SETTING A TIMETABLE
As none of the parties won a majority of the 31 seats in parliament, Wednesday’s negotiations are expected to be about forming a ruling coalition.
If the Democrats “choose to form a government with Naleraq, they would have to speed up their platform on independence and state formation”, a specialist in the region at the University of Copenhagen, Lill Rastad Bjorst, told AFP.
With Naleraq, the Democrats “will likely face constant and explicit demands to outline a concrete plan for the process”, added professor Anne Merrild, an Arctic expert at the University of Aalborg.
Naleraq said it envisages independence within a few years.
“We can do it the same way we exited the European Union (in 1985). That (took) three years. Brexit was three years. Why take longer?” party leader Pele Broberg told AFP on Tuesday.
But some voters and experts have expressed concern that a hasty break from Denmark could fuel Trump’s insatiability.
The US president has insisted the US will get Greenland “one way or the other”, refusing to rule out the use of force and invoking US national security amid rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region.
If the Democrats were to form a government and devise an independence plan “with the other parties, they can stick to their own agenda and focus on building economic growth first”, said Rastad Bjorst.
The territory depends heavily on its fisheries sector, which accounts for almost all of its exports, and annual Danish subsidies of more than US$565 million, equivalent to a fifth of its GDP.
Rastad Bjorst said politicians likely wanted to form a government quickly in order to begin negotiations with Denmark and the US, which could provide much-needed investments.
