2025 Greenlandic General Election

General elections were held in Greenland on 11 March 2025 to elect the 31 members of the Inatsisartut. The opposition Democrats won a plurality of ten seats.

Background

Independence was the most important issue of the election. The government declared in February 2024 that independence was its goal. At a press conference in early 2025, pro-independence prime minister Múte Bourup Egede said that "work has already begun on creating the framework for Greenland as an independent state" and apparently hinted that an independence referendum could take place in April 2025, in tandem with the election. In addition to the five parties already represented in the Inatsisartut, a new sixth party with a primary focus on Greenlandic independence, Qulleq, gained ballot access a month before the election.

However, after American president-elect Donald Trump renewed his interest in Greenland, Egede played down any notion of immediate independence and instead stressed the need for reforms of the cooperation between the governments of Denmark and Greenland at a press conference in Copenhagen on 10 January 2025. In an interview on Fox News on 16 January, Egede stated that Greenlanders have no wish to become a part of the U.S., and an opinion poll that month showed 85% of those surveyed opposed the proposal with 6% in favour and 9% unsure. In the leadup to the election, the opposition leader Jens Frederik Nielsen ( Democrats) spoke in support for complete independence, telling Sky News that Greenland is "not for sale." In a final televised debate before the day before the election, the leaders of all five parties represented in the Inatsisartut voiced their distrust of Trump; only Karl Ingemann, leader of Qulleq, voiced trust in Trump.

Separate to the issue of independence, the economy was also an important theme, with debate over how is best to support commerce and industry, and ultimately strengthen the Greenlandic economy. Other issues included Greenland's relationship with international climate agreements, the functioning of the health care system, and social problems related to high house prices and homelessness.

In the run-up to the election, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service and the Danish Defence Intelligence Service announced they were actively monitoring for potential attempts by foreign powers to influence the outcome of the Greenlandic elections. In an interview with TV 2, independent analysts named the United States, Russia and China as possible instigators of clandestine action in the country.

Electoral system

The 31 members of the Inatsisartut are elected by open list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method. While there is no formal threshold, parties need around 3% of total votes to gain seats.

Participating parties

A total of six parties and 213 candidates participated in the elections:

Members standing down

Opinion polls

Results

By municipality

Analysis

The two governing parties, Inuit Ataqatigiit and Siumut, lost a combined 31 percentage points of the vote, marking a historic defeat for a Greenlandic coalition government similar to other democracies after the COVID-19 pandemic. The centre-right opposition Democrats won the most seats for the first time in its history, likely going to coalition with one of the two currently governing parties, though environmental policies in relation to mining may be an issue that vaults Naleraq into government.

Inuit Ataqatigiit had been expected to win the election but instead suffered a significant decline. Originally dissatisfaction with Denmark over the spiral case dominated political feelings in Greenland, however fear of losing autonomy to the United States took more importance as the election progressed, especially after US President Donald Trump stated he would not rule out taking the island by force. Nielsen, leader of the winning Democrats, stated that the results should be a clear message to the United States and Trump that "We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders. And we want our own independence in the future. And we want to build our own country by ourselves, not with his hope." Pele Broberg, leader of runner-up Naleraq, suggested in an op-ed to USNews that Greenland could take advantage of the situation to gain leverage in succession talks and maybe even gain free association status, similar to Micronesia or Palau's association with the United States, to deal with the lack of military protection from Denmark that would happen upon independence. Qulleq, the newest party and the only one with a leader to voice trust in Trump, failed to win a single seat, receiving 305 votes.

Numerous areas where Siumut has traditionally been the strongest force, especially the villages, fell to Naleraq, a party which is popular with fishermen and hunters and takes the strongest pro-independence stance, while Demokraatit won numerous votes in the cities previously dominated by Inuit Ataqatigiit. The election result was interpreted as indicating that solving Greenland's internal social and economic problems took priority over achieving independence as quickly as possible. It was suspected that the extensive nationalization and monopolization, as well as the associated fisheries policy, had caused resentment among the population, who wanted a more liberal approach, while others were demonstrating their dissatisfaction with Denmark by voting for Naleraq. Kuno Fencker, a Naleraq MP, told ''The Guardian'' that "Before, people voted mostly Siumut – it was like a football club that they never left. But people have had enough and voted very differently this time."

Reactions

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen congratulated the Democrats and said that the future of Greenland is up to Greenlanders, not the United States, while Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also congratulated the Democrats calling the results "a celebration of democracy." On 20 March, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service and the Danish Police Intelligence Service said that it had not found evidence of a systematic and coordinated campaign by a foreign government or foreign intelligence service to influence the election, while acknowledging that there was rampant misinformation on social media, including the creation of fake profiles pretending to be Danish or Greenlandic politicians and dissemination of false or manipulated information.

Aftermath

Erik Jensen, leader of junior coalition partner Siumut resigned the day after the election.

On 27 March 2025, the newspaper '' Sermitsiaq'' reported that a coalition agreement between all parties that won seats in the Inatsisartut, with the exception of Naleraq, had been reached. The coalition government was unveiled the next day, with Jens-Frederik Nielsen of the Democrats as its head.

See also

* 2025 Greenlandic local elections

References

{{Greenlandic elections

Greenlandic general election
Election
Greenlandic general election
Elections in Greenland