What Can the Danish Parties Offer Greenland?
The publication cited below from Greenland’s leading newspaper indicates that the greater fragmentation of political forces in the new Danish parliament following the March 24 elections increases the weight of the four MPs from the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the country’s unicameral parliament of 179 members.
Of the 12 parliamentary seats lost by the Social Democrats, almost all of them, 11, went to the far-right Danish People’s Party, whose faction increased from 5 to 16 deputies, news that was greeted with fanfare in the Hungarian Conservative.
BACKGROUND
In fact, the Faroese and Greenlanders are prepared to support any coalition government so long as it does not include the far-right Danish People’s Party, which has tripled its support since 2022 among voters fed up with Mette Frederiksen’s incompetent home policy and dangerous foreign policy second government. The Danish right not only opposes Greenlandic independence but also proposes repealing the island’s Self-Government Act.
Representatives of the two Greenlandic parties who have become members of the Greenlandic parliament consider it fundamentally important to recognize the island’s right to self-determination, including the transition to independence. Denmark’s leading parties verbally support this aspiration, especially ahead of the upcoming government formation negotiations, which may require the support of Greenlandic and Faroese MPs.
Results from the General Election
In Denmark, the Social Democrats became the largest party.
The Liberal Party became the largest party in the Blue Bloc.
No bloc achieved a majority of 90 seats. This means some long negotiations await.
The Red Bloc won 84 seats, while the Blue Bloc has 77 seats.
The Moderate Party, led by Lars Løkke Rasmussen, won 14 seats.
IA and Naleraq ran with the votes and have now secured the two Greenlandic seats in the Folketing. Who they are pointing to as prime minister is still unclear.
Some tense negotiations are shaping up after the general election on Tuesday. A little too exciting, some might say.
Neither the Red nor the Blue Bloc can muster a majority of 90 seats, and therefore some long negotiations may await.
Here at home, it was Naaja H. Nathanielsen (Inuit Ataqatigiit) and Qarsoq Høegh-Dam (Naleraq) who won and can now take the two Greenlandic seats in the Folketing.
Inuit Ataqatigiit received 28.6 percent of the vote, while Naleraq received 24.6 percent.
North Atlantic Seats
The North Atlantic seats constitute four seats in the Folketing.
In Greenland and the Faroe Islands, two seats are elected each. Since 1953, Greenland has elected two politicians to represent the country in the Folketing.
The seats have the same rights as all other members of the Folketing. They can therefore vote on both foreign and domestic policy.
In close elections, they could be decisive for who gets a majority and forms a government.
Neither of the two parties has said before the election which prime ministerial candidate they will nominate. The question is, what can the parties offer Greenland?
If you ask the Social Democrats’ political spokesman Christian Rabjerg Madsen, whom KNR caught on election night, there is no doubt that the party—the largest party in the Folketing—is concerned with strengthening the commonwealth.
“We are therefore also extremely concerned with being in a very close dialogue with our good colleagues from Greenland,” says Christian Rabjerg Madsen.
The parties in Greenland agree that they want more help from Denmark in the health sector. Are the Social Democrats ready to provide support to areas for which Greenland is responsible?
“Without being able to promise anything tonight, I can promise that we are always open. It is crucial for us that we strengthen the commonwealth with all three countries in a cross-cutting manner and for mutual joy and benefit,” he says.
There is also agreement that they want independence in the long term. Will a Danish government led by the Social Democrats help Greenland towards its goal?
“We would like to strengthen the community for the benefit of all three countries. But ultimately, it must also be said that Greenland’s future was not defined in Copenhagen, where we stand today, it is defined in Greenland.”
Open to New Ways
The largest party in the Blue Bloc, the Liberal Party, also wants to strengthen cooperation with Greenland. This is according to left-wing politician Christian Friis Bach, who as chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee has had a lot to do with Greenland recently.
“We want to support Greenland’s path forward and have a very strong conversation about the priorities that Greenland may have.”
At the same time, the party is also open to the fact that the current structure may need a breath of fresh air.
Greenland Wants Real Equality
Naaja H. Nathanielsen has, among other things, gone to the election on the basis that a future Danish government should support changing the Self-Government Act and the Constitution. For many years, Greenland has wanted real equality, and this requires rethinking the current structure, believes Naaja H. Nathanielsen.
That is why she will ask the Danish negotiating leader whether they are ready to give Greenland “more independent foreign policy decision-making competence”, writes Naaja H. Nathanielsen in a post in Altinget Arctic.
Christian Friis Bach hopes that Greenland, Denmark and the Faroe Islands can strengthen the commonwealth together.
“It may well be that this requires new ways of making decisions, new ways of meeting, and we in the Liberal Party will be willing to discuss this with both Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” he says.
Sharp Criticism
The Liberal Party member already has experience with this.
It was a harsh criticism that hit him as chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee, when the chairman of the Foreign and Security Policy Committee in the Greenlandic Parliament (Inatsisartut), Pipaluk Lynge, criticized that the Parliament members were not invited to meetings about Greenland.
However, according to Christian Friis Bach, the conflict has ended up turning into good cooperation.
“We have done a lot to ensure that they feel more equal and involved in the decisions,” he says, adding that a friendship has emerged from the crisis between him and Pipaluk Lynge.
On Wednesday afternoon, it emerged that Christian Friis Bach has not been re-elected in the general election. He must now wave goodbye to the Folketing.
DPP: Drop the Talk about Independence
Although Inuit Ataqatigiit and Naleraq have not yet revealed who they are targeting, they can agree on one thing: they will not support a Danish government of which the Danish People’s Party is a part.
If you ask party chairman Morten Messerschmidt, you can offer Greenland a whole lot, including security. It just requires that Greenland “drop the talk about independence”.
“Let’s drop the Self-Government Act and then find a realistic way forward, where we talk openly about the realities and protect each other as the brotherly people we are,” he says.
What kind of realistic way forward are you proposing?
“It is to repeal the Self-Government Act, so that you don’t constantly have these ghosts hanging around that 50,000 people in Greenland can declare independence. There is no one in the world who believes that it can be done.”
At the same time, the Danish People’s Party is ready to help with areas in Greenland—including those for which Greenland itself is responsible.
“The Danes help the Greenlanders enormously, and there are many Greenlanders in Denmark, who also make a very large and active contribution to Denmark. I see us as a brotherly people who help each other,” says Morten Messerschmidt.
Source: KNR (in Danish)
