In the middle of the election campaign, parliamentary politician Rasmus Jarlov from the Conservative Party is now sharing a video with Greenlandic subtitles, in which he outlines what consequences he believes it will have if Greenland becomes independent.
A few days before the Greenland's parliamentary elections scheduled for March 11 to take place, Danish politician Rasmus Jarlov from the Conservative People's Party has engaged in the election debate.
In a video published on YouTube on Wednesday, March 5, the parliamentary member talks about his view on Greenlandic independence.
He also shared a link to the video in a comment section on KNR News' Facebook page. The video is in Danish, but subtitled in Greenlandic.
Ramus Jarlov makes it clear that he does not believe that it will make economic sense for Greenland to gain independence. On the other hand, he promises more money and more self-determination if Greenland chooses to remain in the Commonwealth.
According to him, block grants will stop from day one in the event of independence, and a so-called free-association agreement will not be possible.
At the same time, he outlines a number of rights that he believes Greenlanders will lose in the event of independence. These include the right to cancer treatment at Rigshospitalet and the right to reside freely in Denmark.
Rasmus Jarlov, why do you speak as if these consequences are certain, when the Self-Government Act states that statehood and independence will depend on negotiations?
You have to understand that if Greenland becomes its own country and thus a foreign country from Denmark, then the starting point is that all the rights that Greenlanders have because they are Danish citizens today will disappear. You can negotiate with Denmark whether you can keep, for example, the right to reside in Denmark, which you have freely today. But it will be up to Denmark whether you want to give those rights. And you shouldn't expect it to just be a table of gifts, where Denmark gives a whole lot without getting anything in return and without having any rights in Greenland.
But you still present these things as if it is a fact. Why don't you emphasize that this is the Conservatives' position?
It is a fact that all rights in Denmark, all support from Denmark, will basically disappear if Greenland secedes from Denmark. You can negotiate something with Denmark - maybe. But it will not be something that Greenland has a right to.
And that is a factual situation that we have to take into account instead of planning according to the fact that you can count on getting things for free from Denmark, without Denmark having to get anything in return, says the parliamentary politician.
It is normally customary for Danish parties not to interfere in a Greenlandic election campaign.
Nevertheless, Rasmus Jarlov believes that it is necessary to interfere in the debate on independence, since according to him there is a perception in Greenland that you are "guaranteed a whole lot from Denmark".
It is incredibly important that you make your political choices based on realistic assumptions instead of based on a wrong and misleading perception that you are entitled to a lot of things that you are not entitled to, he says.
It is not normally customary for politicians to interfere in other countries' election campaigns. Why are you going out and making this video anyway?
I don't think it's any use that we don't participate in the debate from the Danish side. I'm well aware that most Danish politicians choose a strategy where they don't say anything at all because they're so afraid of making Greenlanders angry if they contradict them. But I think that's the wrong strategy.
I think we need to have a relationship with each other where we talk to each other and also say things as they are, says Rasmus Jarlov.
The Conservative People's Party has 10 out of 179 seats in the Folketing and is not in the government.
Source: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (in Greenlandic)
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