In Trump’s Shadow, Greenland Votes for a New Government

With Greenland thrust into the spotlight by President Trump’s insistence that the United States will somehow “get” it, Greenlanders held a closely watched election on Tuesday that took on unusual importance — not just for the outside world, but for them as well.

Voter turnout hit its highest level in more than a decade, and polling stations on the remote, sparsely populated island, which is partly controlled by Denmark, stayed open late to accommodate long lines.

But with all votes counted early Wednesday morning, the results were mixed.

The winner was Demokraatit, a party that has been critical of Mr. Trump’s rhetoric. It has taken a moderate stance on the subject of independence from Denmark, which most Greenland politicians support as a long-term goal.

The second most popular party, Naleraq, however, has pushed hard for independence as soon as possible — which some of its members have said would enable Greenland to associate more freely with other countries, including the United States. One of Naleraq’s most prominent figures is very pro-Trump and attended the American president’s inauguration.

Greenlanders are clearly divided, experts said, on how to handle this crossroads.

“What has become clear during the election — and what Denmark must now recognize — is that across the political spectrum, there is dissatisfaction with the current constitutional arrangement,” said Ulrik Pram Gad, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen. “Regardless of the outcome, there will be calls for renegotiating the structure of the kingdom of Denmark.”

Denmark colonized Greenland more than 300 years ago, and while the island is now considered a semiautonomous territory, Denmark still controls foreign policy, defense and other aspects of its governance. Demokraatit — which won just under 30 percent of the vote, ahead of Naleraq’s 24.5 percent — has consistently argued that independence must not imperil economic and social stability. There are only 56,000 people living on the island, and the difference between first and second place in this election was around 1,500 votes.