JANUARY 10 — President Donald Trump says the US needs to “own” Greenland to prevent Russia and China from doing so.

By Trump’s own admission then,  the US does not own Greenland.

So, who owns Greenland?

The short answer is the Kingdom of Denmark. Yes, Denmark is a kingdom, and a sovereign state.

The Danish claim to Greenland is unimpeachable, according to Marc Weller, Professor of International, Director of the International Law Programme at Chatham House, Professor in the University of Cambridge and a former senior UN mediation expert.

A brief history of the Danish claim to Greenland can be read here.

Post 1945 when the United Nations (UN) was founded, Professor Weller explains the Danish claim in the following paragraphs.

In 1953, Denmark informed the UN that Greenland had now become an integral part of the Kingdom, with constitutional representation in the Danish parliament and other benefits.

By Resolution 849 (IX), the UN General Assembly (UNGA) determined that Greenland had “freely decided on its integration within the Kingdom of Denmark on an equal constitutional and administrative basis with the other parts of Denmark.”

This result has been universally accepted. But campaigners have argued that the indigenous population of Greenland did not approve this move in a referendum when Resolution 849 (IX) in fact expressly commended the participation of Greenland representatives in the process.

Be that as it may, UNGA adopted another resolution immediately afterwards – that is, Resolution 850 (IX), emphasizing in general terms the need to validate a decision on integration with a colonial power through an expression of the will of the people.

To its credit, Denmark has since progressively increased the level of self-government for Greenland, first in the Home Rule Act of 1979 and then in the Self-Government Act of 2009. The latter was approved in a Greenland referendum by a majority of 75.5 per cent.

The Self-Government Act transfers virtually all powers of governance to the Greenland local authorities, with the exception of defence, monetary policy and external relations. In fact, Greenland can even conclude treaties independently of Denmark.

Still, Greenland’s status within Denmark remains unaffected.

Rightly then, as the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark said in a joint statement:

“Greenland belongs to its people, and only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations.”

Only Denmark and the people of Greenland can decide. Not the US, Russia and China.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.