SARFANNGUIT: Proudly showing off photographs on her tablet of her grandson’s first hunt, Dorthe Olsen refuses to let the turmoil sparked by US president Donald Trump take over her life in a small hamlet nestled deep in a Greenland fjord.
Sarfannguit, founded in 1843, is located 36 kilometers (22 miles) east of El-Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-biggest town, and is accessible by boat in summer and snowmobile or dogsled in winter if the ice freezes.
The settlement has just under 100 residents, most of whom live off from hunting and fishing.
On this February day, only the wind broke the deafening silence, whipping across the scattering of small colorful houses.
Most of them looked empty. At the end of a gravel road, a few children played outdoors, rosy-cheeked in the bitter cold, one wearing a Spiderman woolly hat.
“Everything is very calm here in Sarfannguit,” said Olsen, a 49-year-old teacher, welcoming AFP into her home for coffee and traditional homemade pastries and cakes.
In the background, a giant flat screen showed a football match from England’s Premier League.
Olsen told AFP of the tears of pride she shed when her grandson killed his first caribou at age 11, preferring to talk about her family than about Trump.
The US president has repeatedly threatened to seize the mineral-rich island, an autonomous territory of Denmark, alleging that Copenhagen is not doing enough to protect it from Russia and China.
He nevertheless climbed down last month and agreed to negotiations.
Greenland’s health and disability minister, Anna Wangenheim, recently advised Greenlanders to spend time with their families and focus on their traditions, as a means of coping with the psychological stress caused by Trump’s persistent threats.
The US leader’s rhetoric “has impacted a lot of people’s emotions during many weeks,” Wangenheim told AFP in Nuuk.
’Powerless’
Olsen insisted that the geopolitical crisis — pitting NATO allies against each other in what is the military alliance’s deepest crisis in years — “doesn’t really matter.”
“I know that Greenlanders can survive this,” she said.
Is she not worried about what would happen to her and her neighbors if the worst were to happen — a US invasion — especially given her settlement’s remote location?
“Of course I worry about those who live in the settlements,” she said.
“If there’s going to be a war and you are on a settlement, of course you feel powerless about that.”
The only thing to do is go on living as normally as possible, she said, displaying Greenland’s spirit of resilience.
That’s the message she tries to give her students, who get most of their news from TikTok.
“We tell them to just live the normal life that we live in the settlement and tell them it’s important to do that.”
The door opened. It was her husband returning from the day’s hunt, a large plastic bag in hand containing a skinned seal.
Olsen cut the liver into small pieces, offering it with bloodstained fingers to friends and family gathered around the table.
“It’s my granddaughter’s favorite part,” she explained.
Fishing and hunting account for more than 90 percent of Greenland’s exports.
No private property
Back in El-Sisimiut after a day out seal hunting on his boat, accompanied by AFP, Karl-Jorgen Enoksen stressed the importance of nature and his profession in Greenland.
He still can’t get over the fact that an ally like the United States could become so hostile toward his country.
“It’s worrying and I can’t believe it’s happening. We’re just trying to live the way we always have,” the 47-year-old said.
The notion of private property is alien to Inuit culture, characterised by communal sharing and a deep connection to the land.
“In Greenlandic tradition, our hunting places aren’t owned. And when there are other hunters on the land we are hunting on, they can just join the hunt,” he explained.
“If the US ever bought us, I can for example imagine that our hunting places would be bought.”
“I simply just can’t imagine that,” he said, recalling that his livelihood is already threatened by climate change.
He doesn’t want to see his children “inherit a bad nature — nature that we have loved being in — if they are going to buy us.”
“That’s why it is we who are supposed to take care of OUR land.”
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Greenland villagers focus on ‘normal life’ amid stress of US threat
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Greenland villagers focus on ‘normal life’ amid stress of US threat
- Proudly showing off photographs on her tablet of her grandson’s first hunt, Dorthe Olsen refuses to let the turmoil sparked by US president Donald Trump take over her life
Macron to set out how France’s nuclear arms could protect Europe
PARIS: France will on Monday unveil how it could use the European Union’s only atomic arsenal to protect the continent in an unstable world, with Russia becoming increasingly aggressive and the United States turning away.
The speech by French President Emmanuel Macron, at France’s Ile Longue nuclear submarine base, comes after the launch of US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East.
“What we are experiencing demonstrates that in the world to come, power and independence will be two indispensable forces for dealing with the proliferation of threats,” said a member of Macron’s team.
Macron is set to update France’s nuclear doctrine as Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and NATO allies worry about Washington’s wavering commitment to Europe.
“There will undoubtedly be some significant shifts and developments,” a source said of the speech set to be delivered from 1415 GMT Monday.
European nations, which have relied on the US nuclear deterrent throughout the Cold War and in the decades since it ended, are increasingly debating whether to bolster their own atomic arsenals.
Paris has been in talks with countries including Germany and Poland over how France could use its atomic arsenal to help protect the continent.
Last year, Macron said he was ready to discuss possible deployment of French aircraft armed with nuclear weapons in other European countries.
Macron said in February he was considering a doctrine that could include “special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries.
France maintains the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which is no longer a member of the EU, is the only other European nuclear power.
By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world’s two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.
‘27 buttons’
Reassurances from US officials that Washington’s deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears of fickleness under US President Donald Trump.
“It is clear that we will need to reflect together on how French and British deterrence can fit into a more assertive European defense,” Bernard Rogel, who served as top military adviser to Macron, told AFP.
But how exactly nuclear cooperation would work between the EU’s 27 states is another story.
Rogel insisted that control over the launch decision will remain in French hands.
“I can’t see us having 27 buttons. From a credibility standpoint, that just doesn’t work,” he said.
‘Only a good thing’
Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said leaders should find confidence in European support for strengthening nuclear deterrence.
He said people in Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland now tend to support rather than oppose the idea of developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent.
“If there’s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or UK’s nuclear deterrence, that’s only a good thing,” Finland’s defense minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP in February.
Florian Galleri, a historian specializing in nuclear doctrines, warned that Macron would have to tread carefully, pointing to his low approval ratings one year before the end of his presidency.
Macron’s address could also spark a backlash ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which Marine Le Pen’s euroskeptic far-right is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.
“There is a consensus on possessing nuclear weapons in France, but not on nuclear policy,” Galleri said.
The far-right has already issued a warning.
“If Mr. Macron thinks he can give France’s nuclear weapon to the EU, he will face impeachment proceedings for treason,” Philippe Olivier, an adviser to Le
The speech by French President Emmanuel Macron, at France’s Ile Longue nuclear submarine base, comes after the launch of US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East.
“What we are experiencing demonstrates that in the world to come, power and independence will be two indispensable forces for dealing with the proliferation of threats,” said a member of Macron’s team.
Macron is set to update France’s nuclear doctrine as Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and NATO allies worry about Washington’s wavering commitment to Europe.
“There will undoubtedly be some significant shifts and developments,” a source said of the speech set to be delivered from 1415 GMT Monday.
European nations, which have relied on the US nuclear deterrent throughout the Cold War and in the decades since it ended, are increasingly debating whether to bolster their own atomic arsenals.
Paris has been in talks with countries including Germany and Poland over how France could use its atomic arsenal to help protect the continent.
Last year, Macron said he was ready to discuss possible deployment of French aircraft armed with nuclear weapons in other European countries.
Macron said in February he was considering a doctrine that could include “special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries.
France maintains the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which is no longer a member of the EU, is the only other European nuclear power.
By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world’s two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.
‘27 buttons’
Reassurances from US officials that Washington’s deterrent would continue to cover Europe under the NATO alliance have done little to quell European fears of fickleness under US President Donald Trump.
“It is clear that we will need to reflect together on how French and British deterrence can fit into a more assertive European defense,” Bernard Rogel, who served as top military adviser to Macron, told AFP.
But how exactly nuclear cooperation would work between the EU’s 27 states is another story.
Rogel insisted that control over the launch decision will remain in French hands.
“I can’t see us having 27 buttons. From a credibility standpoint, that just doesn’t work,” he said.
‘Only a good thing’
Rafael Loss, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said leaders should find confidence in European support for strengthening nuclear deterrence.
He said people in Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland now tend to support rather than oppose the idea of developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent.
“If there’s going to be some kind of bigger European investments in France or UK’s nuclear deterrence, that’s only a good thing,” Finland’s defense minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP in February.
Florian Galleri, a historian specializing in nuclear doctrines, warned that Macron would have to tread carefully, pointing to his low approval ratings one year before the end of his presidency.
Macron’s address could also spark a backlash ahead of the 2027 presidential election, in which Marine Le Pen’s euroskeptic far-right is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.
“There is a consensus on possessing nuclear weapons in France, but not on nuclear policy,” Galleri said.
The far-right has already issued a warning.
“If Mr. Macron thinks he can give France’s nuclear weapon to the EU, he will face impeachment proceedings for treason,” Philippe Olivier, an adviser to Le
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