Copenhagen (AFP)

The cross-border battle between Washington and Copenhagen over Greenland is just one piece of the Arctic's vast strategic game, says Mikaa Mered, a professor of pole geopolitics at the Free Institute of International Relations (ILERI). Paris.

Donald Trump has purposely proposed to Denmark to buy the autonomous territory when he knows full well that it is not for sale: in doing so, he informs the riparian powers, but also China, that the United States has ambitions in the Arctic, a polar region rich in natural resources and crucial for the control of northern shipping lanes opened by global warming, the researcher told AFP.

Q: Is this a message to US rivals in the Arctic?

"Clearly with regard to the Russians, [Trump's] logic is to say: + you will not continue to be the great power of the Arctic even though you will chair the Arctic Council in 2021. And compared to the Chinese the idea, like the Monroe Doctrine, is: + we will not let you get a foothold in Greenland (...) We are creating a consulate in Nuuk [the Greenlandic capital], we are going to reposition diplomats, we are going to co- finance the new airports, finance education and social programs (...) The ultimate goal is to acquire not Greenland but at least new territories, new plots of land. to have already set their sights on the naval base of Grønnedal, in southern Greenland, basis that the Danes had given up selling at the end of 2017 because the only buyers declared were Chinese ".

Q. What about Europeans in this arctic battle?

A: "It is possible that all this clamor is a political, media and economic test balloon to see how much Europeans are attached to Greenland which has the status of an overseas territory (...). is only the beginning, it will continue, the Danes must expect Trump to continue using this case [to push US pawns in the Arctic] There is a very clear momentum (...) He will continue to use the case of Greenland, especially as Denmark is a rather servile ally who will not go against the United States because of that ".

Q: What is Trump's interest in this case?

A: "The case of Greenland allows Trump to gain advantages both in the Arctic and at national level ... In the framework of the presidential election, it is in his best interest to continue: he brings out the Democrats of the news while they are in a critical moment because it is the launch of the primary campaign and himself launches a number of meetings. [In the United States] Greenland nobody knows where, how it is in the best of times they think that Santa Claus lives there ... There are so many drawers that he can continue to browse for a few weeks. "

Interview by Gaël Branchereau

© 2019 AFP