After being under the rule of Denmark for nearly 300 years, this is a historic moment for Greenland.
To speak about the change taking place, Inuuteq Holm Olsen, Greenland’s deputy minister of foreign affairs and Mininnguaq Kleist, the head of the department of the self-governance office, met with The Epoch Times on May 19 in Manhattan, N.Y. The two are in the city for a week to answer questions about Greenland’s switch of power.
“This is not an ethical issue of Greenlanders against the Danes. It’s more of a legal recognition that is important to us,” Olsen said. “The Danish government has been supportive of this.”
The Self-governance Act that is being implemented will expand on the current Home Rule political system used in Greenland that was implemented in 1979. When it goes into action on June 21, the people of Greenland will be recognized as a nation in international law and will be granted 33 new areas of responsibility in governing their country, such as control over the police force and court system—although complete independence from Denmark is still a ways off.
Kleist said that the current Home Rule system is becoming too limiting for Greenlanders. He compared it to a platform with several rooms that they’ve already explored. “Now the Self-governing Act is a new platform, a different platform with new doors we can open,” Kleist said.
“For the first time we’ll be recognized by a people of our own right, legally. That was not the case before,” he said.
Oceans Apart
“It’s tough to try and run a country from 3,000 kilometers [1,860 miles] away. For us who reside in Greenland, we shake our heads when some decisions are made down in Copenhagen, because they don’t live under the same circumstances we live under,” Kleist said.
“That’s a problem. People can see that when we take those decisions home, then we’ll get closer to the decisions being made,” he said.
Some of the more noticeable problems with the current system can be seen in the police system. Kleist explained that if there is a specific area that needs focus from the police force, the decision needs to go through Denmark. “Greenlandic politicians actually cannot go out and decide what the police should focus on because the police are under the Danish state,” he said.
The Greenland Self-governance Act was finalized on May 19 in a third and final Danish vote, according to Olsen. The local populace has also pressed for the change. On November 26 last year, a vote on whether Greenland should implement the plan showed that close to 75 percent of voters were in favor of self-governance.
“The process has begun,” Kleist said. “We can start writing our own constitution if we want to.
The possibility that Greenland can become a [world] player in the future is there.”
New Horizons
Kleist said that the reason why there was a special agreement on resources was that “the potential income and economic revenues are so big compared to other industries. That’s why, of course, there are so many interests linked to this, and that’s also why Denmark has withheld that power [from Greenland].”
“The thing is you don’t just hand over an oil potential that is as big as Kuwait. So that’s why they held that still. But now we’re taking that over,” Kleist said.
As a part of the agreement, as Greenland brings in more profit from its developing economic sectors, the subsidies given to the country by Denmark will correspondingly decrease. Currently, the subsidies make up nearly a third of Greenland’s GDP.
Leaders are also looking into hydroelectricity as a new horizon of possibilities, as the landscape of Greenland makes a complete switch to green energy possible. Olsen said that by 2015, they plan to have 80 percent of the country using hydroelectricity. “We’re only 56,000. It doesn’t take much to change things,” he said.
Kleist added that in Greenland this is even more of an issue, as the effects of climate change can be seen daily in its massive ice cliffs and glaciers.
“Climate change is of course a big issue,” Kleist said. “We can only adapt.”
Green electricity offered by the country is also drawing the interest of several industries that require large amounts of energy, such as Web servers and the aluminum industry.
The country will also be developing a stronger educational system, building up its schools and universities. It is hoped this will bring more professionals into local industries.
A Bright Day in Greenland
Among the events being held for the celebrations will be several to introduce the changes taking place in Greenland—such as a trade fair show of future commercial potentials and education and schooling expositions.
After the new act is implemented, some changes will be felt immediately.
The Inuit-based Greenlandic language will also become the official language of the country, which could potentially force some store owners to change up their store fronts—hanging a Greenlandic sign next to an already existing Danish sign for their shop.
Currently, close to 80 percent of the country speaks Greenlandish, with between 30 and 40 percent unable to speak a second language. This often causes problems as close to another 30 percent speak only Danish.
