The future president of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again shown great interest in the island in the Arctic.
During a press conference this week, he said that the US needs Greenland for security reasons, and to “protect the free world”.
Jan Hallenberg, professor emeritus of political science and expert on American foreign and security policy, does not think it is completely out of the question that Trump somehow makes the idea a reality.
– You cannot completely rule out that something could happen with Greenland.
“Can come with a financial contribution”
There is a movement for independence in Greenland, and there could be a referendum on the issue.
– If this happens in the next four years, I would imagine that Trump will make a large financial contribution to Greenland, says Jan Hallenberg in “current”.
– Now he is four years old. The US bought Alaska in 1867, what if he becomes the second president to expand US territory. I can’t rule out that he dreams about this.
The political science professor believes that Trump’s statements are primarily part of a negotiation game, to, for example, get more military bases on the island or a greater share of natural resources in the future.
– And prevent the Chinese from doing it. There may be a couple of such concessions that I think the Danes might consider agreeing to.
The law professor about buying Greenland
Greenland is Danish, with so-called internal self-government and its own parliament. However, Denmark still decides on foreign and defense policy, and contributes four billion Danish kroner to Greenland’s economy every year. One question has therefore been how Greenland would manage economically, without Denmark.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen writes on Facebook that it is the Greenlanders themselves who define their future: “Denmark will not oppose that process.”
After Trump reiterated his desire to buy Greenland, both Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede have said that Greenland is not for sale.
Joachim Åhman, professor of international law at the University of Gothenburg, says that there are no international law obstacles to a purchase, but that it is a political issue.
– If Denmark were to agree to it, there is an opportunity for a state to cede territory and it can be done against compensation. It is permitted under international law. But again, that would be a big political issue and not least linked to what the Greenlandic population itself wants.