Björk calls for Greenland independence following fresh Trump annexation threats
- Text by Olivia Fee
- Photography by Zach Klein
‘I burst with sympathy’ — The Icelandic legend drew parallels between her home country and the remote Danish territory, describing both Denmark and the USA as “cruel colonisers”.
Icelandic music legend Björk has taken to social media to stand in solidarity with Greenland, after Donald Trump repeated threats to take control from Denmark.
After requests from Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, for Trump to end calls to annex this Danish territory, the US President told BBC reporters: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”
The Icelandic singer shared a post on Instagram, encouraging Greenlanders to call for independence from Denmark.
She wrote: “I wish all Greenlanders blessing in their fight for independence [sic].”
With Iceland also being a former Danish colony and having been independent for over eight decades, she expressed hope that Greenland sees a similar outcome.
“Icelanders are extremely relieved that they managed to break from the Danish in 1944, we didn’t [lose] our language (my children would be speaking Danish now), and I burst with sympathy for Greenlanders,” she said.
“Colonialism has repeatedly given me horror chills up my back, and the chance that my fellow Greenlanders might go from one cruel coloniser to another is too brutal to even imagine,” she continued.
Responding to Trump’s latest calls for American control, Frederiksen described Trump’s intention of gaining control over Greenland as a “fantasy”. The Danish Prime Minister said: “The US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish Kingdom.”
Björk’s words come as the USA made one of their biggest interventions in a foreign country in recent times, after a US special services operation captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on Saturday, December 3, and charging him with drugs, weapons and “narco-terrorism” offences. He has pleaded not guilty.
After the Danish Kingdom began colonising Greenland in 1721, Greenland gained autonomy over internal matters in 1979, and then full self-governance in 2009.
Greenland’s government has previously announced officially declaring independence as a goal, though full independence from Denmark requires a Greenlander vote and negotiation with Denmark. As the climate crisis intensifies, the huge ice sheet that blankets Greenland has begun to melt, with Leeds University research finding 11,000 sq miles (28,707 sq km) have melted over the past three decades. With potential new trade routes opening up and access to minerals that lie below the sheet, commentators expect the remote island to become increasingly central in a changing world.
Throughout the years, Björk has been a vocal proponent of climate action, having cancelled a gig at Iceland Airwaves festival to criticise the government’s plans to build 50 dams in the island’s highland rivers. She also joined the No Music For Genocide boycott of Israel last year, pulling her music from streaming services in the country.
Olivia Fee is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.
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