The biggest winner became the liberal Democrats, who took home 29.9 percent of the votes. They will drive on to make Greenland economically ready to achieve independence – in the long run.
It will not be a sudden independence process, says Ulrik Pram Gad, senior researcher at the Danish institute for international studies.
He senses a relief among the Danish politicians who comment on the election outcome. Naleraq, the party that wants to see a fast track to independence, had a electoral success with 24.5 percent of the votes, but only became the second largest party and will therefore not hold the reins when a new government coalition is to be negotiated.
"No one is satisfied"
Now, Denmark must seriously make amends with its colonial past, address the discrimination against Greenlanders and initiate negotiations on a new form of Greenlandic self-government.
If Denmark does not take it seriously, Naleraq may come back even stronger in four or eight years, says Ulrik Pram Gad.
Even Rasmus Leander Nielsen, associate professor at the center for foreign and security policy at the University of Greenland, draws the conclusion that the time is now ripe for a change in the forms of Greenlandic self-government.
We need to change the status quo, for no one is satisfied, he says at a press conference for international journalists in Copenhagen.
Backlash against Trump
Donald Trump's repeated Greenland outbursts have characterized the election campaign and led to backlash. Trump claims that he needs the island for the USA's national security and has declared that he does not rule out a military intervention to gain control over Greenland.
What we have seen since December and onwards may have been a bit too much interest in Greenland from the American administration's side. If Trump had not made these statements, repeated times, there would have been much greater focus on expanded cooperation with the USA, says Rasmus Leander Nielsen.
Another effect is that the negotiations with Denmark are being sped up, believes Maria Ackrén, professor of political science at the University of Greenland.
The majority of the parties have long been in favor of independence and now one sees a bit of momentum when the Trump administration presses on. It presses Denmark to try to outmaneuver.
