Inuit Women’s Summit, Minerals, Submarine Cables & Satellites… October’s Wrap Up

In Greenland, while Denmark has apologized and is preparing a compensation plan for women and girls who were victims of the forced sterilization program until 1991 (Sermitsiaq, October 22), the Inuit Circumpolar Council is organizing the first Inuit Women’s Summit in Sisimiut at the end of October. Its president, Sara Olvig, emphasized: “We are all deeply affected by the colonial policies that targeted Inuit women and girls.” More broadly, the Summit will focus on three themes: the rights and roles of Inuit women, the prevention of violence and the improvement of safety, and capacity building through culture (Eye on the Arctic, October 21). In early October, Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He emphasized the importance of the partnership with the EU and the potential for increased cooperation in areas such as critical raw materials and renewable energy (High North News, October 9). The Danish Export and Investment Fund (EIFO) announced a loan of 39 million kroner to the mining company Green Roc, which is working to reopen the Amitsq graphite mine in southern Greenland, last operated between 1915 and 1922 (Sermitsiaq, October 22). Also in the south, following the abandonment of the Kuannersuit mining project, the dispute between the Greenlandic government and Australian mining company Energy Transition Minerals has just been settled by an arbitration tribunal in favor of the Greenlandic government. The dispute had also been brought by the Australian company before the High Court of Greenland and the Copenhagen Court, which have not yet issued their verdicts (DR, October 29). On the defense front, as part of their efforts to strengthen their presence in the Arctic, Denmark and Greenland have agreed to build a dedicated naval dock in Nuuk (Eye on the Arctic, October 14). Also in this context, a new submarine cable worth 3 billion kroner is included in a new defense agreement, which will complement the two existing cables and Greenland’s infrastructure, which is considered highly vulnerable (Sermitsiaq, October 10). In addition, Tusass, Greenland’s autonomous telecommunications company, has signed an agreement with the French company Eutelsat to provide better internet access in regions without submarine cables, namely Tasiilaq and Ittoqqortoormiit in the east and Qaanaaq in the north. While the territory is considering liberalizing the telecommunications market, the importance of Greenland’s critical infrastructure being controlled by Greenland itself was recently reaffirmed, and a partnership with Starlink, which had been rumored, was ruled out (DR, October 20).