The pro-business opposition party Demokratit in Greenland, which advocates a slow approach to independence from Denmark, won the parliamentary elections on Tuesday, which were dominated by US President Donald Trump's promise to take control of the island, Reuters reports, writes UNN.
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Demokratatit won 29.9% of the vote after all ballots were counted, compared to 9.1% in 2021, ahead of the opposition party Naleraq, which advocates rapid independence, with 24.5%.
After taking office in January, Donald Trump promised to make Greenland - a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark - part of the United States, saying it was vital to US security interests, an idea rejected by most Greenlanders.
The huge island with a population of only 57,000 people has become caught up in the geopolitical struggle for dominance in the Arctic, where melting ice is making its resources more accessible and opening up new shipping routes. Both Russia and China have stepped up military activity in the region.
"People want change... We want more business to finance our well-being," said Jens-Frederik Nielsen, leader of Demokratit and former Minister of Industry and Minerals.
"We don't want independence tomorrow, we want a good foundation," Nielsen told reporters in Nuuk.
He will now hold talks with other parties to try to form a ruling coalition.
The ruling Inuit party Ataqatigiit and its partner Siumut, who are also seeking a slow path to independence, together won 36% of the vote, compared to 66.1% in 2021.
"We respect the election results," Prime Minister Mute Egede of the Inuit Ataqatigiit said in a Facebook post, adding that he would listen to any proposals in future coalition talks.
Voting was extended by half an hour at some of the 72 polling stations on the Arctic island, where about 40,500 people were eligible to vote, although the final turnout was not immediately known.
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Greenland is a former colony of Denmark and has been a territory since 1953. It gained some autonomy in 1979, when the first parliament was formed, but Copenhagen still controls foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy and provides the economy with just under $1 billion a year.
In 2009, it gained the right to declare full independence through a referendum, although it has not done so due to fears that living standards would fall without economic support from Denmark.