Greenland’s government is demanding greater financial support from Denmark, blaming a controversial birth-control campaign from the 1960s and 70s for the island’s economic crisis.
Finance minister Múte B. Egede said Denmark carried “historic responsibility” for Greenland’s weak economy, arguing that thousands of women and girls were fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without consent in a state-led effort to cut birth rates. The result, he claimed, is a population imbalance where too few workers must support a growing number of elderly.
Greenland’s budget deficit is expected to reach 750 million kroner annually, and Egede warned reforms alone will not solve the crisis. He called on Copenhagen not just to raise subsidies but to invest directly in Greenland’s economy.
Danish officials have not yet responded. Greenland Statistics, meanwhile, disputes the link, citing emigration and high abortion rates as the main drivers of today’s demographic problems.