Greenlandic deputies holding seats at the Folketing -the Parliament of Denmark- have requested the lower house to start a process aiming at putting an end to Greenland's representation within the Danish legislative assembly. Deputy for the pro-independence party Inuit Ataqatigiit, Sofia Rossen, said that it "is a process we need to get started". According to Sermitsiaq newspaper, Rossen declined to state a date for the withdrawal of the 2 Greenland MP's -Rossen herself and Hans Enoksen, from Siumut party-, but reminded that Nuuk (Greenland's capital) should have full powers on Greenland's domestic affairs.

Both Greenland and the Faeroe Islands have a reservation of 2 seats in the Danish Parliament. But the transfer of powers to these overseas territories has queried whether they should retain representation in Copenhagen. Greenland, for instance, approved a new Statute granting full power to Nuuk except for matters related to foreign affairs, financial policies and security. It didn't rule out, though, an eventual declaration of independence.

One of the consequences of the new Statute affects language, since it granted Greenlandic the status of the island's only official language. As a result, opposition party Siumut seeks to introduce this Inuit language -belonging to the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages- as the only language in the legislative assembly.

Financial autonomy in sight
As Greenlandic politicians prepare the ground to secede from Denmark through peaceful means, economists and scientists try to predict the island's economic conditions for the near future. Greenland gets annual subsidies from Copenhagen amounting to 463.000 milion €. But according to Jorn Skov Nielsen (automatic translation), responsible of the Department of raw materials, Nuuk could do without Danish financial aid by 2015, as inferred from tests of mineral and oil extraction. However, Skov Nielsen clarified later on that 2015 was only a feasible estimate at the very best.

Further information:

• IceNews: Greenland MPs call for end to Danish political involvement and Greenland financial independence predicted by 2015
• Sermitsiaq: Råstofdirektør: Ikke om fem år (English automatic translation: Mining Director: Not for five years).

See the dossier Peoples and nations today: Greenland for further information.