Olsvig: The great powers have opened their eyes to the Arctic – we must insist on the path of diplomacy

When great powers rattle their sabers and flout international laws and regulations, smaller people and smaller countries should rally together and fight politically to uphold international law, justice and norms.

This is stated by Sara Olsvig, who is the chairwoman of the international indigenous Inuit organization Inuit Circumpolar Council and has also written a PhD thesis on Greenland's foreign policy.

- We will have to insist on diplomacy and the path of dialogue, says Sara Olsvig to Sermitsiaq about the current situation, where new statements are made daily from the USA, where the president dreams of owning Greenland.

The situation places great demands on Greenland and Denmark

According to Sara Olsvig, it is incredibly important not to downplay diplomacy, and we must continue to insist that there are channels, ways of cooperating through official representatives, that work:

- We also see that now that an agreement has been established for a formal meeting between the three foreign ministers. At the same time, other states have clearly stated that they stand with Greenland and Denmark.

- But the success of such a meeting will partly depend on how good they have been at coordinating internally, between the Danish government and Naalakkersuisut, and at the same time that Naalakkersuisut has secured a strong mandate from Inatsisartut, both in how they will position themselves towards Denmark and what messages they will bring to the USA.

Sara Olsvig emphasizes that it is a serious situation that places great demands on the leadership of both Greenland and Denmark:

- It is a difficult situation for everyone to navigate when there are such big jokers in play.

- But it is important that, especially in the Arctic region, we look back at how we have managed to maintain peaceful cooperation and a peaceful region even in previous difficult times, despite being these very diverse political entities that make up the Arctic, she says.

Independence processes have helped create the situation

- The five coastal states, which include the USA and Russia, have, for example, through the Ilulissat Declaration from 2008, pledged to comply with international law and order in the Arctic. This agreement should not be written off, but rather emphasized.

- At the same time, it must be remembered that the Arctic, as a region inhabited by many peoples, has a special political history. Indigenous peoples have lived here for millennia, and they have been able to navigate a wide range of political processes throughout history without losing their identity and political influence. This is reflected in the Arctic Council.

She explains that it is probably independence processes that have helped create the current situation, because Inuit, including Greenlanders, have had the ability to negotiate self-government arrangements and continue to press for more self-determination:

- That in itself is not unusual, we share that struggle with indigenous peoples from all over the world. At the same time, however, it is also what creates this situation. The outside world and the major powers have become aware that self-governance and self-determination processes are part of the Arctic.

The great powers will keep a close eye

Sara Olsvig says it's a self-reinforcing effect that's inevitable, because people are naturally fighting for their self-determination. And the great powers will keep a close eye on where you're going politically because they need to know who controls what, especially in a time of heightened geopolitical tensions:

- If there is no internal structure that somehow supports the process in a satisfactory way, especially for those who want self-determination, then questions may be raised about who controls what, says Sara Olsvig and continues:

- The question of who controls what is not surprising, so it is important in these years that you know diplomacy, that you know your own rules of the game, that you guard yourself with processes that take into account the political wishes in Greenland.

Greenland and Denmark must recover

Sara Olsvig says that there are some internal processes in Greenland and Denmark that should be improved:

- This applies to Denmark, which, as we have seen before, has not always ensured that Greenland is at the table, but it also applies to both Naalakkersuisut and Inatsisartut, which are facing an extraordinarily large task.

- They must stand up for themselves in relation to internal briefings, but also keep their mouths shut in relation to which channels to share what, she says, referring to the fact that the chairman of Inatsisartut's Foreign and Security Policy Committee (USPU), Pipaluk Lynge (IA), has harshly criticized the lack of involvement of Greenlandic politicians in the committee.

- The discussions of the last few days about the Foreign Policy Committee in the Folketing and the USPU reveal a bit that they have not done their homework in terms of strengthening the internal structures, and this applies to both Greenland and Denmark.

- However, one must remember that the two systems, i.e. the Danish government and the Folketing on the one hand, and Naalakkersuisut and Inatsisartut on the other, are two independent systems. The information is shared between governments, and Inatsisartut can itself change their law and ensure greater parliamentary involvement on the part of Naalakkersuisut in foreign policy matters, says Sara Olsvig.