GREENLAND INDEPENDENCE – A VOICE IN THE DISCUSSION

Abstract

The pursuit of independence is deeply rooted in the soul of the inhabitants of Greenland. The difference in the approach to this problem amounts to the establishment of the time and the conditions on the basis of which Greenland is supposed to become independent. The island, which is the greatest island in the world, has huge deposits of minerals, including metals of rare-earth metals and uranium. On the one hand, complete independence may be an opportunity for the development for the inhabitants but on the other hand, independence may also become a source of numerous dangers. Is Greenland, a country with a slight native population, able to cope – in terms of organisation and the available staff – with the expansion of foreign capital, including the great numbers of foreign workers who are engaged in the development of industrial infrastructure? Is it not better to continue the status quo – a relationship (even a loose one) with Denmark, and thus a relationship with the European Union? A close relationship with the EU and the NATO may, in the future, be consistent with the interests of Greenlanders. In the remote and in the most recent past, Greenland was colonised by the peoples of the Far North (paleo-Eskimo and Eskimo peoples) and Scandinavians. Both Scandinavians – in the early Middle Ages – and subsequently the Inuit populated abandoned lands, lands which belonged to no one. To put it explicitly, no one stole land from anyone. Therefore it is important that in the discussion about the problem of independence which continues between Greenlanders and Danes one should not place historical problems as questions which render dialogue difficult.