Now we know why Donald Trump wanted to buy Greenland. In the Netflix premiere of the Danish political drama Borgen – returning with a fourth series after nearly a decade away – oil has been found on the world’s biggest island. Fingers crossed, Denmark’s ambassador to the Arctic tells a foreign ministry briefing, the field will be as big and lucrative as Ekofisk. You remember Ekofisk: the oilfield funded by Norway to secure the economic future of its citizens for generations while we Britons, sad face, did nothing so sensible with our North Sea revenues.
Just a second, you might well interject. Could you fill us in on Greenland’s political status? Of course. Greenland was a Danish colony from 1814 until 1953, when it became part of Denmark. Home rule was established in 1979 and it voted for further self-governing powers in 2008. That said, not a few of Greenland’s 56,000-strong population yearn to become independent and use any oil to fund that project. Aren’t you glad you asked?
