There Greenlandwhose name has a seemingly counterintuitive meaning Green land (Greenland in English, Greenland in Danish), is the largest island in the worldwith 2,175,600 km2and is located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, between the Canadian coasts and Iceland, from which it is separated by the Denmark Channel. Covered for the84% of its territory from icehas a population of the sun 60,000 approximately people, who live mainly in the coastal areas in the south-western part of the country. Greenland today enjoys great autonomy administrative, despite being politically part of the Kingdom of Denmarkrepresenting the largest existing “dependent” territory. In 2019, the former US president Donald Trump had expressed the willingness to purchase Greenland (an attempt that the USA had already made twice in the past): the island in fact, in addition to belonging geologically and geographically to the North Americais rich in raw materials and energy sourceshosts a NATO base and it is a perfect natural platform for the Arctic Route Controlin perspective one of the most important maritime (and not only) trade routes on the planet.
Why Greenland is part of Denmark
There Greenland it was a colony of Denmark from the 1721 to 1953. In 1721, in fact, the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede led an expedition to the island and founded the first trading colonies along the coast. In 1814after the signing of the Treaty of KielGreenland officially came under the rule of Copenhagen, following the separation of Denmark from the Kingdom of Norway.
It was only in the 1953 that, from a colony, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Denmarkenjoying a status similar to that of a county, with its own representation in the Danish Parliamentthe Folketing. In 1973 Denmark joined theEuropean Union and with it also Greenland which however, also due to concerns related to its trade especially in terms of fishing with non-European countries such as Canada and the United States, in 1985 chosefollowing a referendum, to get out of it.
It was the first case of a country withdrawing from the European Union, a sort of precursor to the UK’s Brexit, which took place in 2020. However, Greenland was a peculiar case since it was recognized as a special territory of a member state (Denmark) and its relations with the EU are contained in a specific agreement, the Greenland Treatyin particular in the field of fishing.
The process of independence from Denmark
In the 1979 Following a consultative referendum, Greenland obtained, with the so-called Home Rulea partial autonomy by establishing its own government and parliamentwith internal affairs skills. In the 2008 then another one was called referendum which extended the sovereignty of the country’s Parliament with even greater autonomy for the island. The result of the referendum, the Self-Government Actentered into force in 2009. In particular, it created a legal basis for increasing the legislative and executive power of the Government of Greenland in the area of natural resources.
From the 2013 Greenland has taken a further step towards independence from the government of Copenhagen, opening its doors to foreign investments in the sectors ofuranium mining and rare earthspreviously under exclusive Danish control. Denmark, however, continues to control the areas of defense, foreign policy and security.
Danish Defence and Foreign Policy Engagement in Greenland
There Denmark still retains control over the matter Foreign Policy and Defense in Greenland and is increasing resources to strengthen surveillance and intelligence missions in the Arctic. In particular, in January 2024, the Danish government announced that it would allocate 2.74 billion Danish kroner (approximately 400 million dollars) to increase the defense in the Arctic and North Atlanticwith the use of long-range drones, to carry out the joint EU-NATO policy on defense matters in those territories.
Without a doubt because of the climate change and the melting of the ice, theArctic and therefore also the Nordic countries affected by the Arctic routes, including Greenland, are becoming an important geopolitical target for numerous powers, first and foremost United States, Russia and China.
The United States They even tried to buy the island for economic and geopolitical purposes: in 1867 the US Secretary of State William Seward had expressed the will to buy Greenland, and also Harry Truman in 1946 and recently Donald Trump in 2019 they reiterated this interest, which was promptly rejected by the Greenland government.
Why Greenland is crucial for the US and NATO
Due to the vast deposits of hydrocarbons and minerals, such as gold, platinum, zinc, nickel, uranium and rare earths, Greenland is a territory at the centre of interest of many countries. During the Cold Warthe island played an important role in its strategic position in the center between the Soviet ports in the Arctic territory and the United States and Canada. It was therefore used as base to observe the use of ballistic missiles and in its territory the United States used in particular the air base of Thulelocated in the municipality of Avannaata, in northern Greenland.
The Thule base was also the scene in the 1968 of a tragic plane crash during which, due to a fire, four nuclear bombs on a U.S. Air Force B-52 aircraft released radioactive material, polluting a vast area of ice.
Today, with the growing geopolitical interest in the Arctic, Greenland finds itself at the centre of both Chinese than Americans. China intends to strengthen the economic cooperation with the island mainly for mining activities in the iron and zinc mines and with the intent to build infrastructure such as airports and scientific and research bases.
On the other hand, the United States signed a defence agreement with Denmark in December 2023 to strengthen the NATO presence on Danish soil. Even theEuropean Union is trying to increase its proximity to the Nordic country: a March 2024, the European Commission has in fact opened a office in the capital Nuukto strengthen the European presence in the country. At the moment, however, Greenland seems to want to maintain its openness also towards the Beijing government, in search of even greater independence from the Danish crown, especially from the point of view commercial and political.
