Editor-in-Chief and Director at Sermitsiaq, Masaana Egede, has of course followed the situation surrounding the American pressure on Greenland very closely.
Ahead of today's meeting in Washington between Greenland, the USA and Denmark, he believes that we unfortunately have to set the bar quite low in relation to what can come out of the meeting of positive things for Greenland.
He immediately sees two scenarios:
- You go until a meeting, where a victory in itself will be that there will be a new meeting. Because it means that you can normalize the contact a little bit and that the dialogue can continue, says Masaana Egede and emphasizes:
- So just the fact that there is a new meeting, even if no results come out of it, will be a victory, if we have to talk about anything being a victory in the current situation.
- Greenland's only defense is international conventions and law and order
And what if the meeting goes less well?
- I would say that the worst thing that can happen is that there is no dialogue that can continue. Masaana Egede assesses that the USA continues the current line and maintains the discussion outside the normal diplomatic forums and in that way puts pressure on Greenland.
Masaana Egede emphasizes in this connection that Greenland's defense in particular is international law and law:
- Greenland's only defense is international conventions, law and order and that we are a democratic country with established diplomatic processes.
He emphasizes that the big challenge is that the other party is a major power that is significantly stronger than Denmark and Greenland, and that the USA has so far shown that it does not want a dialogue.
- They haven't budged once
The editor-in-chief considers it very important for the meeting that the chairman of Naalakkersuisut, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made the Kingdom's position crystal clear at a press conference on Tuesday.
At the press conference, Jens-Frederik Nielsen stated that Greenland in no way wants to come under the control of the United States.
- They have not budged once in relation to the question that we do not want to be part of the United States. It must be praised that it has been so clear throughout, says Masaana Egede, who also assesses that the opposition has had considerable speaking time:
- It is the broadest coalition in recent times, and there is only one opposition party. In the media, a lot of time has been spent talking about the opposition's cases, which are about independence and secession, which for the government is not a current issue in relation to the United States, reads the assessment.
What happens after the general election?
At the same time, Masaana Egede reminds that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen throughout her entire period of government has been extremely open in relation to letting Greenland find its own way, just as she has maintained Greenland's right to self-determination throughout the US pressure.
- We might not have had that help and openness under previous prime ministers, he says and points out that things in Denmark may soon look completely different:
- There is a big risk here, as there are general elections in Denmark this year, and if we reject that openness, it is not certain that we will stand with the same openness on the other side of the Danish general election.
