At a ceremony in Ottawa, Jeppe Kofod, the Danish Foreign Minister, stated that this is how diplomacy and friendship can solve conflicts peacefully. Canada and Denmark wanted to demonstrate that the half-century-old Arctic territorial dispute about Hans Island could be solved without using arms, even though they were embroiled in war in Ukraine.
This small island is now half Canadian, half Danish. Diplomats from both sides congratulated one another and offered each other a strange "whisky", a maple syrup-based beverage, and a bitter alcohol on the Danish side. But it wasn't always that way.
It all began in 1973, when two nations signed an agreement to define Hans Island's border. Hans Island is an uninhabited island measuring 1.3km2 and located in the Nares Strait between Ellesmere, Canada, and Greenland. They forget to decide the sovereignty of this pebble. The 1984 Greenland minister from Denmark visited the rock to hoist the Danish flag. Ironically, the minister left a bottle Schnapps near the rock and left a message for Canadians: Welcome to Denmark.
In the years that followed, the Danish navy repeatedly affirmed Copenhagen's sovereignty. The Danes claim that they are the rightful owners of the territory that Greenlandic explorers discovered in 1852. Canada, however, considers the islet of discord theirs. Great Britain has ceded the Arctic islands to Canada at the end of the 19th century.
In July 2005, Canadian Rangers, supported by the 438th and 430th tactical helicopter squadrons, hoisted Hans Island's maple leaf flag and constructed an Inukshuk, an Inuit sculpture. The Minister of Defense of Canada visited this islet during a visit to military installations in Canada's Far North. He reiterated his country's sovereignty on this barren land. For good measure, the Canadians drop a bottle Canadian whiskey next to the Copenhagen Schnapps. In August 2005, furious, the Danes sent a patrol. Tensions escalate. They enter into negotiations.
Canada regards the Northwest Passage as its internal waters. The United States and the European Union view it more as an international strait. Canadians view their maritime space as being invaded by foreign nuclear submarines. Russians have been regularly taunting Canadian fighters with the dispatching of nuclear bombers into the Far North. This forced the old CF18 fighters, purchased in the 1980s, to take off immediately.
Justin Trudeau, however, has not modernized Canada's defense to protect the sovereignty of Arctic. This is despite Canadian interests being different from the Americans regarding the Far North. Canadians have also discovered the importance of the polar regions in recent years. Nunavut, a large region in the northern part of Canada, is home to many Canadian mining companies. It's rich in diamond and gold. North American Arctic oil reserves have been estimated at 50 billion barrels.
Although the Far North's natural and fishing resources are not being exploited at present, Canada and Denmark are preparing for the future. Ottawa and Copenhagen tried to avoid what might have been a defeat for either side by ending the cold war on Hans Island. It would have hurt Denmark's position on Greenland, and Canada's position with the United States regarding oil from the Beaufort Sea. Some observers also noted that Canada has now de facto a land border with Europe.
