In Greenland, locals fed up with deals done over their heads / Photo: © AFP
In Greenland, locals fed up with deals done over their heads
A day after US President Donald Trump and NATO's chief purportedly struck a deal on Greenland, residents expressed anger and frustration that the Danish territory was again being sidelined in talks about its future.
Carrying two steaming cappuccinos from a popular American coffee chain on Thursday, Niels Berthelsen took the time to stop despite the icy cold winds whipping the streets of Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital.
"If they want to make deals about Greenland, they have to invite Greenland to the negotiating table," the 49-year-old skipper told AFP.
"Nothing about Greenland without Greenland," he insisted repeatedly.
Trump backed down on threats to seize Greenland by force after meeting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday, saying they had reached a "framework" deal on the Danish autonomous territory.
While details of the agreement made at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos remained scant, many Greenlanders, who fiercely defend their right to self-determination, were disappointed.
"It's obviously a good thing that the military threat has gone down," Berthelsen said.
"But they could just as easily have reached an agreement by inviting Greenland to the table, rather than having Mark Rutte negotiate a deal with Trump by himself. I find that very disrespectful on Mark Rutte's part."
Fellow Nuuk resident Esther Jensen agreed.
"I'm very disappointed, because Rutte cannot make any kind of agreement with Trump without Denmark or Greenland, and Denmark cannot make any decision without Greenland either. So we are very disappointed," said Jensen.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Rutte had coordinated with her and the Greenlandic government -- though Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on social media that Rutte "cannot negotiate an agreement on behalf of Denmark or Greenland".
- Longing for quieter times -
Coordination or not, Greenland's Deputy Prime Minister Mute Egede on Thursday reiterated the right of Greenland's 57,000 inhabitants to decide their own future.
A Danish colony for three centuries, Greenland gradually gained autonomy in the second half of the 20th century.
But Denmark's assimilation policies -- including de facto bans on the Inuit language and forced sterilisations -- have left Greenlanders bitter and angry.
"Whatever pressure others may exert, our country will neither be given away, nor will our future be gambled with," Egede said in a post on Facebook.
"It is unacceptable to attempt to hand our land to others. This is our land -- we are the ones who shape its future."
In Nuuk, some residents wondered what really went down in Davos.
"We know all too well that Trump has a tendency to read too much into some things," said 80-year-old pensioner Arkalo Abelsen.
"When Rutte... says that they've spoken about some possible solutions, in Trump's mind, that becomes a deal," Abelsen said, leaning on a crutch.
"That's not a deal. There's no agreement."
The unwelcome surge of interest in Greenland, and the turbulence caused by recent events, has tested locals' tranquil temperament.
"Ever since Trump was re-elected president, we never know what's going to happen from one day to the next," said Abelsen.
"Especially when he goes after our country like it's a piece of ice drifting in the sea. It's very destabilising. We feel powerless.
"My wife and I speak about it every day. We say, 'If only we could go back to the days before Trump.' Back then, we knew what was going to happen."
Susan Gudmundsdottir Johnsen, a 52-year-old travel agency employee, also said she longed for quieter times.
"From now on, we need peace and quiet."
(A.Stefanowych--DTZ)
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