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<\/p>\nYereth Rosen<\/p>\n
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The red and white flag of Greenland, along with those from other far-north regions, hangs from the chalet at Government Peak Recreation Center in Palmer while cross-country skiers race on March 14, 2024, during the Arctic Winter Games. The competition, which drew 2,000 competitors from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and northern Scandinavia, is an example of cultural and social ties between Alaska and Greenland. (Photo by Yereth Rosen\/Alaska Beacon)<\/p>\n
As President Donald Trump presses for a takeover of Greenland, some Alaska state lawmakers are trying to send a different message about state cooperation with the Arctic island.<\/p>\n
A resolution recently introduced in the state Senate, Senate Joint Resolution 24<\/a>, seeks to promote continued friendship, cooperation and \u201cmutual respect\u201d between Alaska and Greenland, an autonomous and self-ruling territory that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and with a mostly Inuit population that has cultural ties<\/a> to Alaska\u2019s Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n The resolution expresses a commitment \u201cto fostering friendship, mutual respect, and long-term cooperation between the peoples of the state and Greenland in support of a peaceful, prosperous, and resilient Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n It names multiple links between Alaska and Greenland. Among those are \u201cIndigenous cultures with histories stretching back millennia,\u201d shared participation in organizations like the Arctic Council and research institutions, shared challenges concerning Arctic climate change and environmental protection and longstanding military collaborations that focus on Arctic security.<\/p>\n Legislative resolutions, which express policy or philosophical positions, do not carry any power of law. But they can influence actions in Congress or other parts of government.<\/p>\n At the first hearing on the resolution, held Thursday by the Senate Special Committee on Arctic Affairs, the main sponsor referred to the Trump administration\u2019s continued Greenland push.<\/p>\n \u201cThe impetus for this was the discussions on the federal level that could really disrupt this collaborative and this friendship that we have with other Arctic nations, Denmark and, by extension, Greenland,\u201d said Senate President Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage. Giessel chairs the committee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Responding to a question, she said the measure is not intended as a criticism of Trump, although \u201ccertainly, there will be people that have that mindset.\u201d Rather, \u201cthere\u2019s people who recognize that the Arctic communities, the Arctic circumpolar countries, have such shared values, such shared culture. That\u2019s what really is what we\u2019re trying to emphasize here.\u201d<\/p>\n Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, the committee co-chair, addressed a false claim<\/a> by Trump that the U.S. previously owned Greenland but returned control to Denmark. Trump made that claim during a speech at an international meeting in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, we\u2019ve never owned Greenland. We had a working relationship with it, but that is the truth,\u201d Stevens said at the hearing. \u201cIt\u2019s no intention to really slam the administration. But I think facts are facts.\u201d<\/p>\n The resolution was held for further consideration. Its next hearing in the committee is scheduled for March 5.<\/p>\n Trump has continued to apply pressure on the international community in a quest to take control of the Arctic island.<\/p>\n In a January social media post<\/a>, he announced a 10% tariff<\/a>, rising to 25% in June, on the Scandinavian nations, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with money due \u201cuntil such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.\u201d But this week, he paused<\/a> that tariff plan.<\/p>\n Trump also announced last week that he was sending a U.S. Navy hospital ship to the island, which he claimed would deliver health care services to Greenlanders that the Danish government was failing to provide. But there is no evidence of any U.S. hospital ship being sent to Greenland, according to the Wall Street Journal<\/a> and the Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Greenlander\u2019s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, dismissed the hospital ship idea.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s idea to send an American hospital ship here to Greenland is noted. But we have a public health system where treatment is free for citizens. It\u2019s a deliberate choice. And a basic part of our society. It\u2019s not like that in the United States, where it costs money to go to the doctor,\u201d Nielsen said in a statement<\/a> posted on Feb. 22 on Facebook.<\/p>\n