Greenlanders baffled by Trump's interest

Mr. Trump was seduced by the idea that the United States is buying this vast ice-covered island on the roof of the world, said regulars of the talks. President Trump confirmed Sunday his interest in the potential purchase of Greenland, but said it was not a priority. The attractiveness of the territory seems to be anchored in its natural resources, in addition to providing the United States with another gateway to the Arctic as the ice cap shrinks.

The president's interest sparked mixed reactions in Nuuk, the country's capital, a sparse city 150 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. Bathed by the Labrador Sea, its low houses and brightly painted buildings are home to about one-third of Greenland's 56,000 inhabitants.

For some, the idea of ​​buying and selling their homeland is strikingly reminiscent of a painful and unresolved colonial legacy that has seen the culture and language of its indigenous inhabitants suppressed for centuries of distant Copenhagen rule. Others perceive, in the apparent fascination of the president, a sign of the geostrategic importance of the autonomous territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Many simply see it as a joke.

All insist that Greenland is not for sale, unlike its political leaders.

"The people I know say" no thanks, "said Helene Elisasen, who was fishing with bait in the harbor to catch halibut at sea.

Greenland is the largest island in the world, covering more than 800,000 km 2 in the North Atlantic and Arctic Sea in northeastern Canada. It is larger than Mexico and about the same size as Saudi Arabia. About 80% of the country is covered with ice, with human settlements extending along the coasts. A network of landing strips and heliports, some dating back to the Second World War, allows residents to jump from town to town in the absence of major roads.

Its economy is supported by shrimp and fish exports and an annual subsidy of $ 591 million from Denmark. Growing industries include tourism and mining. Active mines produce rubies and minerals for the manufacture of fiberglass, and projects are underway to assess the feasibility of rare earth and uranium mining, Greenland officials said. .

The abundant resources mean that any buyer in Greenland would have a hard time making a fair offer for the country, said Pavia Zeeb, a fisherman. "It's too expensive," he said.

Many Greenlanders like to relax by hunting caribou in the wild. Workplaces in Nuuk are emptied in the summer, every time a whale catches, so that every household can take a share, say the inhabitants. The raw liver of a recently killed seal is a valuable dish.

Maya Sialuk practices the traditional tattooing of the Inuit, an ancient art that her ancestors used to protect themselves from disease and search for good fortune during hunting and fishing. She described the idea of ​​the US purchase of Greenland by the United States as insensitive and rude.

"We are still trying to recover from a period of colonization of nearly 300 years," she said. "Then there's that white guy in the United States talking about buying us."

Whether the president's aspiration is serious or not, Washington will continue to regard Greenland as a vital element of the US national security interests. A decades-old defense treaty between Denmark and the United States gives the US military virtually unlimited rights to Greenland at the most northerly base of America, Thule Air Force Base, which houses part of the system. ballistic missile early warning system.

The strategic importance of Greenland to the United States was further emphasized last year when the Pentagon managed to prevent China from funding three airports on the island. The Danish government, sought by the Americans, instead asked a consortium led by

Danske Bank

to help assemble alternative financing.

In Copenhagen, which still defines Greenland's foreign and defense policies, the news of Trump's enthusiasm for the territory has been interpreted as Washington's latest signal that the United States is a committed player in the Arctic, an area of ​​economic and strategic rivalry growing China and Russia.

"The United States wants to let everyone know that their country is an Arctic power," said Nils Wang, a retired Rear Admiral of the Royal Danish Navy and director of the Naval Team Denmark, an association of suppliers. of the navy.

Denmark also aims to explore new research and economic opportunities at the time of the opening of the Arctic and warned that Greenland would lose its annual subsidies if it sought to obtain his independence. Mr Trump will meet the Danish and Greenlandic prime ministers during a visit to Copenhagen next month, alongside the leader of the Faroe Islands, another autonomous region of Denmark.

Múte Bourup Egede, leader of the Inuit party Ataqatigiit, a pro-independence party in the Greenland Parliament, said such strategic games – and Trump's icy fantasy – reminded Greenlanders of their country's disproportionate importance in international affairs.

"The United States will still have an interest in Greenland," said Egede, holding a Bernie Sanders 2016 coffee cup. "Our country will always be ours."

Write to Jason Douglas at [email protected]