It looks like it will be a close showdown between the red and blue blocs in Denmark. This could mean that the Greenlandic members of the Folketing may have a decisive influence on who will be Denmark's next prime minister.
But Siumut will not reveal who the party prefers.
- We are not pointing to who will be prime minister, it is up to the Danish voters to decide, says Siumut chairman Aleqa Hammond and continues.
- If we were to get a decisive role, our demands in the negotiations would be the same – regardless of whether it is the red or blue bloc.
If Siumut ends up getting the decisive vote, the party will first see who is willing to give the most.
- We will cooperate with those who can secure us the most, says Aleqa Hammond.
The defense agreement must be one of the demands
First and foremost, Siumut wants the Danish-American defense agreement from 1951 to be renewed, and for Greenland itself to become a co-signatory.
- We were recently threatened, even though Denmark and the USA otherwise have a defense agreement. The terms that were made during the colonial era without Greenlandic co-ownership no longer fit today's Greenland, says Aleqa Hammond.
The party will work with those who deliver results.
- If you say that Greenlanders and Danes should be treated equally – and they do say that – then it is time to act. We will first see who will actually act, she says.
Until recently, the US threatened to take over Greenland, even with military force. How can you negotiate with them?
- The agreement is not about how the Americans should behave. We need clear answers: Where should the bases be located, where should the ports be, how much will they expand militarily, and what is the priority in cooperation with NATO in the Arctic? All questions are about our country and our citizens, and therefore we must of course be co-owners of the agreement, says Aleqa Hammond.
They have all worked slowly
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has done several significant things in connection with Greenland during her term in office. For example, in 2020, during her first term as prime minister, she apologized to the children who were sent to Denmark as an experiment in 1951.
She also apologized last year to the women who were victims of the spiral campaign. But according to Siumut, other cases are still being neglected. These include the case of the legally fatherless, the compensation case for the women in the spiral case, and cases of Greenlandic children in Denmark who are placed outside the home.
- We cannot imagine that the Danes themselves would have waited so long if they had been subjected to the same thing. If it had really been their highest priority, the work would have been completed. Therefore, it is not about red or blue blocks – they have all worked slowly, says Aleqa Hammond.
