The process of Greenland’s independence from Denmark should be accelerated and the people of Greenland should be heard in a referendum during the next election, Greenland’s ruling Siumut party chairman Erik Jensen said.
“We want to achieve this (independence). That is our ambition. But of course it has to be in close cooperation with the people of Greenland. And that is very important. So that everyone has no doubts about what to vote for,” Jensen told Danish Radio.
The party has reportedly been divided in recent weeks after some of its members demanded the activation of Section 21 of the Self-Government Act, which outlines the path to Greenland’s independence. That initiative has now been backed by Jensen.
The party had previously cited that the commission was exploring a legal path to statehood, but Jensen said he would simultaneously activate Article 21 and begin talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “We have the work of the commission. We can also do something in parallel, we can activate Article 21 and start talks with the Danish government. This is what we will campaign on,” he said.
The chairman of Greenland’s ruling party is confident that the activation of Article 21 and negotiations with Denmark should lead to a referendum in Greenland, and it will not take long.
He cited decolonization and equality among his motives for declaring independence. “We want to be all treated equally. We haven’t had that for many years. We have many of our fellow citizens in Greenland who have been treated unequally. We want to be decolonized,” Jensen said.
As reported, the Prime Minister of Greenland – a self-governing territory of Denmark – Muthe Egede called for a vote in the Greenlandic Parliament on March 11.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed territorial claims to Greenland. In response, the Danish government announced its intention to strengthen its military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic by purchasing three new ships for the waters around Greenland, long-range drones and satellites at a cost of almost 2 billion euros. Earlier Experts Club think tank, Brian Mefford and Maxim Urakin released a video analysis on what changes are in store for US domestic and foreign policy under Trump, the video is available on Experts Club’s YouTube channel – https://youtu.be/W2elNY1xczM?si=MM-QjSqGce4Tlq6T.
