Canada and Denmark will share a land border for the first time after signing a “historic” agreement on Tuesday, bringing an end to the nearly 50-year-long boundary dispute over Hans Island in the Arctic, which is equidistant from both the countries.
“We’re ending the dispute that many called the ‘Whiskey War.’ [...] I think it was the friendliest of all wars,” Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly said during the signing in Ottawa, adding that the deal shows how international disputes can be resolved peacefully through diplomacy. “We know that authoritarian leaders believe that they can use force and they can draw boundaries by force,” she remarked in a likely reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Canada and Denmark are officially neighbours.@JeppeKofod & I signed an agreement to end the dispute over Hans Island, creating a clear border. We will continue to work with Arctic partners on fighting climate change, defending sovereignty and advancing reconciliation. pic.twitter.com/YZmhnVhoZU
— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) June 14, 2022
Echoing Joly’s comments, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod said, “This sent a strong signal. Diplomacy and the rule of law actually work. May this agreement inspire other countries to follow the same path.”
Conservative foreign affairs expert Michael Chong acknowledged that the deal was “a demonstration of how countries who are upstanding members of our international system can work together to settle disputes around international boundaries,” adding, “Few things are more sacrosanct in maintaining international order than ensuring that we respect each other’s international boundaries.”
Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, was also consulted for the deal, and its Prime Minister (PM), Múte B. Egede, was present in Ottawa. Egede welcomed the solution by saying, “Today, we have turned a chapter in history.” He also hoped that the deal would boost trade and investment between Canada and Greenland, and encourage Greenlanders to visit friends and family in northern Nunavut.
Today 🇬🇱 Prime Minister @MuteBEgede signed historic agreement on Tartupaluk (Hans Island), ending more than 50 years of boundary disputes with Canada.
— Greenland MFA 🇬🇱 (@GreenlandMFA) June 14, 2022
The agrmt paves the way for stronger cooperation btw Greenland and Canada and not least between Inuit in Avanersuaq & Nunavut. pic.twitter.com/5NvWjaMUql
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), which is the legal representative of the Inuit of Nunavut for native treaty rights negotiation, claimed that the dispute had “never caused issues for Inuit.” “Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic is only possible because of Inuit use and occupancy,” NTI President Aluki Kotierk remarked. Nevertheless, Canadian Minister of Northern Affairs Daniel Vandal asserted that the government would continue to ensure that “all agreements are responsive to the needs of Inuit and Arctic residents.”
Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray said the agreement was “an indication of the strong partnership and friendship that we have with Denmark,” while New Democratic Party (NDP) foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson admitted that the agreement is a sign of greater international cooperation on Arctic affairs.
However, Michael Byers, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, called it a “novelty,” noting that there was no “significance” to the border, except to say that disputes can be resolved in a friendly way. “It’s possible this will become a tourist destination,” he added.
The agreement also includes the 1973 and 2012 agreements between the two countries and establishes a single maritime boundary within 200 nautical miles from the Lincoln Sea in the north to the Labrador Sea in the south—3,882 kilometres (kms), making it the longest continuous maritime border in the world. According to the joint press statement, the land boundary on the 1.2 square km island follows the natural ravine that runs the length of the island in a north to south direction.
Though the island is uninhabited without wildlife or vegetation, it “has a traditional, symbolic and historic significance to the local population in the area.” The island will maintain continued access and freedom of movement for Inuit and local people living in Avanersuaq, Kalaallit Nunaat and Nunavut, Canada, including for hunting, fishing and other related cultural, traditional, historic, and future activities.
The final bottles of the Danish-Canadian Whisky War! 🇩🇰🍾🇨🇦
— Jeppe Kofod (@JeppeKofod) June 14, 2022
Today🇩🇰🇬🇱&🇨🇦 signed a historic agreement
•Creates a land border between Kingdom of Denmark & Canada
•Formalizes world’s longest maritime border
Here’s to friendship, diplomacy & settling disputes peacefully#dkpol pic.twitter.com/n54xGOn9r4
Hans Island was under Canada’s control when Britain handed over its Arctic territories to Ottawa in 1880, but Denmark claimed that the ownership of the island goes all the way back to the Vikings’ colonisation of Greenland. Their claim was further boosted when the now-defunct Permanent Court of International Justice rejected the United States’ (US) claims to the eastern Arctic, giving Denmark sovereignty over Greenland in 1933. In the 1970s, surveyors found that Hans Island was situated directly above the two countries’ maritime border. Neither of the countries knew about each other’s claims until a 1971 summit to discuss territorial boundaries, when a delimitation line was announced but not finalised.
In 1984, Canada planted a flag on the island and left a bottle of Canadian whisky, and the Danish Minister of Greenland Affairs planted the Danish flag and left a bottle of aquavit with a note saying, “Welcome to the Danish Island” later that year. Since then, it became a tradition for military ships from both countries would visit the island, remove each other’s flags and leave a bottle of whiskey in place.
The dispute came to a relative head when Canadian Defence Minister Bill Graham said that Canada had always owned the island and went for a walk on the island as a symbolic gesture in 2005. Denmark protested the event, calling it an “occupation,” and filed a diplomatic protest with the Canadian government, stating, “Hans Island is our island.”
However, the two friendly nations decided to restart negotiations, with former Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying that it was “time to stop the flag war” and that the fight has no place in the “modern” world. Furthermore, the two countries decided to approach the International Court of Justice in The Hague if they couldn’t resolve the dispute. In 2018, they formed a joint working group to resolve the row, ending their decades-long “agree to disagree” policy.
Today, Minister Joly met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Industry & Trade, Vivian Motzfeldt, to discuss the boundary agreement between 🇨🇦 & 🇩🇰, the importance of Inuit mobility, and trade and investment. pic.twitter.com/keZTjQYcYI
— Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) June 14, 2022
“This is an example of how even the smallest piece of territory can excite governments to a point where even allies disagree for decades,” he said. At the event on Tuesday, the foreign ministers also exchanged alcoholic beverages in reference to the tradition.
In a joint statement, Ottawa and Copenhagen said on Tuesday, “This agreement is a testament to our excellent relations, and it demonstrates our commitment to the rules-based international order and in maintaining our shared ambition of the Arctic as a region of low tension and cooperation.”
The agreement will come into force after the internal processes between the two countries are completed. In Denmark, the parliament must consent to the agreement.
Though Canada and Denmark have peacefully resolved the Hans Island issue, they are still in contention for the North Pole, along with Russia. In this respect, Soren Norby, a military historian at the Royal Danish Defence College, appeared to be less confident of the issue being resolved diplomatically but told Reuters that the Hans Island agreement is a signal for “other parties with interests up there, that this is the way to do it. Whether that is realistic as long as Russia is involved, I don’t know.”