This is the last time they trade a bottle of whiskey. The foreign ministers of Denmark and Canada signed an agreement in Ottawa on Tuesday to end the longest territorial dispute in history. It will have taken 49 years.
They eventually agreed on the sharing of a small Arctic island located midway in the Kennedy Passage between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, exactly equidistant from the two countries that share the world’s longest border at 1,650 miles (2,685 kilometers). It was decided that 60% of the island’s territory would be returned to Greenland, a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the rest to Canada.
Shaped like a kidney, which earned it the name Tartupaluk in Greenlandic, this small 1.25 square kilometer confetti, better known as Hans Island, has neither mining nor any truly usable fossil resources. But since 1973, each of the two nations has wanted to mark their presence there as they attempted to formalize their borders.
A question of domestic politics
Canadians were the first to raise their flag in 1984, leaving a bottle of Canadian whiskey at the foot of a pole. The Danes quickly replaced it with their own, leaving a bottle of brandy in return. This has been the case for years and has helped create the legend of the “Whiskey War” which symbolizes the – all in all friendly – confrontation between the two nations. In 2005 they agreed to find a peaceful solution to their conflict. It will take another seventeen years.
“It has taken a long time because sovereignty in the Arctic in Canada, like in Denmark, is mainly a matter of domestic politics. We had to wait for a time when the issue was less politically charged. This issue of sovereignty was no longer a priority for Justin Trudeau when it could never have been achieved when Stephen Harper was prime minister,” explains Professor Michael Byers of the University of British Columbia, who wrote about this argument.
A symbol in the context of Ukraine
The resolution of this conflict has symbolic value today. “This is very important in the context of the war in Ukraine, because it underlines that two friendly countries, members of NATO, can settle a territorial dispute responsibly and in accordance with international law,” emphasizes Professor Byers.
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told the ArcticToday newspaper: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an unacceptable attack on international law. But everyone knows how important the Arctic is for Russia. They have an interest in peaceful cooperation in this region, even when there are conflicts elsewhere in the world. The agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and Canada proves that this is possible. »
In any case, it will be favorable for the Inuit, used to crossing the straits on the ice to hunt and fish. “The Inuit in Canada and Greenland are the same, they have extended families on both sides and speak the same language. There are no limits,” states Michael Byers. The Danish foreign minister has also stressed that everything that follows this recognition of borders will be managed by the Greenland government in the future, be it people’s mobility, fisheries agreements or other resources.