La Groenlandia si avvicina all’Unione Europea mentre Trump osserva il territorio

>#Greenland moves closer to the European Union as Trump eyes the territory

>##Lawmakers from the Danish autonomous territory debated on October 2, weighing the pros and cons of joining the EU. While such a prospect still seems distant, Nuuk is looking to strengthen its ties with the 27 member states.

>The timing could not have been better. On Thursday, October 2, following his invitation to Copenhagen for the European Political Community summit, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen met with the president of the European Commission. On X, Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union wanted to “deepen [its] cooperation” with the Danish autonomous territory. Meanwhile, in Nuuk, MPs from the Inatsisartut, Greenland’s parliament, debated the EU’s relationship with the island, which is home to 56,000 residents.

>The topic was added to the agenda by Justus Hansen of the center-right Demokraatit party, which is led by the prime minister and considered the most pro-European of Greenland’s political formations. In his motion, Hansen proposed creating a commission of inquiry to assess the advantages and disadvantages of joining the EU. After a lengthy debate, during which the security of the archipelago was widely discussed, as was the rise of the far right in Europe – which has raised concerns among Greenlanders – lawmakers decided to continue the discussion in committee.

>The first referendum on Europe was held in the archipelago in 1972. At that time, Greenland was a province of Denmark, unlike the Faroe Islands – another Danish territory, which held autonomous status and refused to take part in the vote. Back then, 70% of Greenlanders voted against the kingdom joining the European Economic Community (EEC), but their votes carried little weight compared to the Danes, who approved membership by 63.4%.

>**’A collaboration that works rather well’**

>”That referendum triggered a political awakening in Greenland, which had major consequences,” said Rasmus Leander Nielsen, director of the Center for Foreign and Security Policy at the University of Greenland. Several of the major political parties currently in power were created around that time and advocated for autonomy – a goal achieved in a second referendum in 1979. Three years later, Greenlanders were again called to the polls and voted 53% in favor of leaving the EEC, a decision that took effect in 1985.

>The archipelago, which opened a diplomatic mission in Brussels in 1992, established “a collaboration that works rather well,” according to Nielsen. It revolves around three main areas: fishing agreements, a partnership on education and cooperation on green growth – “which hasn’t achieved much,” according to the researcher. Financially, the EU is the second-largest contributor to Greenland’s budget after Denmark.

>In recent years, however, political leaders have seemed more interested in China and the US than in the EU. Presented in February 2024, the autonomous territory’s strategy on foreign, security and defense policy was a perfect example, said Ulrik Pram Gad, a specialist on Greenland at the Danish Institute for International Studies: “It looks like a huge invitation addressed to the United States. Europe is barely mentioned.”

>Since then, the situation has changed drastically: Donald Trump returned to power in 2024 and, whereas he proposed to “buy” Greenland in 2019, the American president no longer rules out annexing the archipelago. “That really created a sense of panic and led many political leaders to reassess their position and say that maybe collaboration with the EU should become a priority again,” said Nielsen.

>**Doubling of European financial support**

>Brussels has been making considerable efforts to strengthen ties. On September 5, the Commission – which opened an office in Nuuk in March 2024 – announced its intention to double its financial support to Greenland under the next seven-year EU budget. If the proposal is adopted, the annual amount allocated to the Danish autonomous territory will rise from €32 million to €76 million starting in 2028. Meanwhile, “Greenland can help guarantee the EU’s economic security and strategic autonomy,” the Greenlandic government observed on October 2.

>Nonetheless, the idea of rejoining the EU remains a distant prospect that Nuuk is not ready to consider, said Gad. The researcher identified two main obstacles. The first is that Greenland is not an independent state: “If it were to rejoin the EU, it would be under Denmark’s authority. But for 40 years, Greenlanders have developed a separate relationship with the EU, and they have no desire to go back to dealing with Brussels through Copenhagen,” explained Gad. Fishing is the other sticking point. For the island, there is no question of relinquishing sovereignty over a sector that accounts for more than 90% of its exports.

>In the meantime, Greenland’s prime minister will be in Strasbourg on October 8 to deliver a speech to the European Parliament. In Nuuk, MPs are also preparing an amendment to the security and defense strategy, which is expected to lend more prominence to Europe.

– Anne-Françoise Hivert, *Le Monde*

You know how people sometimes talk about Canada joining the EU? That always seemed a bit weird because Canada is on the other side of the Atlantic. But Greenland, as a Danish autonomous territory, joining the EU, makes a lot of sense, and then suddenly Canada is right next door.

I like it.