Denmark scrambles to fortify its hold on Greenland

Against Russia, China, Trump--and Greenlanders’ grievances

Donald Trump has been oddly quiet about Greenland and Denmark for a few days. He’s been busy tariffing China and his USMCA partners Canada and Mexico, besides suspending foreign aid and funding for many domestic US organizations. Nevertheless, Denmark remains in high-alert, controlled-panic mode.

Equidistant map of the Northern Hemisphere. www.mediastorehouse.co.uk

Sale or No Sale

This past week, reports emerged about the earlier phone call between Trump and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that Frederiksen had refrained from describing: “horrendous,” “fiery,” and “icy,” as Trump was aggressive and insistent.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (DK) is more even-tempered and polite than his new boss. His call with Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen had a “good and constructive tone.” They discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, and Denmark’s defense budget—but not Greenland. In a subsquent interview, While he played down the threat of military force as Trump’s negotiating tactic, he maintained that the plan to buy Greenland "is not a joke."

To that, Løkke Rasmussen countered that “Neither is it a joke (DK) when we say that of course Greenland will never pass to American ownership.”

Joking aside

In an earlier interview, Løkke Rasmussen (DK) was asked, ”So if Trump will really have Greenland, must he invade in order to get it?”

“He will not have Greenland. Therefore I won’t stand here and give a recipe for how he will have something that he won’t have.”¹

A more positive sign came from a female Danish-American pair of politicians: the courageous moderate Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Danish MP Aaja Chemnitz from Greenland, who are co-chair and chair, respectively, of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region. They issued a joint press release—“Greenland: Ally, not an Asset”—arguing strongly and in some depth that “Greenland is not for sale.”

Denmark isn’t blameless

In the past couple of weeks, the Danish administration has acknowledged, sometimes overtly and sometimes implicitly, that it has seriously neglected both Arctic security and the Greenlandic people. (Danish politicians prefer the phrasing “We regret that [something has happened/not happened]” to “We apologize for….”) Trump’s threats have made that painfully obvious.

Now the administration is making a three-pronged effort to shore up its Greenlandic defenses—as much against its most important ally as against Russia and China. It is augmenting its meager defensive capabilities in Greenland, gathering support in Western Europe, and patching up relations with Greenlandic society.

Better late than never

On Monday, the administration announced a new Arctic Defense Agreement (DK). It isn’t a reaction to Trump, since planning had begun six months ago, but Trump probably accelerated its completion.

Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen admitted that Denmark has been derelict in implementing the preceding defense plan from 2021 because of a complicated procurement process and other factors He promised that the new initiatives will be carried out much faster.

The plan, which will cost DKK 15 billion (USD 2.1 billion), entails expanding and upgrading an airport, the Arctic Command staff, satellite monitoring, and Arctic Basic Training for young Greenlanders, as well as new frigates, inspection ships, long-range drones, and dog sled teams. Trump (DK) had expressed his doubts that Denmark could “protect the free world with two dog sleds” just a couple of days before.²

”So if Trump will really have Greenland, must he invade in order to get it?”

Lars Løkke Rasmussen: “He will not have Greenland. Therefore I won’t stand here and give a recipe for how he will have something that he won’t have.”

The additions are modest by American any standards, but the agreement is only the first in a series. The next phase, to be announced by the summer, will involve harmonizing Denmark’s Arctic defense measures with NATO’s collective military preparedness, among other things. The administration doesn’t know yet how it will finance these outlays but is dismissing talk of a “war-tax” (DK).

The agreement was also significant in that it is the first time a Greenlander has taken part. Vivian Motzfeldt, Greenland’s Minister for Independence and Foreign Affairs and the vice chair of the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party, shared the podium with Poulsen. While she expressed frustration that Greenland had not been involved previously, she commended the Danish MPs for the collaboration.

Turbo diplomacy

Early in the week, Frederiksen met with other Nordic leaders. On Tuesday, she went on an unprecedented whirlwind tour around Europe (DK), meeting Scholz in Berlin, Macron in Paris, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels to cement support for Denmark’s territorial sovereignty and European solidarity. Trump has also threatened the EU with tariffs and demanded that NATO members spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense.

In her meetings, Frederiksen stressed the need for Europe to take more responsibility for its military and economic security, giving greater priority to the Arctic in light of Russia’s and China’s increasing activity there: “[F]aced with the new and more unpredictable reality that lies ahead, close and good alliances and friendships are increasingly important." Trump didn’t need to be named publicly; “unpredictable” is his name.

France offered to send soldiers (DK) to Greenland, but Denmark declined. Earlier, Robert Brieger (DK), the head of the EU's Military Committee, raised the possibility of stationing EU soldiers there. Lund Poulsen said that he hadn’t discussed the subject with Brieger.

Parenting lost in translation

In the past two weeks, two Danish ministries moved to redress problems with the treatment of Greenlanders, particularly those living in Denmark.

The Social and Housing Ministry announced that it will stop using a controversial psychological test (DK) on Greenlandic parents to determine whether to remove children from their custody. The test has been criticized because it is conducted in Danish, which is not Greenlanders’ native language, and doesn’t take account of Greenlandic cultural norms. As recently as in late December, Greenlandic PM Múte Egede (DK) expressed his impatience with the administration’s inaction:

The relationship is at a standstill now. I strongly believe that the Danish government will pull itself together now. This cannot continue.

The use of the test has been left up to the discretion of the individual municipalities, and a legal change from Parliament is necessary to end the practice for Greenlanders. Some 460 Greenlandic children are in foster care, and their cases will be reviewed.

Discrimination and language policing

The Ministry for Immigration and Integration announced an anti-racism program (DK) with a focus on Greenland. Over the next three years, DKK 35 million (USD 4.9 million) will be devoted to 12 initiatives, including measures on discrimination, educational policy, interpreting, and a Greenlandic passport. Both Greenlandic MPs were consulted about the plan, which is still in a draft stage. They found it lacking in concrete action, and the Ministry promised to listen to their proposals.

One of them also objected to a symptom of “structural racism” that had not been addressed: the presence of derogatory terms (DK) in the standard Danish dictionary, such as grønlanderstiv—“drunk as a Greenlander” (literally, "Greenlander-drunk”). Greenlanders have a recognized problem with alcoholism, as a casual observer of their impromptu gatherings in certain Copenhagen squares might surmise.

The Danish Language and Literature Agency, which publishes the dictionary with support from the Ministry of Culture, explained that the word wouldn’t be removed because the dictionary is descriptive, not prescriptive, but its inclusion shouldn’t be taken as an endorsement. It doesn’t appear in the official usage manual, Retskrivningsbog.

Now if they could resolve the IUD scandal (DK).

1. Translators may wish to check the interpretation of the recurring modal verb skal:

“Så hvis Trump virkelig vil have Grønland, skal han så invadere for at få det?”

“Han skal ikke have Grønland. Og derfor skal jeg ikke stå og give en opskrift på, hvordan han skal have noget, som han ikke skal have.”

2. Mea culpa: I couldn’t resist mentioning the dog sleds myself in an earlier headline. But a glance at Wikipedia tells us that the Sirius Patrol (Siriuspatrujlen, named after the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky) is actually a badass elite naval unit that is essential in monitoring Greenland’s vast uninhabited coastline:

”Operating in pairs, patrol members traverse approximately 15,000 to 20,000 kilometers annually using traditional dog sleds, each team accompanied by 11 to 15 specially trained sled dogs. These expeditions can last up to four months, often without external human contact.”