In Trump's shadow, Greenland seeks more leverage from Danish vote

By Tim Barsoe and Stine Jacobsen

NUUK/COPENHAGEN, March 20 (Reuters) - Greenlandic candidates competing for two seats in Denmark's election next week hope to leverage the unprecedented attention brought to their island by U.S. President Donald Trump to wrangle concessions from its former colonial power.

Trump's ambitions for the U.S. to acquire Greenland have drawn sharp focus on the Arctic island of 57,000 people, exposing longstanding questions about the level of Danish investment in defence, infrastructure and economic development.

"The most important thing for us in this election is the sovereignty of the Greenlandic people," said Juno Berthelsen, 43, running for the opposition and pro-independence Naleraq party. "The Greenlandic people ... should always be at the centre of any conversation about Greenland."

Naleraq, meaning point of orientation in the local Kalaallisut language, is fielding five candidates, including Berthelsen, to vie for two seats in the Danish national assembly representing Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY

While many Greenlanders believe Naleraq's calls for a quick divorce from Copenhagen are premature or wrong, some see Trump's demands for more control as leverage to press Denmark over long-standing grievances.

With major powers now openly competing for influence in the region and melting ice opening up new shipping routes and natural resources, Greenland's strategic importance is clear and Copenhagen finds itself having to prove its worth as a partner rather than assume it.

Any perception of neglect could bolster Trump's case for intervention.

Many Greenlanders accuse Denmark of unfairly benefiting from their fishing industry, holding back economic independence and failing to protect the more than 17,000 Greenlanders living in Denmark from discrimination.

Anna Wangenheim, Greenland's health minister and a candidate for Demokraatit, the party of Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said Trump's pressure had forced an overdue reckoning.

"The fact that we are in the eye of the hurricane in the Arctic means that we have a very great opportunity to have much greater influence than we have had before."

DEMANDING A SEAT AT THE TABLE

For Aage Josefsen, a 55-year-old bus driver in the capital Nuuk, the election comes down to a simple question: who actually speaks for Greenland? "The Greenlandic government should have more say in meetings, instead of Denmark just speaking on Greenland's behalf," he said.

Policy proposals put forward by Greenlandic candidates ahead of the election include creating a coastal surveillance force drawn from local fishermen and hunters, restructuring the fishing economy to retain more value within Greenland and ensuring that Danes learn more about the island in school.

Mette Frederiksen, the left-leaning prime minister of Denmark, faces a tight race despite a boost from her defiant stance against U.S. pressure over Greenland, with many Danes frustrated over rising living costs and welfare pressures.

Some analysts say Frederiksen will struggle to carve out a majority in the next parliament, the Folketing, and any small-grouping votes, including those of Greenlandic lawmakers, might be crucial to her ability to retain power.

Among other demands candidates are bringing to Copenhagen is a renegotiation of the 1951 defence agreement between Denmark and the U.S., which excluded Greenland's input.

"It must be something that Greenland can also see itself reflected in, a defence agreement about our land," said Ane Lone Bagger, representing the Siumut party.

CHANGE OF TONE

She added that Trump's pressure had already shifted Danish attitudes. "Suddenly there are apologies and this and that," she said.

Last year, Denmark apologised to thousands of Greenlandic women subjected to involuntary birth control practices between the 1960s and 1991.

That shift in tone from Copenhagen has been embodied by Frederiksen, who has positioned herself as Greenland's staunchest defender, travelling repeatedly to the island and rallying European leaders against U.S. pressure.

She has also been explicit that Greenland's future is for Greenlanders alone to decide.

But for many islanders, the geopolitical noise risks drowning out the reality of daily life.

For Inuujuk Louis Petersen, a 24-year-old taxi driver running for Demokraatit in Nuuk as a candidate in the Danish election, the stakes are personal as much as political.

Greenland has never asked to be at the centre of a superpower rivalry, he said. "It is of course at the expense of the life we have always been used to," he said. "And that was peace and quiet."