Former IA chairman and former chairman of the ICC, Aqqaluk Lynge, is deeply concerned about Greenland's future. The current division between Greenland and Denmark will encourage the US to make its threats serious and take over the country, he fears:
- The latest statement from the self-governing government and the party leaders, where they almost portray us as an independent foreign policy actor without the involvement of the Commonwealth of Nations, it just confirms the Americans' worst hunch: the emergence of a power vacuum in the Arctic.
- And it is quite a dangerous way to go, says the gloomy assessment of the current situation from Aqqaluk Lynge.
He refers to the joint statement the five party leaders in Inatsisartut issued on Friday evening on the Naalakkersuisut website. The declaration repeats the mantra that you don't want to be Americans nor Danes. It can hardly be interpreted differently than that Greenland wants its own state, Aqqaluk Lynge assesses:
- Perhaps the parties' joint declaration has a domestic political aim, but it functions as foreign political fuel on the fire, he says.
Warned about the situation over two years ago
Sermitsiaq has asked the former politician about the current crisis, because a little over two years ago he wrote a sensational chronicle in which he warned Greenlandic politicians against seeking further independence, precisely for fear that Greenland would be swallowed up by a larger power.
The geopolitical situation is far too tense, said Aqqaluk Lynge in September 2023.
Now the US has taken steps to initiate the takeover, he believes, and therefore Greenland should stand unequivocally together with Denmark:
- We are in this situation where the step is about to be taken.
- It is quite necessary to tell the rest of the world that we are not in a constitutional crisis. That Greenland, Denmark and the Faroe Islands have a commonwealth where things are discussed internally. And we have ample opportunities within that.
Therefore, ambiguous announcements are a big problem:
- It is necessary that declarations, especially from the self-government, are not to be misunderstood.
- Unfortunately, when you simultaneously say that you don't want to be American, you also say that you don't want to be Dane. How is it understood in the American context? That is, we want our own citizenship or what?
Urges to settle disputes and let Denmark lead the way
Aqqaluk Lynge assesses that the USA will in no way accept an independent Greenland, and he says that the arrangement that Greenland currently has with Denmark in the form of the Self-Government Act is not more advantageous anywhere in the world.
He therefore calls on Naalakkersuisut to find common ground with Denmark and let Denmark take the lead in the talks with the US, which will take place this week, when Naalakkersuisut Vivian Motzfeldt (S) and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Naalakkersuisoq Vivian Motzfeldt stated on Friday to DR that Greenland must be at the forefront and talk to the USA, and this is a dangerous strategy, reads the assessment from Aqqaluk Lynge:
- I think our naalakkersuisoq for foreign affairs should stop behaving as if we come from a huge country. We are a fairly small population, and Denmark is a small partner in NATO cooperation.
- Let Denmark, which is responsible for foreign and security policy, take the lead in this. The second is nonsense, to start showing those you meet with that there is a big disagreement here, he says, and comes with a warning against voices that advocate that Greenland should talk to the US on its own:
- The situation is very serious. There are some things we have to sacrifice in this.
- We have to have a government that says that the world order we have known no longer exists, and that is why we are in a difficult situation with threats about one and the other.
Is after the civilian population
Aqqaluk Lynge is particularly concerned that the US is now asking for more than in previous agreements:
- What the Americans want is to have access to it all.
- In all agreements we have had with the Americans, the civilian population has been protected. Now it is the civilian population and the entire country they are after, says the assessment.
