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In his New Year’s address, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede stressed his desire for independence from former colonial ruler Denmark, marking a significant shift in rhetoric about the future of the Arctic island.
Three days after the start of 2025, Reuters paid special attention to the speech. The agency recalls that Egede’s address comes after US President-elect Donald Trump expressed a desire for “ownership and control” over Greenland, as well as for strengthening Greenland’s cooperation with other countries.
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, but is now a self-governing territory of Denmark and in 2009 was granted the right to seek independence through a vote. In 2023, the government presented its first draft of a constitution.
“History and current conditions show that our cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark has not been able to create full equality,” Egede said. “Now is the time for our country to take the next step. Like other countries around the world, we must work to remove the obstacles to cooperation – which we can describe as the shackles of colonialism – and move forward,” he continued.
Mute Egede added that it was up to the people to decide on independence, but did not say when a vote might be held.
While the majority of Greenland’s 57,000 residents support independence, there is disagreement about the timing and the potential impact on living standards.
Greenland’s government has twice rejected Trump’s offers to buy the island, in 2019 and again last year, with Egede saying that “Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and we never will be.”
The speech did not mention Trump or the United States. Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, is closer to New York than to Copenhagen.
Despite its wealth of mineral, oil, and natural gas resources, Greenland’s economy remains fragile, heavily dependent on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark.
Greenland is due to hold parliamentary elections before April 6.
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