Following Trump’s threats: the region that is considering declaring independence

Greenland, the largest island in the world, is promoting the possibility of declaring independence – following Trump’s recent statements that he wants to take over as US president. The prime minister of the island, which is owned by Denmark but enjoys great autonomy, emphasized in his statement on the occasion of the New Year his desire to promote the idea Independence of the island.Mota Egged, Prime Minister of Greenland, emphasized his desire to declare independence from Denmark, after a few weeks ago Trump said that he “wishes for control and ownership” of Greenland. Egged also emphasized the importance of strengthening Greenland’s relations with other countries in the world in general and the West in particular.

“It’s a matter of time before we take steps that will shape our future,” Egged said last week, “including who we will cooperate closely with and who our trade partners will be.” He added that “history and current conditions have proven that the cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark has not been able to create full equality” between the entities.

“Now is the time for our country to take the next step. Like other countries in the world, we must act to remove the obstacles to cooperation – which we can describe as the shackles of colonialism – and move forward,” Egged said. He added that the island’s population, of 57,000 inhabitants, should decide on the question of independence, but he did not offer a time frame for holding a referendum on the issue.

In an interesting timing, Denmark’s new king Frederik X also addressed the issue in marking the new year. The Danish king, who took office in January 2024, presented a new and updated version of the new symbol of his royal house – in which he gave a bigger place to Greenland. King Frederik of Denmark did not express himself explicitly on the subject, but may thereby transmit a message about the difficulty expected for Greenland on its way to independence.

King Frederik X of Denmark has decided on a new royal coat of arms. The Aries of the Faroe Islands and the Ice Bear of Greenland are given more space, while the three crowns that symbolized the Kalmar Union (and historically were a source of conflicts with Sweden) have been removed. pic.twitter.com/dOJCqXQHnl

— Phaleristica (@phaleristica) January 2, 2025

In the new symbol, which is divided into four main symbols – a more honorable place is given to the symbol of the polar bear of Greenland and the symbol of the sheep of the Faroe Islands, also a territory under Danish control – instead of the previous symbol where the two symbols were placed together, next to the symbol of the three crowns, which was removed from the new symbol, and is considered a source of controversy and tensions with Sweden.

Greenland has already responded twice in the past to Trump’s calls to take over the island, and just recently Egged said about Trump’s words that “Greenland is not for sale and we never will be.” In his speech to mark the new year, Egged was careful not to mention Trump.

Greenland is the largest island in the world, in the heart of the ocean between Europe and North America. The capital Knock is closer to New York than Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The island is very rich in minerals, oil, natural gas – and it is a key strategic point from a military point of view for the US in everything related to Europe and Russia.