Race for the North Pole national vanity, says Commander of the Royal Danish Defence College
A goldmine or a desolate wasteland? Photo: Christopher Michel
The Commander of the Royal Danish Defence College doubts that there will be any significant gain from the millions of dollars spent by Denmark, Greenland, Russia and Canada in "a race for ownership over a frigid sea with no immediate practical usage".
The Commander of the Royal Danish Defence College doubts that there will be any significant gain from the millions of dollars spent by Denmark, Greenland, Russia and Canada in "a race for ownership over a frigid sea with no immediate practical usage".
"It’s a matter of national vanity, about who gets to brag that Santa Claus is Danish or Russian," said Rear Admiral Nils Wang at the recent release of a Danish report on defense and security policy.
According to the Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq AG, Peter Taksøe, head of the report commission, disagrees with Wang’s assessment: "One should not forget that if the North Pole becomes a part of Denmark and Greenland, we will be the ones who decide what happens in that area. That kind of control does count for something."