In recent days, mainstream media and social media have been circulating exaggerated claims about an imminent U.S. invasion of… Greenland! These absurdities are based on statements by Donald Trump expressing his interest in this overseas territory of the Kingdom of Denmark—a U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO. The penny-a-line journalists and their followers, lacking humor and perceptive ability, genuinely believe that such a possibility exists. Even Danish officials have commented on these absurdities.
But what is really happening? Are people so naive as to truly believe that the U.S. will invade Greenland? Or are they afraid of something else?
The truth is that Denmark has many valid reasons to fear the resurgence of a separatist movement in Greenland. The otherwise peaceful and democratic Scandinavians subjected the inhabitants of Greenland to inhumane torture, humiliation, child abductions, forced sterilizations, and rapes. And we are not talking about centuries ago, but just a few years ago. So the memories of the Inuit who endured the horrors of Danish colonialists first-hand remain painfully vivid.
It was only in the second half of the 20th century that at least three official programs from the Kingdom of Denmark came to light, each of which violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 260 (III) A on December 9th, 1948.
The first official social experiment program was the “Little Danes” experiment in 1951, during which 22 Inuit children from Greenland were sent to foster families in Denmark to be re-educated as “little Danes.” Although the children were supposed to be orphans, most were not but were forcibly taken from their families. Six were adopted while in Denmark, while the rest returned to Greenland and were placed in orphanages where they spoke Danish. The experiment had severe consequences for the children, with half facing mental health issues and half dying at a young age. The Danish government never showed remorse for this Soviet-style experiment until it officially apologized in 2020.
Beyond the abuse of Inuit children, Danish law until 1974 considered children of unmarried Greenlandic women who had been raped by Danish settlers as juridisk faderløse (legally fatherless). These children had no right to know or inherit their biological fathers, effectively protecting Danish men from responsibilities towards their children in Greenland, creating a form of racial segregation. Not until 2014 did Denmark overturn these provisions, giving children the right to claim paternity and inheritance from their fathers.
In addition to social experiments, child abductions, abuse, and apartheid-like legislation, Denmark also implemented population control programs in Greenland. The Spiralkampagnen was a birth control campaign conducted by the Danish government in Greenland during the 1960s and 1970s. As part of this campaign, Danish doctors implanted intrauterine devices (IUDs) in thousands of Inuit girls and women, often without their consent. The campaign aimed to reduce the birth rate in Greenland. During the first five years of the campaign, about half of the women of childbearing age in Greenland had IUDs implanted. The Spiralkampagnen had serious consequences for affected women and girls, many of whom had not given consent or were not properly informed.
From the above, one can conclude that the long-suffering Inuit people have endured much inhumane treatment from the Danes, justifying any thoughts of Greenland’s independence or annexation to another state. This is precisely what Europeans fear—and why they take Trump’s comments seriously.
If the ’democratic’ Danes were at peace with their conscience, they would take Trump’s proposal for Greenland’s annexation to the U.S. as a joke. However, given their deep understanding of the extent of oppression, humiliation, and exploitation endured by native Greenlandic Inuit over so many years, they fear the potential for an independence campaign through a referendum. Although the 2009 law allows for a referendum in Greenland, Denmark’s Constitution requires parliamentary ratification. In any case, even if Parliament rejected a potential popular demand for Greenland’s independence, the social impacts would be incalculable.
Donald Trump is well-versed in geopolitics, Arctic issues, and security. Despite mainstream media’s attempts to portray him comically, his strategic moves and targeted statements reveal a different aspect. It remains to be seen what developments are triggered by his exploratory statements as President-elect. For now, however, Greenlanders take them seriously.
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/why-greenlands-independence-terrifies-europe/