Editor-in-chief and director of Sermitsiaq, Masaana Egede, has naturally followed the situation surrounding the American pressure against Greenland very closely.
Ahead of today's meeting in Washington between Greenland, the United States and Denmark, he believes that we unfortunately have to set the bar quite low in terms of what positive things can come out of the meeting 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 that means that you can normalize contact a little bit, and that the dialogue can continue, says Masaana Egede and emphasizes:
- So just the fact that there will be a new meeting, even if no results come out of it, will be a victory, if we are to talk at all about something being described as 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. That the US continues the current line and maintains the discussion outside the normal diplomatic forums and in that way puts pressure on Greenland, assesses Masaana Egede.
In this context, Masaana Egede emphasizes that Greenland's defense in particular is international law and justice:
- 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 great power that is significantly stronger than Denmark and Greenland, and that the United States has so far shown that it does not want a dialogue.
- They haven't budged once.
The editor-in-chief finds it very important for the meeting that the Chairman of the Greenland Government, 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 wavered once in relation to the issue of us not wanting to be part of the USA. It is commendable that it has been so clear throughout, says Masaana Egede, who also assesses that the opposition has been given considerable speaking time:
- It is the broadest coalition in recent times, and there is only one opposition party. The media has spent a lot of time discussing the opposition's issues, which are about independence and secession, which for the government is not a current issue in relation to the United States, is the assessment.
What happens after the general election?
Masaana Egede also reminds us that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been very open throughout her term in office in relation to letting Greenland find its own path, just as she has maintained Greenland's right to self-determination throughout the pressure from the United States.
- We might not have received that help and openness under previous prime ministers, he says, pointing out that things in Denmark could 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 be with the same openness on the other side of the Danish general elections.
