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In a big shakeup of Greenland's political landscape, a pro-business opposition party is the surprise winner in the island's election. The party favors a slow approach to gaining independence, in a campaign stoked by President Trump's pledges to gain control of the island. In Copenhagen, Adrienne Murray has more.
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ADRIENNE MURRAY: Celebrations into the early hours, a landslide victory for Greenland's Democrats - the center-right party swept up almost 30% of the vote, promising to grow the economy first before taking a slow, steady path to more autonomy - a result few expected. Noa Redington is a political analyst.
NOA REDINGTON: This was an avalanche really (laughter), and completely unpredictable. But it's a huge blow for the ruling coalition right now. It's a major upset of Greenlandic politics.
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MURRAY: Doubling its vote share, the Naleraq party also had a strong showing. It wants a swift divorce with Denmark and closer ties with Washington.
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MURRAY: Domestic issues have also played a big factor. Both parties in the coalition government had a bruising election, hit hard by an unpopular fishing policy.
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MURRAY: Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and mostly governs its own domestic affairs. However, Copenhagen, some 1,800 miles away, controls foreign and defense policy and sends over $600 million in assistance every year.
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MURRAY: The atmosphere was almost festive as polling stations in the capital, Nuuk, opened, drawing long lines of voters for an election seen as one of the most pivotal for the Arctic territory's future. Five of the six parties on the ballot had favored breaking away from Denmark but offered different paths and speeds. Voters backed the slower path. Mira Kleist is a political adviser.
MIRA KLEIST: They want a stable path. They don't want anything radical. They want the population to be able to feel secure and know that it will be a steady path under strong leadership. There will be no quick referendum.
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MURRAY: At an event in Copenhagen late Tuesday night, a group of local Greenlandic people had come together to watch the election results roll in. For Stinnia Hansen Kleist, independence was a big talking point.
STINNIA HANSEN KLEIST: Of course I want to see that in my lifetime, but I also know that we're not entirely there yet. We have to get a lot of stuff in place before we can talk about independence. And with this election, there's been so many talks about going independent now to work more with America. But we're not really there yet. That's how I feel.
MURRAY: Greenland has been thrust into the global spotlight by Donald Trump's threats to take it. Greenlander Margrethe Johansen shared her thoughts.
MARGRETHE JOHANSEN: Yeah, I think a lot of people got scared. Also, actually, I also got scared. But when we start thinking and see what's happening here, actually, the Greenlandic population is quite pragmatic.
MURRAY: Experts say independence could take years to achieve, so it's unlikely to happen before Donald Trump's second term comes to an end. Never before has a Greenlandic election been watched so closely from Denmark. Noa Redington thinks this marks a turning point.
REDINGTON: Everyone is surprised, really. And we need to rethink our relationship between Denmark and Greenland. And the whole construction of the kingdom of Denmark - with Greenland, the Faroe Island and Denmark - it's a construction that definitely is going to change in the years to come.
MURRAY: Though the Democrats have won the most votes, they're still short of the seats needed for a majority in Parliament and will now enter talks with the other parties to form a new government, facing a new geopolitical challenge from Washington.
For NPR 瓜神app, I'm Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen.
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