Greenland’s Prime Minister, Múte Egede, has called for the island to seek independence from its former colonial ruler, Denmark, in his New Year’s speech.
The world’s largest island, home to around 57,000 people, was a Danish colony until it became a self-governing territory of Denmark in 1979. Since 2009, Greenland has had the right to declare independence through a referendum.
“History and current circumstances have shown that our cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark has failed to create full equality,” Egede, a member of the pro-independence Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party, said.
“Now is the time for our country to take the next step,” he added. “Like other nations around the world, we must work to remove the obstacles to cooperation – what we could describe as the shackles of colonialism – and move forward.”
Egede’s speech came after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, last month, reiterated his desire to buy Greenland from Denmark. Trump had first expressed interest in purchasing the island during his first term in 2019. Responding to Trump’s recent comments, Egede said last week that Greenland “is not for sale and will never be for sale.”
The push for independence is gaining momentum, partly due to the growing recognition of past abuses by Danish authorities, including a forced contraception campaign in the 1960s and 1970s.
Egede suggested that a referendum on independence could coincide with parliamentary elections in April.
“Work has already started to create the framework for Greenland as an independent state,” he said. “We must take bold steps… the upcoming electoral period should, together with the citizens, create these new steps.”
Greenland, whose capital is closer to New York than Copenhagen, is rich in mineral resources, oil, and natural gas, but relies on annual subsidies from Denmark worth around 500 million euros a year.
Home to a large U.S. Air Force base, Greenland is strategically vital for the American military. Following Trump’s recent comments about purchasing the island, Denmark announced it would increase defense spending there by at least 1.3 billion euros – though Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen called the timing merely an “irony of fate.”
