The people of Greenland are set to vote on Tuesday in what may be their most internationally-watched election, given President Donald Trump’s frequent overtures toward acquiring the island.
Voters will elect the 31 representatives to Greenland’s parliament, known as the Inatsisartut. The country, which gained self-rule in 1979, remains a Danish territory.
Denmark still controls defense and foreign policy for Greenland, which has a population of around 56,000, though Prime Minister Múte Egede said in his annual New Year’s address that Greenland needed greater independence.
Independence from Denmark will not be on the ballot on Tuesday, but the results could set the stage for a future referendum.
Most major political parties support Greenland’s independence from Denmark. However, they disagree on how and when that should happen and how the country’s relations with Denmark and the United States should progress.
According to the Anadolu Agency, Egede’s party holds 12 seats, its coalition partner, Erik Jensen’s social democratic Siumut party, controls 10 seats, and the opposition parties hold the remaining nine seats.
Despite the president’s efforts, local issues appear to be at the top of Greenlanders’ minds. No major politicians have endorsed the idea of joining the U.S., though some, like Kuno Fencker, a member of one of the opposition parties, have said they should establish close ties. Fencker traveled to Washington for Trump’s inauguration.
“Like other countries in the world, we must work to remove the obstacles to cooperation, which we can describe as the shackles of colonialism, and move forward,” Egede, the leader of the democratic socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit party, said in a January address.
Trump, for his part, has expressed a desire to acquire the island for national security purposes since his first term as president. He reiterated his desire for Greenland to join the U.S. during his address to Congress last week.
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said. “But we need it really for international world security, and I think we’re going to get it.”
Egede wrote on social media in response, “We don’t want to be Americans, nor Danes; We are Kalaallit (Greenlanders).”
GREENLAND PM SCOFFS AT TRUMP ADDRESS: ‘WE DO NOT WANT TO BE AMERICANS’
Greenland is coveted both for its location near the Arctic Circle as well as its strategic sea lands that transit between North America and Europe and for its rich oil and gas natural resources.
The U.S. president declined to rule out attempting to acquire the island by military force.
