JD VANCE accepts a sinister message on Danish territory

A green glitter, like the curtain of light that is drawn through the night sky, is formed to the impossible bright stars above Nuk late on Friday night.

The appearance of the grand north glow – a common miracle in these parts – as if it marked the end of the extremely significant day in the Arctic, which brought Greenland’s hopes and challenges to the most powerful relief.

It was a day when she had been sending an unfair delegation to the world’s largest island with an uncomfortable message.

On a short visit to a remote military base in the United States in the far north of Greenland, US Vice President JD Vance may have tried at times to soften his boss’s requested goal to simply annex the autonomous Danish territory.

“We do not think that the military force will ever be needed,” Vance said, may be trying to sound soothing.

But the Vice President’s comprehensive message remained huge and frightening: the world, the climate and the Arctic region are changing rapidly and Greenland should be awakened by threats caused by expansionist China; Long -time Western security partnerships hold their course; The only way the island can protect itself, its values ​​and its mineral wealth is by abandoning weak and unhappy Danish extraordinary and turning to the muscular and protective embrace of the United States.

“We need to wake up from an unsuccessful 40-year consensus who said we can ignore the attack on powerful countries as they expand their ambitions.

“We can’t just bury our head in the sand – or in Greenland to bury our head in the snow – And pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large land, “Vance told US troops at Pitik’s base.

IF you look at a map of the world that has the north pole at Its centre, raather than the equator, it is an ease to see how green Suddenly switches from being a bland, Easily Over Leoqued smudge Strategic Landmass at the Heart of What Many Analyst Now Accept As an Emerging Power Sturgeen Between China, The Us, and Russia, for Control of the Arctic, ITS Minerals and Its Shipping Lanes.

But the speed and contempt by which Trump’s White House rejected its traditional reading of Western allies – more special on NATO – left its partners confused.

“She is not justified,” was Danish Prime Minister Met Frederickssen’s shaking response after he heard Vance attack her government while he was standing in his sovereign territory.

But 1500 km (930 miles) south of America’s base in Pitik, in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, American history opposed attention with a very different local event on Friday.

“We will prevail,” a smiling crowd of ceremony sang to celebrate the formation of a new coalition government for Greenland.

The mood felt mostly joyful and municipal, with people locking a weapon and swinging gently as a group played in the city’s culture house.

It was a powerful reminder of shared values ​​that bind the tiny and predominantly local Inuit population together – the need for consensus and cooperation in a frequently hostile natural climate, the desire to protect and celebrate the culture of the Inuit and the desire to be respected by the outsiders.

“There are many ways to say things. But I think the way (Trump) says this is not the way. It’s like a threat,” says the 43 -year -old Lisbeth Carlin Pulse, a local artist present at the ceremony.

Its reaction seems to conquer the broader mood here – a recent poll has shown that only 6% of the population supports the idea of ​​being part of the United States.

Under its new government and with huge public support, Greenland begins a slow, very cautious move to complete independence from Denmark.

This is a process that will probably take many years and will include a long dialogue with both Copenhagen and Washington.

After all, Greenland understands that their economy should be much more developed if their offer of independence is to withstand a realistic chance of success.

But they must balance this development against realistic fears of exploitation from powerful external trade forces.

Which brings us to the fundamental confusion, in Greenland and beyond the approach of the Trump administration to their territory.

On his visit, Vance mentioned Greenland’s aspirations for independence and suggested that America’s true intent was not a sudden annexation of the island, but something far more patient and long-term.

“Our message is very simple, yes, the people of Greenland will have a self -determination. We hope that they decide to partner with the United States, because we are the only nation on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security.”

If this is indeed the US terrain -G -N Trump’s messages remain more aggressive than those of G -N Vance -then Greenland can certainly relax a little and take the time.

There are still big goodwill reserves here and a lot of interest in doing more business with US companies.

At the security front, a 74-year treaty with Denmark, which allows the United States to increase its military presence in Greenland at any time-from new bases to submarine ports, must take care of Washington’s concerns about the threat of China, just as it has happened during the Cold War years.

What remains puzzling is Donald Trump’s impatience – the same impatience that he shows when trying to negotiate the war in Ukraine.

In addition to owning Greenland, America can get everything it wants and needs this huge island without much difficulty. Instead, many people in Nuk think they are harassed.

This is a deep The counterproductive approach that has already forced Washington in a humiliating climb – cancellation of a planned cultural tour of the wife of Vance, Usa, to Nuuk and another city in the face of the planned local protests.

A slower, more relevant, backstage type of engagement would certainly make more sense.

But this is not the taste of every politician.