Nuuk, Denmark:
The centre-right opposition has won a surprise victory in legislative elections in Greenland, the Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump, as support surged for the nationalist Naleraq party seeking independence as soon as possible.
While vote counting was not yet complete on Wednesday morning, the Democratic party — which describes itself as “social liberal” and has also called for independence but in the longer term — held an insurmountable lead, Greenland’s public broadcaster KNR said.
The nationalist Naleraq party, the most ardent of the pro-independence parties, was meanwhile headed for a “stunning” election score, it said.
Never before has an election in Greenland garnered as much international interest, following Trump’s recently stated ambitions to take control of the territory.
“We respect the election result,” outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede, who leads the left-green Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party, told KNR, while the leader of the Siumut party, IA’s coalition partner, conceded defeat.
With none of the parties set to win a majority of the 31 seats in parliament, negotiations to form a coalition will be held in the coming days.
The future government is expected to map out a timeline for independence, which is backed by a large majority of Greenland’s 57,000 inhabitants.
“The Democrats are open to talks with all parties and are seeking unity. Especially with what is going on in the world,” said the party’s 33-year-old leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s former badminton champion.
He was surprised by the party’s victory.
“We didn’t expect the election to have this outcome, we’re very happy.”
Trump, who has said he is determined to get the vast Arctic island “one way or the other”, tried until the last minute to influence the vote.
Possibly signalling a Trump effect, turnout in Tuesday’s election was higher than usual, election officials said.
The island’s inhabitants — almost 90 percent of whom are Inuits — say they are tired of being treated like second-class citizens by their former colonial power Denmark, which they accuse of having historically suppressed their culture, carried out forced sterilisations and removed children from their families.
All of Greenland’s main political parties back independence but disagree on the timeframe.
Independence now or later?
The Naleraq party looks set to more than double its share of the vote to 24.5 percent, putting it second behind the Democrats on 29.9 percent with 71 of 72 polling stations reporting.
Naleraq wants independence to happen quickly.
“We can do it the same way we exited the European Union (in 1985). That (took) three years. Brexit was three years. Why take longer?” party leader Pele Broberg told AFP.
Others prefer to wait until the island is financially independent.
Covered 80 percent by ice, Greenland depends heavily on its fisheries sector, which accounts for almost all of its exports, and annual Danish subsidies of more than $565 million, equivalent to a fifth of its GDP.
Naleraq believes Greenland soon will be able to stand on its own thanks to untapped mineral reserves, including rare earths crucial to the green transition.
But the mining sector is still in its embryonic stages, hampered by high costs due to Greenland’s harsh climate and lack of infrastructure.
Political leverage
Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland during his first mandate, a bid swiftly rejected by Danish and Greenlandic authorities.
Again in the White House, he has circled back on the ambition with greater fervour, refusing to rule out the use of force and invoking US national security, amid rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region.
On Sunday, just hours before the election, Trump invited Greenlanders “to be a part of the Greatest Nation anywhere in the World, the United States of America”, promising to make them “rich”.
The most recent polling on the issue, published in January, shows 85 percent of Greenlanders are opposed to Trump’s idea.
“There are a lot of Greenlanders who see the US differently with Trump as president, who are a little less inclined to cooperate even if that’s what they would really want to do,” voter Anders Martinsen, a 27-year-old tax service employee, told AFP.
Trump’s statements sent a jolt through the election campaign.
Naleraq says the US leader’s remarks have given them leverage ahead of independence negotiations with Denmark.
But they have also chilled some independence supporters, making continued ties with Copenhagen more attractive to them, at least for now.
“Staying with Denmark is more important than ever right now because I think Denmark has mostly been good to us,” said one voter who identified himself only as Ittukusuk.
“If we become independent, then Trump might get too aggressive and that’s what scares me.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)