The Integrity of Politics

Greenland’s parliament passed a bill this week that will ban donations from “from foreign or anonymous contributors,” a move that comes ahead of the April parliamentary elections and calls by US President Donald Trump to take over the autonomous territory that belongs to Denmark, the Associated Press reported.

Passed on Tuesday, the new legislation is aimed at protecting “Greenland’s political integrity” and will take effect immediately.

It prohibits “parties, including local and youth sections” from receiving contributions specifically from contributors “who reside or are domiciled outside Greenland,” Axios added.

The bill also bans any single party from receiving domestic private contributions that exceed $27,700 in total, or about $2,770 from a single contributor.

The bill must be considered “in light of the geopolitical interests in Greenland and the current situation where representatives of an allied great power have expressed interest in taking over and controlling Greenland,” a parliamentary document said.

Tuesday’s vote follows comments by Trump, who has claimed that he would not rule out using military force to take control of Greenland, emphasizing that it is vital for US national security.

Greenland – an Arctic island with an area of 836,000 square miles and a population of about 57,000 people – is rich in minerals and home to a large US military base.

Greenlandic officials said the bill was “basically a preventative measure” ahead of the April 6 parliamentary elections. It is unknown if any foreign donors have contributed to the island’s political parties, but they added that some Russian politicians have shown interest in the resource-rich island, according to AP.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has previously said that Greenland is “not for sale,” but has echoed US security concerns about the Arctic region amid threats from Russia and China.

Earlier this week, she told reporters she will “never support the idea of fighting allies,” but “if the US puts tough terms on Europe, we need a collective and robust response.”