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4 December 2002 |
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Greenland's 39,000 voters will brave temperatures as low as -350C today to vote in a general election expected to topple the Social Democrats from power and pave the way for full independence from Denmark, their former colonial master. The election also has significant wider implications, with Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), the leftist pro-independence party forecast to win the election, vehemently opposed to US plans for a US Air Force base in north-east Greenland, to be used as part of President George W. Bush's missile defence shield. Josef Motzfeldt, the IA leader who is likely to become Greenland's next prime minister, has expressed fears that the US plans could relaunch the arms race and expose his peaceable country to attack. Greenland, a Danish colony between 1721 and 1953, secured limited home rule from Denmark in 1979. It is now a semi-autonomous territory under the Danish crown, with control over most local affairs but not foreign and defence policy, which are handled by Denmark. But the Greenlanders - a population of 56,500 scattered around one of the world's largest islands - want more say. This desire for self-determination, combined with a reluctance to become a pawn in US foreign policy, largely explains the country's shift to the left. According to an opinion poll published last week, three-quarters of Greenlanders want full political autonomy. However, nearly as many voters believe that independence should only come about when the country can stand on its own feet without the help of aid. Greenland is dependent on a fishing industry that accounts for many jobs and the bulk of its exports and employment. Millions of euros a year in grant-aid from Denmark keep living standards at a bearable level. Mr Motzfeldt, who plans to hold an independence referendum in 2005, has several options for tackling the problem. Possibilities involve boosting tourism, taking advantage of the country's pure and unpolluted water or seeking compensation from Denmark for the US presence at the Thule airbase. Greenland, then a Danish colony, had no say when Denmark and the US concluded a treaty in 1951 permitting exclusive US use of a several-hundred sq km area in the north-east of the country. Greenland's politicians argue that this military presence meant that Denmark had to pay much less for its Nato membership through the years than would otherwise have been the case. Mr Motzfeldt suggests that DKr20bn (?2.7bn) would be adequate compensation to Greenland. Alternatively, Greenland could negotiate directly with the US for compensation. The US currently enjoys access to Thule rent-free. Today's general election is being watched with an unusually high degree of interest in Denmark. Mr Motzfeldt says it is the most important vote in the country since home rule in 1979. Many Danes agree. Not least because it will probably halt the 25-year reign of the pro-Denmark Social Democrats and usher in a new phase in Greenland's relationship with its former colonial master.
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