Electoral workers prepare to count votes during parliamentary elections in Nuuk, Greenland, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Greenland’s centre-right opposition the Democrats won the island’s legislative election, held on Tuesday amid US President Donald Trump’s repeated comments about ‘acquiring’ the self-governing territory of Denmark.
The Democratic party describes itself as ‘social liberal’ and has called for independence from Denmark but in the longer term, and is followed by the nationalist Naleraq, another opposition party.
According to the qinersineq website, with as many as 28,620 votes (out of 40,369 polled) counted, the Democrats had 8,563 or 29.9 per cent votes, while Naleraq had 7,009 or 24.5 per cent votes. Outgoing Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede’s Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), on the other hand, had 6,119 or 21.4 per cent votes, followed by Siumut (4,210; 14.7 per cent), Atassut (2,092; 7.3 per cent) and Quelleq (305; 1.1 per cent).
A total of 213 candidates were in the fray for the 31-seat Inatsisartut, the Arctic island’s Parliament.
Outgoing PM says Greenland in ‘eye of storm’
“Our country is in the eye of the storm,” outgoing premier Egede said in a Facebook video just hours before he cast his vote.
“The international community is watching us closely, and we have recently seen how much they are trying to influence our country,” Egede, leader of the left-green IA, added.
The 38-year-old had recently said Greenland cannot be ‘taken or bought,’ as he responded to Trump’s speech in the US Congress, where the Republican leader once again spoke about ‘acquiring’ the island of around 57,000 inhabitants.
Parties’ stand on Greenland’s independence from Denmark
While the Naleraq party wants to seek independence quickly, others prefer to wait until the island is financially independent, including the two parties in the outgoing ruling coalition, the IA and the social democratic Siumut.
The island, covered 80 per cent by ice, depends on its fisheries sector, which accounts for almost all of its exports, and annual Danish subsidies of more than $565 million.
However, its inhabitants say they are ‘tired’ of being treated like ‘second-class citizens’ by Denmark, their former colonial power, who they accuse of having historically suppressed their culture, carried out forced sterilisations, and removed children from their families.
Why Trump wants Greenland
According to Trump, ‘owning’ Greenland is vital for America’s national security; he floated the idea of ‘buying’ Greenland during his first term.
While his statements have been swiftly rejected by Danish and Greenlandic authorities, the proposal hasn’t found much support among ordinary citizens of Greenland either.
The most recent polling on the issue, published in January, shows 85 percent of Greenlanders are opposed to Trump’s idea.
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