DKU: Neither Denmark nor the USA, Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people!

Per request, we are republishing a statement from our comrades in Denmark’s Communist Youth (DKU). The statement was originally published on Proletarian Perspectives.

As a result of the US election, we now see how the imperialists in both Denmark and the US are falling over themselves to assure us who can best rule Greenland. The Danish bourgeoisie, represented by their politicians, are now putting forward one reactionary and racist viewpoint after another. What they all have in common is that they believe they can speak for the people of Greenland, even though at the same time they promote racist illusions about the people of Greenland. The Danish Democrats’ Inger Støjberg refers to them as “the young person who has moved away from home, who still gets his clothes washed at home” and the Danish People’s Party’s Alex Ahrendtsen says that “Denmark has as much right to Greenland as the Greenlanders themselves”. The so-called “self-government arrangements” that Denmark prides itself on are nothing more than a colonialist lie. The Danish state supports the Greenlandic state with DKK 5,700,000,000,000 a year just to keep Greenland in a permanent state of dependency. Through economic dependence and military presence, Denmark maintains an iron grip on Greenland, all while portraying their exploitation as “charity.” This is the same colonialist strategy that imperialists have always used – to disguise oppression as care. This hypocrisy is unlikely to change whether it is Danish kroner or US dollars that secures dependency of Greenland.

Throughout, the angle politicians and the press take is “What the Danes think about the Danish Realm”, whether it should be preserved or whether we are fine with Greenland getting a new ruler. In this way, they undermine the whole issue of Greenlanders’ own point of view and only reinforce the arrogant and colonialist idea that Greenland’s independence is a matter for Denmark and the Danes to decide. At the same time, the Greenlandic self-government is extremely wavering on this issue, not rooting for the idea of an independent and free Greenland, but trying to maintain close relations with Denmark.

Whether it is the US or Denmark, the result is the same, the continued plundering of the Greenlandic workers’ surplus value for the benefit of the Danish and international monopoly capitalists, and their natural resources subject to the monopolies, and not to serve Greenlandic independence. Furthermore, Greenland’s geographical location remains important to Denmark, the United States, and NATO in their attempts to secure position against Russia and China in the North Atlantic. The competition between the imperialists becomes a bargaining chip that most likely becomes the most important in the negotiations between Denmark and the US, thus subjecting the people of Greenland to the increasing and more direct confrontation between the imperialists.

In 1917, Denmark sold the so-called West Indies to the US, these islands where Denmark committed numerous crimes against the enslaved population. There is now the possibility that Denmark’s colonies will again change hands, and the numerous crimes Denmark has committed against the Greenlandic people will be forgotten and the country treated only as a business commodity. In this situation we see how critical the lack of a communist party in Greenland, Denmark and the US is. The Greenlandic workers are defenseless against the imperialists’ plans.

The Communist Youth of Denmark stands firm: Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic masses!

We strongly condemn Danish colonialism and American imperialism. Greenland’s future must not be determined by imperialists, but by the Greenlandic people themselves.

Build the communist party in Greenland, Denmark and the USA! Down with Danish and American imperialism!

No to chauvinism and racism against the Greenlandic people!

 

Let the Greenlandic people decide!

This is a signed article. We keep our website open for revolutionary marxist discussion. Signed articles express the views of the author. These may differ some from the views of RK and the editorial board.

By Espen S.

Over the past week, Greenland has been high on the global agenda after Donald Trump threatened to annex the island — with military force if necessary.

The last time Trump expressed interest in “buying Greenland”, this was largely dismissed in the Norwegian press as a funny idea (just see how NRK portrayed the issue in 2019). This time, the Norwegian bourgeoisie is reacting with horror. Is Svalbard next on the list? What about Northern Norway?

The instinctive reaction is solidarity with the Danish state, and a spasmodic defense of Scandinavian colonialism. The most heinous defender of colonialism is the Centre Party’s (SP) Ola Borten Moe, who blames the Danes for “giving autonomy” to the Greenlanders:

— Let’s say there were Inuit, Sami, or anyone else for that matter, living on Svalbard. And Norwegian policy was that they should be allowed to decide their own future. That’s an incredibly bad idea. But that’s what the Danes have done in Greenland,” says Moe.

— “There is a reason why the first paragraph of Norway’s constitution states that the Kingdom of Norway is a ‘free, independent, indivisible and inalienable kingdom’,” he points out. (Klassekampen)

We condemn Donald Trump’s plans to buy or annex Greenland, over the heads of the Greenlanders themselves. But the answer cannot be a joint Scandinavian homeland defense. Only the Greenlandic people can decide Greenland’s future — this is an inalienable principle.

The same principle applies for Sápmi, Kurdistan and Palestine. The imperialists violate the territorial sovereignty of indigenous peoples in order to promote their own interests, in competition with other imperialists. We revolutionaries must consistently defend indigenous peoples’ struggle for their own rights, especially when the struggle is directed against “our own” imperialism. The world’s indigenous peoples have a common interest with the international proletariat in fighting the imperialist world system.

In the years to come, the imperialist rivalry over the Arctic regions will become sharper. If Russia loses access to the Mediterranean, as a result of the regime change in Syria, it will become even more dependent on the Arctic. Russia and China are already working together to establish an Arctic trade route. It is against this backdrop that we need to understand Trump’s desire to control Greenland — it is about competing strategic interests, not “megalomania” or a “crazy whim”.

It is crucial that we communists are able to see the situation clearly and take a principled anti-imperialist stand. We must condemn the imperialists’ struggle to re-divide the world, without succumbing to the temptation to defend “our own” imperialists.

Denmark and USA – Hands off Greenland! Let the Greenlanders decide!