NUUK – Polls opened in Greenland for early parliamentary elections Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks control of the strategic Arctic island.
The self-governing region of Denmark is home to 56,000 people, most from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds, and occupies a crucial North Atlantic location. It also holds rare earth minerals key to driving the global economy.
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Unofficial election results should be available soon after polls close at 2200 GMT Tuesday, but they won’t be certified for weeks as ballot papers make their way to the capital from remote settlements by boat, plane and helicopter.
While the island has been on a path toward independence since at least 2009, a break from Denmark isn’t on the ballot — even though it’s on everyone’s mind. Voters will instead elect 31 lawmakers who will shape the island’s future at a defining moment in history: Should Greenland declare independence?
Polls indicate support for Greenland's independence
The mood was festive Tuesday at the sole polling station in Greenland ’s capital city, Nuuk as election workers opened the doors to cheers at 1100 GMT.
Opinion polls show most Greenlanders favor independence. Most say they don’t dislike Americans, pointing to the good relations they have with the local Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Force Base, where U.S. military personnel have been stationed since 1951.
But Greenlanders show no sign of wanting to become Americans. Even some of Trump’s biggest fans cling to the principle that they should control their destiny: their mantra is that Greenland is open for business, but not for sale.
“The situation has changed because of Trump and because of the world,” said Doris Jensen, representative of the social democratic Siumut party who said she has always favored independence. “So we have decided in our party that we have to do (it) more quickly.”
Trump’s attention has transformed the deeply local process of democracy. Suddenly, the presence of journalists from as far away as Japan and Croatia are reminders that these are far from normal times.
Voter Sofia Rossen had a message for Trump: “Stop talking about Greenland. Stop," she said in the polling station in Nuuk.
The island and the U.S. previously had a positive relationship, but that doesn't mean they want to be part of the United States, she told The Associated Press. Greenland’s future must be decided by its people, she said.
“It is us, we are living here and we know what to do,” she said. “We are not for sale. We are not American, we won’t be Americans. We are not (Danes), but we are part of the Danish community.”
“I think most of us have been scared since the new year because of (Trump’s) interest,” Pipaluk Lynge, a member of parliament from the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit, or United Inuit party, told The Associated Press. “So we’re really, really looking to Europe right now to see if we could establish a stronger bond with them to secure our sovereign nation.”
After one of the final televised debates at a school auditorium in Nuuk, Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede was greeted by about 75 supporters who were almost outnumbered by photographers and cameramen.
“All these reporters are frightening to us,’’ said Aviaja Sinkbaek, who works at the school. “It means that something must be happening soon.”
She added: “I wonder what Trump has up his sleeve.”
A vast island draws outsize attention
Politics in Greenland have a different rhythm. Debates during campaigning rarely got heated. People who became too animated were asked to step outside. Issues included building a skilled workforce and how to decorate the new airport, which in November opened a runway long enough to handle jumbo jets.
On Tuesday, political parties pitched tents outside the polling station at the Nuuk sports hall, offering hot drinks and Greenlandic cake -- a raisin-laced bread served with butter -- in hopes of swaying voters.
A bus is circling the city of about 20,000 people, offering rides to polling stations.
Certifying results will take weeks as ballot papers make their way to Nuuk. That’s because there are no roads connecting communities across the island’s 2.16 million square kilometers (836,330 square miles).
Now the vast size has drawn outsize attention.
Greenlanders know what they have. They hope the rare earth minerals will help diversify an economy where government jobs account for 40% of employment.
But the government has imposed strict rules to protect the environment on the island, most of which is covered by ice year-round. The harsh atmospheric conditions raise questions about whether mineral extraction is commercially feasible.
But on election day the weather was sunny and the politicians beside their tents chatted with voters with optimism. Turnout among some 40,000 voters was likely to be high.
SUVs caused a traffic jam on the main road to the hall. Elderly people with canes tromped up the icy roads.
A lot was at stake. And so the people came.