In the middle of annexed threats, could Canada and Greenland get closer?

Miilu Gehlert has just spent hours capitalizing a water taxi deeply in the Nuuk Fjord, a winding navigable track which is just north of the capital of Greenland.

But it is far from the most difficult task he had to sail.

“We went out for four days and may have managed to sleep around 10 hours in four days,” he recalls a tour. “Lots of mosquitoes, not much sleep, had to keep an eye open to enemies – yes, it was difficult.”

Gehlert was among the very first class of recruits in the Basic Training Program of the Arctic of Greenland. Launched last year and supervised by the Danish army, it aims to train young Greenlanders in preparation and research and emergency rescue.

“You had a lot of training with firefighters and police,” said Gehlert about the program. “I was in the Faroe Islands, I was in Iceland. … I sailed from Iceland to Nuuk … two weeks with the navy.

The program is only an example of how Denmark and Greenland work together to strengthen the security of the vast territory, which houses a population of only 56,000 inhabitants distributed in the largest island on the planet.

“Greenland is so big and we don’t have many people to protect it,” said Gehlert. “And now that the United States threatens us … Yeah, we have to improve.”

Threats against Greenland

President Donald Trump initially launched his desire to buy Greenland during his first mandate. Since the start of his second, he has repeatedly raised the need to “get” Greenland.

“We need very important Greenland for international security. We must have Greenland,” said Trump while vice-president JD Vance visited the Spatial Pituffik base on the island in March.

Look | The report indicates that the Americans have undertaken influence operations in Greenland:

The report indicates that the Americans have undertaken influence operations in Greenland

The Denmark Minister of Affairs summoned the best American diplomat in Copenhagen following a report which claims that the Americans are linked to the American administration Donald Trump, the secret influence of Greenland. The report came from DR, the country’s public broadcaster.

The autonomous territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, already houses a permanent American military base and continues to attract geopolitical interest because of its mineral resources and its location in the North Atlantic.

While the merger of sea ice opens more maritime routes in the Arctic, countries like Russia and China are increasingly interested in sending ships to northern waters – something that the joint command of the Arctic of the Danish forces also looks closely.

“Climate change leads to many activities in the Arctic region, which will provide even greater tasks for military force,” said assistant commander Lars Nielsen, who also underlined the unique needs related to the security of such a large area.

Nielsen said that the land mass extends over 2,700 kilometers, including between 80 and 90% covered with ice. “Which makes a very difficult part to protect,” he said, “but access is also just as difficult.”

While the challenges go up, Nielsen said that the interest in working with the closest neighbor to Greenland remains high.

“I think that Canadian Danish cooperation is important for this region. The joint Arctic Command is the military authority in Greenland, and (we) are very impatient to strengthen cooperation between Denmark, Greenland and Canada.”

Stronger links with Canada

Canada Ambassador to Denmark Carolyn Bennett has echoed this enthusiasm in an interview with CBC News.

“It is not foreign affairs, it is a family,” said the former federal minister, pointing to the shared Inuit population of Greenland and Northern Canada. “And so I think we really want to rely on these relationships and respect these relationships.”

One way in which the federal government aims to strengthen links is to open a consulate in Nuuk – an objective presented in its Arctic foreign policy, unveiled at the end of last year. Global Affairs Canada said this week there was no more update on a calendar for its opening.

Greenland is impatient to go to diplomatic representation in Ottawa, as indicated in its own foreign policy, of security and defense published last year. In this document, the government of Greenland highlighted the position of Canada as “our nearest neighbor”, adding: “In difficult times like this in the Arctic, it is important for neighbors sharing the same ideas of feeding their links”.

Bennett has recognized that increased attention to Greenland and Canada has been faced in recent months in the United States by making a critical moment to strengthen the relationship.

“I think Canadians believe that Greenland is a sovereign nation that must be able to speak of itself. There are people who live there and people who have chosen a government … It is not a real estate agreement,” said Bennett. “It is the sovereignty of a people, a nation and resources.”

Bennett has also noted that Canada can continue to support Greenland while the territory navigates with its relations with the United States

“I think what we hear is that there was an open door … They were very, very open to American support, and I think it was disappointing that this open door was not recognized,” she said, referring to a desire to allow more potential American military bases and invest in mining for critical minerals.

“And so I think it is very important that Canada understands it, and say that if the Americans want more bases or arctic security, if they want investments in critical minerals, we support the Greenlandic approach – which maintains their sovereignty.”

At the National Museum and the Greenland Archives, the Conservative Frederik Fuuja Larsen said he had seen a sample support for Canadians – and vice versa.

“You see (on) on) Facebook, you can see that the residents of Canada are very with us, thinking of Trump (wanting) buying Greenland … (wanting) Canada as 51st state,” he said. “We are in the same boat, in fact, Greenland and Canada.”

Archaeologist by trade, Larsen stressed how these links have been deep for generations.

“Our direct ancestors … Thule people, are the same people who also live in Canada and Alaska now,” he said. “So we are very close to these people – we are in fact families, Arctic in Canada and Alaska and Greenland.”

Larsen says that online solidarity is all the more significant of a country so large and as closely linked to Canada.

“These waves of supporting each other – in a way, she feels very safe, in fact.”

This project was made possible by the R. James Travers from the corresponding abroadA scholarship of $ 25,000 awarded to a Canadian journalist each year to finance the abroad reports. Learn more about the reports of Finland and Sweden here.