The Wall Street Journal - 19.08.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Monday, August 19, 2019 |A

warned that Greenland will

lose its annual subsidy if it

pushes for independence. Mr.

Trump is due to meet the Dan-

ish and Greenlandic premiers

during a previously planned

visit to Copenhagen next

month, alongside the leader of

the Faroe Islands, another au-

tonomous Danish region.

Múte Bourup Egede, leader

of the left-wing, pro-indepen-

dence Inuit Ataqatigiit party in

Greenland’s parliament, said

such strategic games—and Mr.

Trump’s icebound fantasy—

serve to remind Greenlanders

of their country’s outsize im-

portance in world affairs.

“America will always have

an interest in Greenland,” said

Mr. Egede, cradling a Bernie

Sanders 2016 coffee mug. “Our

country will always be ours.”

WORLD NEWS

CHRISTIAN KLINDT SØLBECK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (3)

Clockwise from top: Daniel

Thorleifsen, president of Nuuk

Golf Club; fisherman Pavia

Zeeb; and traditional Inuit

tattoo artist Maya Sialuk.

‘Essentially, It’s a

Large Real-Estate

Deal,’ President Says

President Trump on Sun-

day confirmed his interest in

potentially purchasing Green-

land, but said it wasn’t a pri-

ority.

“Strategically, for the

United States, it would be

nice,” Mr. Trump told report-

ers, saying publicly for the

first time that he has talked

about acquiring Greenland

from Denmark, as The Wall

Street Journal first reported

last week. “Essentially, it’s a

large real-estate deal,” said

the president, a former real-

estate developer.

Mr. Trump, who called

Denmark an important ally,

added: “It’s not No. 1 on the

burner.”

The Journal reported

Thursday that the president

has privately asked advisers

whether the U.S. can buy

Greenland, expressing interest

in its abundant resources and

geopolitical importance.

Earlier Sunday, National

Economic Council Director

Lawrence Kudlow said the

president was looking at

Greenland. “Denmark is an

ally,” he said. “Greenland is a

strategic place up there and

they’ve got a lot of valuable

minerals.”

—Andrew Restuccia

help assemble an alternative

financing package.

In Copenhagen, which still

sets Greenland’s foreign and

defense policies, news of Mr.

Trump’s enthusiasm for the

territory has been interpreted

as the latest signal from Wash-

ington that the U.S. is an en-

gaged player in the Arctic, a

zone of increasing economic

and strategic rivalry with both

China and Russia.

“The U.S. wants to make ev-

eryone aware the U.S. is an

Arctic power,” said Nils Wang,

a retired Royal Danish Navy

rear admiral and director of

Naval Team Denmark, an asso-

ciation for navy suppliers.

Denmark, too, aims to ex-

plore new research and eco-

nomic opportunities as the

Arctic opens up, and has

Whether the president’s as-

piration is serious or not,

Washington will continue to

view Greenland as vital to

American national-security in-

terests. A decades-old defense

treaty between Denmark and

the U.S. gives the U.S. military

virtually unlimited rights in

Greenland at America’s north-

ernmost base, Thule Air Base,

which houses part of a U.S.

ballistic-missile early warning

system.

Greenland’s strategic im-

portance to the U.S. was un-

derscored further last year

when the Pentagon worked

successfully to block China

from financing three airports

on the island. With American

prodding, Denmark’s govern-

ment instead asked a consor-

tium led by Danske Bank to

isn’t for sale, as do its political

leaders.

“People I know say ‘no

thanks,’ ” said Helene Elisasen,

as she threaded fishing lines

with bait in the harbor to catch

halibut at sea.

Greenland is the world’s

largest island, covering more

than 800,000 square miles in

the North Atlantic and Arctic

Sea northeast of Canada. It is

larger than Mexico and around

the same size as Saudi Arabia.

Around 80% of the country is

cloaked in ice, with human set-

tlements hugging the coast. A

network of airstrips and heli-

pads, some dating from World

War II, allow residents to jump

from city to city in the absence

of major roads.

Its economy is sustained by

shrimp and fish exports and a

$591 million annual subsidy

from Denmark. Growing indus-

tries include tourism and min-

ing. Active mines churn out ru-

bies and minerals used to make

fiberglass, and projects are un-

der way to assess the feasibility

of mining rare earths and ura-

nium, Greenlandic officials say.

The abundant resources

mean any buyer for Greenland

would struggle to make a fair

offer for the country, said Pavia

Zeeb, a fisherman. “It’s too ex-

pensive,” he said.

Many Greenlanders like to

relax by hunting caribou in the

wilderness. Workplaces in Nuuk

empty during the summer

whenever a whale catch lands

so that every household can

grab a share, locals say. The

raw liver of a newly killed seal

is a prized delicacy.

Maya Sialuk practices tradi-

tional Inuit tattooing, an an-

cient art her ancestors used to

ward off illness and seek good

fortune when hunting and fish-

ing. She described the idea of

the U.S. buying Greenland as

insensitive and rude.

“We are still trying to re-

cover from a colonization pe-

riod of almost 300 years,” she

said. “Then there is this white

dude in the States who’s talking

about purchasing us.”

NUUK, Greenland—Daniel
Thorleifsen has a suggestion
for President Trump: Maybe
try playing golf here first be-
fore putting in a bid for
Greenland.
The nine-hole course Mr.
Thorleifsen oversees as presi-
dent of Nuuk Golf Club is open
only four months a year. The
rest of the time it is covered in
snow. Players scramble over
crags and stomp on wild ber-
ries to navigate from tee to tee
while Air Greenland turboprops
roar onto the airstrip nearby.
“He’s welcome to play if he
came here. But he would find
it very hard,” Mr. Thorleifsen
said.
Mr. Trump has become en-
tranced by the idea of the U.S.
buying this vast, ice-shrouded
island on the roof of the world,
people familiar with discus-
sions said. The president on
Sunday confirmed his interest
in possibly buying the country.
The territory’s appeal seems
rooted in its natural resources
in addition to providing the
U.S. with another doorstep to
the Arctic as the ice sheet
shrinks.
But the president’s interest
has drawn mixed reactions in
Nuuk, the country’s capital, a
sparse city just 150 miles south
of the Arctic Circle. Lapped by
the Labrador Sea, its low-rise,
brightly painted houses and
apartment blocks are home to
around a third of Greenland’s
56 ,000 inhabitants.
For some, the idea of buying
and selling their homeland is a
highhanded reminder of a pain-
ful and unresolved colonial leg-
acy, which saw its indigenous
inhabitants’ culture and lan-
guage suppressed during cen-
turies of rule from faraway Co-
penhagen. Others discern in the
president’s apparent fascina-
tion a sign of the geostrategic
importance of the self-govern-
ing territory, which is part of
the Kingdom of Denmark. Many
simply see it as a joke.
All insist that Greenland

BYJASONDOUGLAS

Greenlanders

Baffled by

Trump Interest

tion, by transporting oil from

Iran to Syria. As a result, the

U.S. would bar its crew mem-

bers from entry into the U.S.

The Iranian tanker was

moving toward Moroccan wa-

ters, according to ship-track-

ing website MarineTraffic. Its

owners are holding talks with

potential Portuguese and

Spanish buyers of the crude,

a person familiar with its

plans said. Iranian-controlled

TNC Group, which owns the

vessel, couldn’t be reached

for comment. Washington

bans all purchases of Iran’s

crude and has warned any

buyer of its oil could be cut

off from the U.S. financial

system.

A top Iranian commander

said the Islamic Republic’s

navy would be ready to pro-

tect the Adrian Darya if

needed, though it had no

plans to do so at this stage.

“If top authorities ask the

navy, we are ready to escort

out tanker Adrian,” Rear

Adm. Hossein Khanzadi was

quoted as saying by Mehr

news agency.

getting more than 80 Iranian

tankers stripped of maritime

flags provided by other coun-

tries, including the Adrian

Darya, previously named the

Grace 1, which lost its Pan-

ama flag under U.S. pressure,

according to a person famil-

iar with the vessel.

But Gibraltar’s decision

shows U.S. sanctions aren’t

universally accepted. China

imported 200,000 barrels a

day of Iranian crude in June,

according to its customs

data.

In the case of the Adrian

Darya, the U.S. said the

tanker was assisting the Is-

lamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps, which it has desig-

nated a terrorist organiza-

The conflict stems from

the American withdrawal

from a nuclear deal with Teh-

ran and reimposing sanctions

in a bid to force Tehran to

pull back militarily and polit-

ically in the Middle East.

Iran has responded this

year by reducing its commit-

ments to the nuclear deal

still in effect with European

countries, Russia and China

and downing an American

drone over the Strait of Hor-

muz.

The U.S. also says Iran has

harassed and attacked com-

mercial vessels in the area,

which Iran denies.

Gibraltar’s release of the

Iranian tanker is a setback

for the U.S.’s attempts to en-

force American sanctions in

international maritime wa-

ters.

Since deciding on a total

ban on Iran’s crude exports,

the Trump administration

has put pressure on both

Iran’s oil buyers and those

providing services to its

tankers. American officials

say they have succeeded in

LONDON—The Iranian
tanker impounded by Gibral-
tar sailed out of the British
overseas territory on Sunday
over the objections of the
U.S., a Gibraltar official said,
raising hopes that Iran would
reciprocate and release a
British-flagged tanker in the
Persian Gulf.
The ship, renamed the
Adrian Darya 1 and given an
Iranian flag, left Gibraltar’s
waters around 11 p.m. local
time after the territory’s Jus-
tice Ministry rejected a U.S.
Justice Department warrant
seeking the seizure of the
Iranian vessel and its 2.1 mil-
lion barrels of crude oil. Gi-
braltar officials said the ter-
ritory follows the European
Union’s laws, not the U.S.’s.
The U.S. warrant and diffi-
culty finding a crew had de-
layed the ship’s departure.
Gibraltar had already decided
to release the ship last week
after receiving assurances
from Iran that the ship’s oil
wouldn’t go to Syria. The EU
bans oil exports to Syria as
part of a sanctions regime
against President Bashar al-
Assad, but it doesn’t prohibit
Iranian oil sales in general,
as the U.S. does.
The Adrian Darya’s release
is expected to pave the way
for Iran to free the British-
flagged tanker, Stena Impero,
which it captured in the Per-
sian Gulf last month on accu-
sations that it broke interna-
tional maritime rules.
The U.K. and Iran didn’t
say if the release of the Ira-
nian tanker was linked to the
British-flagged vessel’s free-
dom. But Iranian officials
have previously indicated
such a move would help end
the Stena Impero’s detention.
The two tankers have be-
come important pieces in the
escalating tensions between
Iran and the U.S., and by ex-
tension allies and partners
like the U.K. and Saudi Ara-
bia.

BYBENOITFAUCON

Iranian Oil Tanker Leaves Gibraltar

An Iranian flag flies on the tanker Adrian Darya 1 in the Strait of Gibraltar on Sunday.

JON NAZCA/REUTERS

The U.S. had sought

seizure of the vessel

and its 2.1 million

barrels of crude.

WORLDWATCH

YEMEN

Houthi Rebels Claim

Attack on Saudi Oil

Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck

Saudi Arabia’s Shaybah oil field,

one of the kingdom’s largest,

Saudi officials and the Houthis

said, deepening tensions be-

tween Iran and its rivals that

have engulfed the region’s en-

ergy facilities.

The Houthis said in a state-

ment Saturday that they had

targeted Shaybah with 10

drones. The Iran-aligned rebels

said the attack was their largest

of its kind on Saudi Arabia,

which they have been fighting

for control in Yemen since 2014.

The Saudi oil ministry con-

firmed what it called a terrorist

attack on Shaybah, which is

owned by Saudi Arabian Oil Co.,

or Aramco, and holds about 14

billion barrels of oil reserves. A

spokesman for the Saudi-led co-

alition in Yemen didn’t respond

to a request for comment.

In a statement, Aramco said

it had controlled a fire at a natu-

ral-gas production facility at

Shaybah. The company said

there were no injuries and no

disruption to production.

“We promise more and wider

attacks than the Shaybah oil

field if the aggression continues,”

Houthi army spokesman Yahya

Sarea said in remarks carried by

the rebels’ Masirah television

channel. “We renew a call for

companies and civilians to stay

away from all vital sites in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

—Sune Engel Rasmussen

SUDAN

Foes Sign Formal

Power-Sharing Pact

Sudan’s pro-democracy move-

ment and ruling military council

signed a power-sharing agree-

ment after weeks of negotiations.

The deal paves the way for a

transition to a civilian-led govern-

ment after the military overthrow

of President Omar al-Bashir

months ago and the recent

deadly suppression of protests.

Earlier this month, the two

sides initialed a constitutional

document amid concerns the cri-

sis that followed Mr. al-Bashir’s

ouster could ignite civil war.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan,

head of the military council,

called Saturday’s signing a “vic-

torious and historic day for our

nation.” Protest leader Moham-

med Naji al-Asam said the ac-

cord turned a “new page” in Su-

dan’s history.

The deal creates a joint mili-

tary and civilian sovereign coun-

cil to rule for a little over three

years until elections can be held.

A military leader is to head the

11-member council for the first

21 months, followed by a civilian

for the next 18. Lt. Gen. Shams

el-Din Kabashi, spokesman for

the council, said Gen. Burhan

would be the initial leader.

The agreement also estab-

lishes a Cabinet appointed by

the activists, as well as a legisla-

tive body to be assembled

within three months.

The protest coalition is to

have a majority in that body, as

nominated by the Forces for

Declaration of Freedom and

Change, a coalition of opposition

parties.

—Associated Press

EUROPEAN UNION

Juncker Faces Urgent

Gallbladder Surgery

European Commission Presi-

dent Jean-Claude Juncker cut

short his holiday and was

rushed home to Luxembourg to

undergo an emergency gallblad-

der operation.

The European Union’s execu-

tive said in a statement that the

64-year-old Mr. Juncker had

been on vacation in Austria. He

is in the final months of his five-

year term as European Commis-

sion president, one of the lead-

ing jobs in the 28-nation EU.

Mr. Juncker had been sched-

uled to go to the Group of

Seven meeting in Biarritz,

France, next week. Mr. Juncker

has been troubled by a bad back

over the past years.

—Associated Press