COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: A former minister for Greenland affairs has criticised the government for allowing the country's role as Arctic superpower to slip away
The current dispute between Denmark and Canada over Hans Island is a sign of the country's weakened position in Arctic affairs, says ex-Greenland Minister Tom Høyem.
'My friendly and constructively meant criticism is that the foreign ministry has never had a global Arctic understanding,' Høyem said in an interview with national broadcaster DR on Wednesday. 'We have mostly acted like a minor power, but Denmark is a major power when it comes to the Arctic. The Canadians think of themselves that way. In Denmark we don't think of ourselves that way,'
Høyem was Denmark's last Greenland Minister before the ministry was done away with in 1987.
He agreed with the decision to do away with the ministry, but he regretted that the nation's expertise in Arctic issue has been diffused as a result.
He sees the Hans Island affair as illustrating the differences between Danish and Canadian Arctic strategies.
'It's no coincidence that Canada has 200 soldiers in the area, and it isn't a coincidence that their defence minister just happened to stop by the island the other day. They clearly have intentions in the area,' Høyem said.
Høyem said a similar Danish approach would not only be in Danish and Greenlandic interests - Europe also stood to gain from it.
'The issue needs to be taken up seriously at the ministerial level. We should sit down at the negotiating table, where we need to discuss not just who owns the island, as that's just one detail,' he said.
'We need to achieve unanimity on how development should take place in the future,' he continued. 'It's about agreeing on a global strategy.'
In addition to the possible mineral and oil deposits in the area, the Arctic region could also become a throughway for shipping traffic if global warming continues.
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Hans shows lack of Arctic policy
The current dispute between Denmark and Canada over Hans Island is a sign of the country's weakened position in Arctic affairs, says ex-Greenland Minister Tom Høyem.
Published: 29.07.2005 12:33
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