that the public sectors “never stand in the way of” private enterprise – gained seven seats in Greenland’s Inatsisartut, seizing roughly one-third of the 31-seat parliament.
Recent polling shows that 85% of Greenlanders oppose joining the US and only 56% back independence. At the polls, this translated to a tripling of support for a party focused on improving the current self-governing arrangement before cutting off the territory’s access to Danish funding.
The centrist Naleraq doubled its share of the single-chamber legislature to eight seats, vaulting the party into second place.
The ruling left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit and its center-left coalition party, the Siumut party, fell to third and fourth place, respectively, despite seemingly popular calls to hold an independence referendum after the March 11 election.
Where the top two victors differ: Virtually every party in Greenland supports independence – at some point. The Demokraatit party, which is set to lead a governing coalition, favors gradual separation from Denmark, on whose cash handouts the world’s largest island is dependent for most of its budget.
The party’s leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, rebuked US President Donald Trump’s efforts to annex Greenland as “a threat to our political independence.”
But Naleraq, the No. 2 party, supports a fast path to independence and advocates stronger ties with the US.
What’s next: The pathway to independence depends on which party Demokraatit invites to form a governing coalition. A University of Greenland expert told Bloomberg the most likely coalition partners would be the leftist IA or possibly the pro-Denmark Atassut party, which came in fifth.
Election campaign posters are pictured on a street ahead of a March 11 general election in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025.
Greenlanders to vote in historic election
Greenlanders are heading to the polls on Tuesday.
Home to about 60,000 mostly Inuit-descended Greenlanders, the world’s largest island is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark. US President Donald Trump has recently amped up rhetoric about taking over Greenland, even telling Congress he would “get” the Arctic territory “one way or the other.”
Who’s in the race? The ruling faction in Greenland’s single-chamber Inatsisartut is the Inuit Ataqatigiit, a left-wing party that supports independence but opposes mining projects as a means of becoming less economically reliant on Denmark.
The IA is in a coalition with the center-left Siumut, which historically opposed independence. In a shift last month, the leader of Siumut – seen as more open to mining – pledged to hold an independence referendum.
The largest opposition party is the centrist pro-independence Naleraq.
While there’s been scant public polling showing where each party stands, 56% of Greenlanders backed independence in a January survey, while 85% rejected the idea of joining the US.
Does that mean independence? Not automatically, but it’s trending that way.Prime Minister Múte B. Egede has also stepped up calls to break away from Denmark in recent months. A 2009 Danish law gives Greenland the right to unilaterally call an independence referendum.
What result would be good for Trump? No party is interested in joining the US, but Naleraq is more vocally open to closer ties with Washington.
The statue of the missionary Hans Egede towers over the city center of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
Fire and ice: Denmark and Greenland respond to Trump
Donald Trump’s pledge to take over Greenland “one way or another” in his speech to Congress Tuesday night, prompted starkly different responses from the island itself and from Denmark, which currently controls it.
“Greenland is ours,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egedewrote in a combative Facebook post on Wednesday. “Americans and their leader must understand that. We do not want to be Americans, nor Danes… Our future is determined by us in Greenland.”
But Danish officials focused on the bright side. It was a “positive development,” said Danish Defense Minister Lund Poulsen, that Trump’s speech acknowledged Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.
“We strongly support your right to determine your own future,” Trump said, “and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”
What Greenlanders want: Recent polls show a majority favor independence, while 85% oppose joining America. But opinion is split on whether Trump’s interest is a “threat” or an “opportunity” for the sprawling, resource-rich Arctic island.
All of this hangs over Greenland’s upcoming election, set for March 11. All parties support independence but differ on how to achieve it. The new government will likely call a referendum on this issue, amid growing pressure from Washington.
In advance of the election, Greenland’s lawmakers have tightened restrictions on campaign contributions and property purchases by foreigners.
Read more: Why does Trump want Greenland anyway? Here are three reasons.Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher takes part in the Victory Day military parade general rehearsal on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on May 5, 2024.
Hard Numbers: New records in global defense spending and journalist deaths, Car attack strikes Munich, Danes joke about buying California, Japan may u-turn on nuclear energy
2,460,000,000,000: In 2024, global defense spending rose to a new height of $2.46 trillion, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. Worth noting: The Kremlin outpaced all other European countries combined. Russia’s military expenditure equated $461.6 billion in purchase parity terms, eclipsing Europe’s $457 billion.
124: 2024 was the deadliest year for journalists on record since the Committee to Protect Journalists started tracking more than 30 years ago. At least 124 media workers were killed last year — nearly two-thirds of them in Gaza. The next deadliest nations were Sudan and Pakistan, with six deaths each.
20: At least 20 people, including children, were injured in Munich on Thursday when a driver plowed into a trade union demonstration. The driver was detained at the scene, and another man in the car, a Mini Cooper, was reportedly shot by police. The attack puts the German city on alert just a day before it's set to hold the 61st edition of the Munich Security Conference featuring world leaders. Some of those involved were critically injured, officials said.
200,000: A deeply unserious campaign for Denmark to purchase California from the United States gained significant traction online this week, following President Donald Trump’s repeated calls to purchase Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. So far, more than 200,000 people have signed the virtual petition to “Måke Califørnia Great Ægain.”
14: Nearly 14 years after an earthquake and tsunami led to a triple meltdown at the Fukushima power plant, the Japanese government is considering an about-face on its plans to limit reliance on nuclear power. A draft strategic energy plan from the trade and industry ministry calls for a “maximization” of nuclear power to help reach its emissions and energy security targets. The plan calls for around 20% to stem from nuclear reactors by 2040, 40-50% from renewables, and 30-40% from coal (down from 70% at present).
An explosion is pictured at an exploration site of the company Greenland Anorthosite Mining of an anorthosite deposit close to the Qeqertarsuatsiaat fjord, Greenland, on Sept. 11, 2021.
Greenland’s thwarted rare earths miner hopes for change in March election
Greenlanders are set to go to the polls next month as US President Donald Trump increases pressure on Denmark to transfer sovereignty of the semi-autonomous Arctic island to the United States.
Australia-based Energy Transition Minerals, the mining company that holds the license for controversial rare earths and uranium deposits, is hoping the social-democratic Siumut Party – currently the second-largest contingent in the Greenlandic parliament, known as the Inatsisartut – will oust the ruling left-wing environmentalist Inuit Ataqatigiit Party in the March 11 election. The two parties are currently in a governing coalition together, with IA in the top position, but Siumut has attracted attention by pledging to hold a referendum on independence from Denmark this year.
After taking power in 2021, the IA banned uranium mining, effectively halting exploration of what Energy Transition Minerals bills as potentially the largest deposit of rare earth oxides in the world. Rare earths are a family of 17 metallic minerals needed for the batteries and magnets used for electric cars, power plants, and fighter jets. China dominates the supply chain, controlling roughly 70% of all mining and 90% of refining capacity.
The IA opposed the mining because of the high density of uranium mixed into the ore, which it feared would generate radioactive pollution along the island’s southwest coast, where much of the mostly indigenous population of roughly 57,000 lives.
Now, Energy Transition Minerals is betting Siumut, under whose rule the mining project was originally approved, will win and lift the moratorium to help generate more income for Greenland to achieve economic self-sufficiency and open the door to a long-sought breakaway from the Danish kingdom.
Awkward technicalities: With 7% of the company, Energy Transition’s largest shareholder is China’s Shenghe Resources, but the firm has vowed to supply the West with its metals. Thanks to America’s trade deals with the European Union and Australia, however, arcane Treasury rules may mean the Melbourne-headquartered company’s rare earths qualify for lucrative US tax credits. With the stock price trading at a fraction of a penny per share, however, Wall Street has doubts about the mining firm’s future.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen attends a brief press conference with the German Chancellor in Berlin, Germany, January 28, 2025.
A Greenland temperature check (still cold, but the tea is hot)
Meanwhile, a Greenland independence movement is gaining momentum. Prime Minister Múte Egede recentlytold reporters, “We don’t want to be Danes. We don’t want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders.”
But can Greenland go it alone? Denmarkpays roughly $800 million a year to Greenland – making up half of Greenland’s government revenue. While only 57,000 people live on the island, the population maintains a high standard of living like their Nordic neighbors. An independent Greenland would still need economic and security support thanks to existing and rapidly developing external pressures.
If the United States made an aggressive move for the island, Trump would face more than just retaliation from the Danes and Europeans: Other major players, namely China and Russia, could respond aggressively to protect critical shipping routes.
On Wednesday, Danish MEP Morten Løkkegaardsuggested Greenland rejoin the European Union for “protection” from Trump’s threats. He said, “The situation has changed dramatically” since 1985, when the country officially left the European Communities byreferendum vote. Rejoining the EU would mean more support for economic development and security, as well as geopolitical influence.
Trump’s saber-rattling provides a new opportunity for Greenlanders to rethink their stance on European integration … and, perhaps, a way for Europe to strengthen its influence in the Arctic.
French President Emmanuel Macron receives Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on Jan. 28, 2025.
France weighs EU troop deployment to Greenland
Geopolitics are heating up in the Arctic. Inan interview Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Paris had started talking with Copenhagen about sending troops to Greenland, and that the Danes are “open to considering it if our security interests are at stake.” When asked whether the US would invade Greenland, Barrot said, “That won’t happen … No one has any interest in entering into conflict with the European Union.” However, he added that “if Denmark requests the solidarity of the European Union member states, France will be ready to respond.”
Barrot isn’t the only European politician speculating on the need for military defense of Greenland. On Monday, the EU’s Military Committee head, Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger,floated the possibility of deploying EU troops to the island. And during a recent visit to Berlin by Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholzstressed that “Borders must not be moved by force – to whom it may concern” – a not-so-subtle jab at US President Donald Trump, who has spoken about taking Greenland.
How might a deployment of French troops be received in Washington? Eurasia Group’s US director Clayton Allen says the US president would likely see it as a challenge. “Trump would see any move by France to send troops to Greenland as an escalation from what is, to him, a purchase attempt,” he says.
“It would give Trump or those around him a convenient and tangible justification for NATO pullback; if France deploys troops to counter US interests, why should the US expend resources on their defense?”
So far, the Danes are playing it cool. On a whirlwind tour of three European capitals this week, Frederiksen said she had “no reason to believe that there is any military threat to Greenland or Denmark,” but her government recently announceda €2 billion investment in Arctic defense, including three new navy vessels. When asked about the relationship between Europe and Trump, Frederiksen commented, “I think everyone in Europe can see that it will be a different collaboration now.”
At Davos, all eyes are on Trump
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Davos, Switzerland.
What’s been going on here?
It’s been Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. It’s been very much dominated by assessments, curiosity, concern about the transition in the US. A lot of businessmen are fairly, sort of, upbeat. They think there’s sort of a deregulation and lower taxes, that’s good. Economists are more worried. Debts and deficits, that’s not good. And those dealing with geopolitics, like myself, are deeply concerned.
Is he going to go to war with Denmark over Greenland? What’s going to happen with the Panama Canal? Is their Middle East policy that is credible? And what is he really up to when it comes to dealing with Mr. Putin on Ukraine? There are lots of questions, lots of concerns. But, upbeat assessment, in spite of that.