Greenland’s government is facing a crisis. The broad coalition that governed after last week’s election is fracturing almost a year later, and foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt has lost her post.
The trigger has been a dispute over the candidacy of two Greenlandic ministers who will run in the Danish parliament, where a snap election is scheduled for March 24 in Copenhagen. Siumut, the Social Democrats who are part of the government, has demanded a clear separation of duties in Greenland and mandates in Copenhagen. In protest, they have withdrawn from the coalition.
Motzfeldt, who has been in the news internationally because of a disagreement with the United States, also left the cabinet. She said her party’s decision surprised and disappointed her.
Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen, a member of the social‑liberal Democrats, criticised the departure of his coalition partners and remarked that Greenland is “under pressure and international scrutiny unlike anything we have experienced before”. He added that the broad coalition had been essential because, “When external pressure increases, we need domestic unity. That’s why I insisted on a broad coalition from the outset”. He assured that the government would continue its work.
Although the coalition has fallen apart, Nielsen still holds a majority in Parliament. Following the March 2025 election, he had engaged all other parties in negotiations-only a group pushing for an immediate start to independence talks was excluded from the government.