Even though Donald Trump, according to his own statements, will not focus on Greenland and the USA for another 20 days or two months, the authorities in both Nuuk and Copenhagen should immediately prepare for a nightmare scenario where the American president will attempt to take control of Greenland.
Not necessarily in the same violent manner as in Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were recently captured by American special forces.
But with the same end goal: to secure American interests without regard for much else.
This is the opinion of Greenlandic Member of Parliament Aaja Chemnitz Larsen (Inuit Ataqatigiit, IA), who does not hide her concern about Trump’s latest statements:
»It would be a lie to say that it isn’t. And I think it’s important that we don’t just talk, but recognize that the diplomatic and political rules of the game are deeply challenged«.
»My motto is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst«, says Aaja Chemnitz.
Specifically, Chemnitz believes that the governments of both Greenland and Denmark need to strengthen their preparedness so they are ready for »an escalation of the situation.«
»I don’t think that in the same way (as in Venezuela, ed.) they will come with fire and brimstone to Greenland. But I do believe that the ongoing interest in Greenland will certainly continue. I have no doubt about that. And we need to prepare for it«.
So you are not afraid – despite what has happened in recent days – that the USA will take over Greenland by force?
»It depends on what kind of force. And you could also say that the Danish defence is relatively limited in Greenland. Even if you get European troops to stand side by side with Denmark«.
»We need to be prepared for a situation we don’t like, where there might be attempts to infiltrate or take over Greenland. It’s important to have a plan for the many different scenarios that could arise. So when I hope for the best and fear the worst, it’s everything in between that it’s insanely important to be prepared for«.
A moral responsibility
Aaja Chemnitz calls for a real emergency plan for Greenland so that the small population in the large country is ready to handle unforeseen events. Whether it’s power outages or an invasion.
»We need to have preparedness. We don’t have that today. That’s the problem. And preparedness also includes if a sea cable is cut«.
In Denmark, the Danish Emergency Management Agency has issued guidelines on how to manage for three days without water and electricity. But such advice and guidelines cannot be directly transferred to Greenland, according to Aaja Chemnitz.
»Prepping in Greenland is different from Denmark. So it requires adaptation and preparation for being without communication for three days, or whatever it might be«, she says.
Formally, Greenland has taken over so-called civil protection and emergency preparedness, while Denmark still has responsibility for the defence of the entire Kingdom. But that’s not so crucial, Chemnitz believes:
»It may be that Denmark on paper doesn’t have full responsibility. But I believe Denmark has a significant moral responsibility – perhaps especially in this situation – to ensure that this preparedness is followed through«.
Minister for Resilience and Preparedness Torsten Schack Pedersen (Venstre, V) writes in an email that the government views the call to action positively:
»If there are areas where the Ministry of Resilience and Preparedness can provide support – including from the Emergency Management Agency or the The Danish Resilience Agency – then I would of course like to look into it«.
Pele Broberg, leader of the opposition party Naleraq, on the other hand, believes that the media is exaggerating the risk of American use of force in Greenland:
»It’s very, very unfortunate that journalists keep creating some form of conflict«, he says, continuing:
»When you start to mention Greenland in the same breath as Venezuela, we are approaching something that is as far from journalism as it can get«.
Broberg refers to the Trump administration’s rejection of using force to take over Greenland:
»The new special envoy, Jeff Landry, has made it clear that the Americans will not carry out a military takeover. Just as Trump has said that he respects our right to self-determination«.
Pele Broberg also doesn’t think much of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s (Socialdemokratiet, S) handling of the situation when she repeats that Greenlanders decide Greenland’s future:
»I find it hard to believe that the Danes suddenly care about what the Greenlandic people want. So when you hear the Prime Minister say that Greenland belongs to Greenlanders, only to then talk about the importance of maintaining the Kingdom’s territorial integrity, it’s clear that she didn’t mean the first«.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen believes that Trump himself manages to link Greenland with the military intervention in Venezuela:
»It’s disrespectful,« he writes on Facebook.
Mette Frederiksen also rejects Trump’s desire to get hold of Greenland, which she calls »an unacceptable pressure« to DR:
»If the USA chooses to attack another NATO country, then everything stops«.
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