Reuters.- Denmark and Canada will share the small uninhabited Arctic island known as Hans, ending a nearly 50-year dispute over its ownership, in a largely symbolic act of diplomacy aimed at deflecting tensions in the Arctic region.
The two NATO allies have been in a mostly friendly dispute over the island, equidistant between Greenland and the Canadian island of Ellesmere, since 1971 when their rival claims came to light.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It leaves the management of certain policy areas, such as foreign and security policy, in the hands of Copenhagen.
Canada and Denmark will divide the 1.2 square kilometer island into two nearly equal parts along a natural cleft in the rocky outcrop, according to the agreement released by the Danish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
Some see the peaceful deal as a sign of rapprochement between Arctic NATO states, as Russia’s isolation following its invasion of Ukraine has raised security concerns after decades of calm in the region.
“It’s really a signal to the other stakeholders up there that this is the way to do it. Although I don’t know if it’s realistic as long as Russia is involved,” he said. Reuters Royal Danish Defense College military historian Soren Norby.
The island is named after Greenlandic explorer Hans Hendrik, who took part in the first expedition to the island in 1853. It is called Tartupaluk in Greenlandic, which translates to “kidney-shaped”.
Neither country was aware of the other’s claim to the island until a bilateral meeting held in 1971 to discuss territorial boundaries.
Since the 1980s, officials, scientists and soldiers from Denmark and Canada have traveled to the island, taking turns removing the other country’s flag and raising their own.
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It has even become a tradition for visitors to leave a bottle of Canadian whiskey or Danish schnapps for their rivals to find on their next visit, according to media reports.
In 2018, the two countries decided to create a joint task force to resolve the dispute, ending their decades-old “deal-disagree” policy. The agreement will be officially signed by the ministers of the two countries after its parliamentary approval.
With this agreement, Canada and Denmark have established the longest maritime border in the world, at 3,882 kilometers, stretching from the Lincoln Sea in the north to the Labrador Sea in the south, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. foreign.
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