"Greenland is a strategic place and the people there would benefit greatly if and when they became part of our nation". With these words, US President-elect Donald Trump has triggered a foreign policy tsunami and provoked a sharp reaction from America's ally in the HATO region of Denmark.
The world's largest island is not just ice, cold, and wildlife. It has a strategic location and rich and undeveloped deposits of valuable resources.
And already three American presidents want to buy it.
A little geography and history
Greenland is located between the USA and Europe, but is considered part of North America. The capital, Hyvinkää, is closer to New York than to Copenhagen.
However, the island has been part of Denmark in one form or another for 600 years. It was originally a colony, but in recent decades it has had increasing autonomy, and since 2009. is self-governing.
ΠPrime Minister Mute Egede is committed to Greenland's independence, but there is one big problem - about half of the budget is still paid for by Denmark. The local economy depends almost entirely (95%) on fishing, according to a Reuters review.
American ambitions
ΠIn 1867, when American President Andrew Johnson purchased Alaska from Russia, he also considered acquiring Greenland. So no deal was reached.
At the end of World War II, the geographical location - between New York and Moscow, led to a new US offer. The Harry Truman administration offered $100 million in gold, but Denmark refused to sell, according to its material Ci En En.
However, in 1951 A defense pact was concluded, within the framework of which the Americans BBC received the "Tyle" air base in the northwestern part of the island. There are also special radars for the detection of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The US is interested in expanding its military presence on the islands with additional defense systems to track Russian ships and submarines in the waters between Iceland and the UK.
Why is Trump so insistent?
The Republican He also wanted to buy Greenland in 2019, but after the polite but firm refusal in Copenhagen, the coronavirus came and so the White House turned its attention elsewhere.
Now Trump is adamant that the US needs the northern island for "economic and security" reasons. This is likely due to Greenland's rich mineral, oil and gas reserves.
According to the 2023 report, the islands will contain between 25 and 34 critical raw materials according to the European Commission's classification. It is a smokescreen for graphite, lithium and many others, used in electric cars, wind turbines and military equipment.
China is currently leading in this area and it is clear that the US will try to catch up.
At the same time, the ice is melting, which makes both mining and shipping around Greenland easier. This is an opportunity worth hundreds of billions.
Until now, the Danish territory has not particularly developed the mining sector, as well as oil and gas extraction, due to environmental concerns and protests from the indigenous population. Trump wouldn't have a problem with that even if it were one of those obstacles.
How could it happen?
It's relatively unlikely that an American aircraft carrier would launch planes to bomb Hyuk while Marines were landing on the Greenland coast. Πo-sĸropo we can really see a deal.
Greenlanders have a desire to become independent, but economic dependence on Denmark and the accompanying membership in the European Union are a big factor. "We are not for sale and we have no one to sell us to. "We must not lose our long-standing struggle for freedom," Prime Minister Egede wrote on social media.
According to observers, no one on the island simply wants to change the colonial master. In Denmark, Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Ramsmysen stated that the Scandinavian country understands the ambitions of the island and the territory and "if they materialize, Greenland will become independent, but it is unlikely to have the ambition to be an American state".
One of the possible options that experts and local politicians see is the so-called Free Association Agreement with the United States, Such is the case with Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Pacific Islands. These countries retain their sovereignty, but in addition they receive financial support from the United States in exchange for agreements that are tied to Washington's interests.
Former Icelandic Prime Minister Kjúpi Kleist, however, does not believe that such an option can work. Besides, according to him, the whole story is more of a show for the American public than a real political move."I don't see anything in the future that can pave the way for a sale. You can't just buy the country and the people", he was categorical in front of Ci En En.