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Greenland looks to US in quest for independence
NUUK, Greenland (AFP) - After 25 years of internal autonomy, the icy Danish territory of Greenland has set its sights on true independence, hoping that talks on the modernization of a US military base on the island may have helped nudge it closer to its goal.
Greenland, which became a Danish colony in 1721, aspires to "before the 300th anniversary of the colonialization ... be capable of becoming master of its own destiny," deputy prime minister of Greenland Josef Motzfeldt told AFP.
Greenlanders have long felt that along with Denmark, the US, with its military base at Thule in the northwestern part of the island, has too much say over their internal affairs.
Following an agreement on the modernization of the base last month however, Greenlanders have begun seeing the superpower across the Atlantic as a potential ally in their quest for self-determination.
"It was (US Secretary of State) Colin Powell (news - web sites) who demanded that we sit at the negotiating table during the (ongoing) overhaul of the 1951 Danish-American Defense Treaty concerning Greenland, to the great surprise of Denmark's foreign minister," Motzfeldt said.
"Washington recognizes us as an equal partner, which is not yet the case with Denmark," he added, pointing out that US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) after taking power in 2001 had even sent a letter requesting closer cooperation on the Thule base and other issues directly to Greenland's local government, and not, as tradition dictates, through Copenhagen.
While Copenhagen has resisted allowing Greenland full independence, it has agreed to an "autonomy commission", made up of both Danish and local politicians, which is currently looking into the thorny issue of handing over sovereignty to the island when it comes to justice, foreign policy, and its mineral and oil resource management.
That could come in handy, since authorities on the island hope the recent discovery of valuable minerals like gold and diamonds, along with promethean promises of oil exploration and rising tourism, will help propel the territory into economic independence and thereby also boost its chances for political self-determination.
Authorities on the island are now preparing to take a decisive -- and painful -- step on their road to independence: squeezing out from under "Big Brother" and saying adios to the approximately three billion kroner (494 million dollars, 403 million euros), or 57 percent of Greenland's total 2005 budget, still paid for by Copenhagen.
"That is our ultimate objective. It will call for hard work, sweat and tears, but the Greenlanders are ready, I think, to pay the price. We want to be recognized as an independent nation, as a sovereign people to be respected," Motzfeldt said.
Over the past quarter century, Greenland with its 57,000 inhabitants, 50,000 of whom are indigenous Inuits, has undergone drastic change, transforming from a community of hunters and fishermen to a modern industrialized society.
But while the quick transformation has brought with it positive development and the island's very own university, Greenland has also increasingly been plagued by social problems like alcoholism, domestic abuse, other violence and suicide.
It is of course uncertain whether true independence would help Greenland shake off its problems, and many of the island's inhabitants worry that bowing too low to US requests on the Thule base, which served as a key listening post during the Cold War, and which is now considered an essential part of Washington's plans for a controversial missile defense program, could cause additional headaches.
"But we haven't said 'yes' to the use (of modernized radar installations) in this missile defense system, which would call for new negotiations," Motzfeldt told AFP.
Greenland, he insisted, does not want to find itself against its will in the midst of new global tensions.
The question is whether the island can afford to go against the US on this issue, and thus risk losing the strongest ally it has in its quest for independence.
NUUK, Greenland (AFP) - After 25 years of internal autonomy, the icy Danish territory of Greenland has set its sights on true independence, hoping that talks on the modernization of a US military base on the island may have helped nudge it closer to its goal.
Greenland, which became a Danish colony in 1721, aspires to "before the 300th anniversary of the colonialization ... be capable of becoming master of its own destiny," deputy prime minister of Greenland Josef Motzfeldt told AFP.
Greenlanders have long felt that along with Denmark, the US, with its military base at Thule in the northwestern part of the island, has too much say over their internal affairs.
Following an agreement on the modernization of the base last month however, Greenlanders have begun seeing the superpower across the Atlantic as a potential ally in their quest for self-determination.
"It was (US Secretary of State) Colin Powell (news - web sites) who demanded that we sit at the negotiating table during the (ongoing) overhaul of the 1951 Danish-American Defense Treaty concerning Greenland, to the great surprise of Denmark's foreign minister," Motzfeldt said.
"Washington recognizes us as an equal partner, which is not yet the case with Denmark," he added, pointing out that US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) after taking power in 2001 had even sent a letter requesting closer cooperation on the Thule base and other issues directly to Greenland's local government, and not, as tradition dictates, through Copenhagen.
While Copenhagen has resisted allowing Greenland full independence, it has agreed to an "autonomy commission", made up of both Danish and local politicians, which is currently looking into the thorny issue of handing over sovereignty to the island when it comes to justice, foreign policy, and its mineral and oil resource management.
That could come in handy, since authorities on the island hope the recent discovery of valuable minerals like gold and diamonds, along with promethean promises of oil exploration and rising tourism, will help propel the territory into economic independence and thereby also boost its chances for political self-determination.
Authorities on the island are now preparing to take a decisive -- and painful -- step on their road to independence: squeezing out from under "Big Brother" and saying adios to the approximately three billion kroner (494 million dollars, 403 million euros), or 57 percent of Greenland's total 2005 budget, still paid for by Copenhagen.
"That is our ultimate objective. It will call for hard work, sweat and tears, but the Greenlanders are ready, I think, to pay the price. We want to be recognized as an independent nation, as a sovereign people to be respected," Motzfeldt said.
Over the past quarter century, Greenland with its 57,000 inhabitants, 50,000 of whom are indigenous Inuits, has undergone drastic change, transforming from a community of hunters and fishermen to a modern industrialized society.
But while the quick transformation has brought with it positive development and the island's very own university, Greenland has also increasingly been plagued by social problems like alcoholism, domestic abuse, other violence and suicide.
It is of course uncertain whether true independence would help Greenland shake off its problems, and many of the island's inhabitants worry that bowing too low to US requests on the Thule base, which served as a key listening post during the Cold War, and which is now considered an essential part of Washington's plans for a controversial missile defense program, could cause additional headaches.
"But we haven't said 'yes' to the use (of modernized radar installations) in this missile defense system, which would call for new negotiations," Motzfeldt told AFP.
Greenland, he insisted, does not want to find itself against its will in the midst of new global tensions.
The question is whether the island can afford to go against the US on this issue, and thus risk losing the strongest ally it has in its quest for independence.
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