Olsvig: The great powers have opened their eyes to the Arctic - we must insist on the path of diplomacy

When great powers rattle their sabers and flout international laws and regulations, smaller peoples and smaller countries should gather together and fight politically to uphold international law, law and norms.

This is stated by Sara Olsvig, who is the frontwoman of the international indigenous Inuit organization Inuit Circumpolar Council and has also written a PhD thesis on Greenland's foreign policy.

When great powers rattle their sabers and flout international laws and regulations, smaller peoples and smaller countries should gather together and fight politically to uphold international law, law and norms.

This is stated by Sara Olsvig, who is the frontwoman of the international indigenous Inuit organization Inuit Circumpolar Council and has also written a PhD thesis on Greenland's foreign policy.

- We will have to insist on diplomacy and the path of dialogue, says Sara Olsvig to Sermitsiaq about the current situation, where there are new announcements daily from the US, where the president dreams of owning Greenland.

The situation makes great demands on Greenland and Denmark

According to Sara Olsvig, it is incredibly important that you don't talk down diplomacy, and you have to keep insisting that there are some channels, some ways of cooperating through official representatives, which work:

- We see that now, too, when an agreement has been established for a formal meeting between the three foreign ministers. At the same time, other states have made it clear that they stand with Greenland and Denmark.

- But the success of such a meeting will partly depend on how well you have coordinated internally, between the Danish government and Naalakkersuisut, and at the same time that Naalakkersuisut has secured a strong mandate from Inatsisartut's side, both in how they will position themselves vis-à-vis Denmark and what messages they will bring with them to the US.

Sara Olsvig emphasizes that it is a serious situation that places great demands on both Greenland's and Denmark's leadership:

- It is a difficult situation for everyone to navigate when there are such big jokers in play.

- But it is important that, especially in the Arctic region, you look back at how we have managed to maintain peaceful cooperation and a peaceful region even in previous difficult times, despite being the very diverse political units that make up the Arctic, she says.

Self-reliance processes have helped to create the situation

- The five coastal states, which include the USA and Russia, have, for example, through the Ilulissat declaration from 2008, given a handshake to comply with international law and order in the Arctic. That agreement should not be written off, but rather highlighted.

- At the same time, you have to remember that the Arctic, as a region inhabited by many peoples, has a special political history. Indigenous peoples have lived here for millennia, and people have been able to navigate a large number of political processes throughout history, without losing their identity and their political influence. This is expressed in the Arctic Council.

She explains that it is probably independence processes that have helped to create the current situation, because the Inuit, including the Greenlanders, have had the ability to negotiate self-government arrangements and continue to push for more self-determination:

- That in itself is not unusual, we share that struggle with indigenous peoples from all over the world. At the same time, however, it is also what creates this situation. The outside world and the major powers have opened their eyes to the fact that self-governance and self-determination processes are part of the Arctic.

The major powers will keep a close eye

Sara Olsvig says that it is a self-reinforcing effect that is inevitable, because people naturally fight for their self-determination. And the great powers will keep a close eye on where they are moving politically, because they need to know who controls what, especially at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions:

- If there is not an internal structure that somehow supports the process in a satisfactory way, especially for those who want self-determination, then questions may be asked about who controls what, says Sara Olsvig and continues:

- The question of who controls what is not surprising, so it is therefore important in these years that you know diplomacy, you know your own rules of the game, that you guard yourself with some processes that take into account the political wishes that exist in Greenland.

Greenland and Denmark must recover

Sara Olsvig says that there are some internal processes in Greenland and Denmark that should be improved:

- This applies to Denmark, which, as we have seen before, has not always made sure that Greenland is at the table, but it also applies to both Naalakkersuisut and Inatsisartut, who are faced with an extraordinarily large task.

- They must stand up in relation to internal orientations, but also keep their tongues in their mouths in relation to which channels to share what on, she says, referring to the fact that the chairman of Inatsisartut's Foreign and Security Policy Committee (USPU), Pipaluk Lynge (IA), has been harshly critical of the lack of inclusion of the Greenlandic politicians in the committee.

- The discussions of the last few days about the Foreign Policy Committee in the Folketing and the USPU reveal a little that they have not done their homework in relation to strengthening the internal structures, and this applies both in Greenland and Denmark.

- However, you must remember that the two systems, i.e. the Danish government and the Folketing on the one hand, and Naalakkersuisut and Inatsisartut on the other, are two independent systems. The information is shared government to government, and Inatsisartut can itself change their law and ensure greater parliamentary involvement on the part of Naalakkersuisut in foreign policy matters, says Sara Olsvig.