Denmark’s historic Greenland apology to seek closer ties amid US interest

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will formally apologise for historic injustices against Greenlanders, including forced birth control, in a move to strengthen ties amid US interest and fresh revelations of Trump-linked covert operations on the Arctic island.

“We cannot change what has happened. But we can take responsibility. Therefore, on behalf of Denmark, I would like to say: I apologise,” Frederiksen said in a statement released one month before Wednesday’s official ceremony in Nuuk.

The move follows an independent report documenting how, between 1960 and 1991, Danish doctors fitted thousands of Greenlandic women and girls with intrauterine devices, often without consent or proper medical follow-up, leaving lasting physical and psychological scars. At the time, authorities feared rapid population growth would overwhelm social services. Now, 143 women are suing the Danish state over the campaign.

During her visit to Nuuk, Frederiksen is also set to meet with the Greenlandic Prime Minister, Jens Frederik Nielsen, to discuss setting up a reconciliation fund. According to Frederiksen, the fund would provide financial compensation to the Greenlandic women affected by the birth-control campaign, as well as to other Greenlanders subjected to neglect and systematic discrimination by the Danish state.

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It exercises self-rule over most domestic affairs, while Denmark retains control over foreign policy, defence and monetary matters.

‘Greenland is not for sale’ 

The apology also has an international dimension, with observers seeing it as part of Frederiksen’s effort to improve relations between Denmark and Greenland – a priority she has said has become more urgent due to increasing US interest in the region.

Since first declaring last year that US “ownership and control of Greenland is absolutely necessary”, Donald Trump has repeated the claim several times and even refused to rule out military force . Former Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede countered that “Greenland is not for sale,” a message Frederiksen later echoed.

Speculation that Frederiksen’s move sought to strengthen ties with Greenland following Trump’s statements intensified after Danish broadcaster DR reported that at least three Americans with links to Trump had carried out covert operations to sway opinion in Greenland. According to DR, they also described how one of the Americans is compiling a list of Greenlandic citizens who support Donald Trump’s plan to take over Greenland. The list is reportedly intended to help build and recruit for a separatist or pro-independence movement.

Frederiksen has denied any connection between that revelation and her apology.

Analysts see Washington’s interest pushing Copenhagen closer to Nuuk.

“The apology and the official ceremony in Nuuk are clear examples of how Mette Frederiksen seeks to accommodate Greenlandic wishes and perspectives right now,” said Mette Marie Stæhr Harder, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen.

Beyond the birth control scandal

Frederiksen’s speech in Nuuk will address the birth control campaign, but it is far from the only grievance on the table. Twenty-six so-called “legally fatherless” Greenlanders have sued the state of Denmark for the right to know their fathers’ identities, while a group of former adopted children say they will sue the Danish state over placements allegedly arranged without valid parental consent.

Aaja Chemnitz, an MP for the Inuit Ataqatigiit party who represents Greenland in Copenhagen, welcomed Frederiksen’s move but found it not sufficient.

“We have talks surrounding specific issues, like this one on the birth control campaign. But we also need to have a more general discussion,” she said, stressing that reconciliation cannot happen from one side alone.

Chemnitz argued the words will matter only if they mark the start of a wider dialogue. After all, “it takes two to tango”.

(cs, de, vc)