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Greenland, a vast Arctic island with a small population, heads to the polls Tuesday in an election with significant global implications.
While President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring the territory isn’t explicitly on the ballot, it looms large over the political landscape.
This self-governing Danish region, home to 56,000 people, predominantly of Indigenous Inuit descent, has been pursuing independence since 2009. Now, the debate centers on how best to secure their future in the face of international attention.
“I think most of us have been scared since the new year because of (Trump’s) interest,” said Pipaluk Lynge, a member of parliament from the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit party.
“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.”
While opinion polls suggest widespread support for independence, Greenlanders maintain positive views towards Americans, citing strong ties with the Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Force Base), a US military installation established in 1951.
The election’s outcome will likely shape Greenland’s future relationship with both the US and Europe as it navigates its path towards self-determination.
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. That includes Gerth Josefsen, a 53-year-old fisherman from Nuuk who sports a MAGA hat and is proud to have visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida home.
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.
After candidates’ final televised debate 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,” Aviaja Sinkbaek, who works at the school, said.
“It means that something must be happening soon.”
She added: “I wonder what Trump has up his sleeve.”
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 opened a runway long enough to handle jumbo jets in November.
On Tuesday, the capital’s lone polling station at the Nuuk sports hall will have political parties pitching tents outside, with campaigners offering hot drinks and Greenlandic cake – a raisin-laced bread served with butter – in hopes of swaying voters.
A bus will circle the city of about 20,000 people, offering rides.
Unofficial election results should be available soon after polls close, 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.
That’s because there are no roads connecting communities across the island’s 2.16 million square kilometers (836,330 square miles), which make Greenland the world’s 12th biggest country.
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 per cent 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 extracting them is commercially feasible.
