VZCZCXRO6213
OO RUEHAG RUEHLN
DE RUEHCP #0270/01 1621006
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 111006Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5000
INFO RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 9017
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 5572
RUEHRK/AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK 0484
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 3899
RUEHTL/AMEMBASSY TALLINN 1547
RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA 0865
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 1659
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 2120
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 0348
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG 0064

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COPENHAGEN 000270 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IWC SENV KSCA PREL PGOV EFIS DA
SUBJECT:  IWC 2009 MEETING: DENMARK/GREENLAND VIEWS 
 
REF:  STATE 57020 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Denmark's IWC commissioner told us Denmark will 
again request an aboriginal whaling quota for Greenland, despite 
uncertainty regarding the whaling policies of the new Greenlandic 
Home Rule Government.  Denmark supports continuation of the "Future 
of the IWC" small working group, without observers present, but 
urges better readouts of small group meetings.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) ESTH Specialist spoke June 8 with Danish Commissioner to 
IWC, Ole Samsing, who will attend the upcoming annual IWC meeting in 
Madeira. 
 
Danish Views Mixed on SWG 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Samsing said Denmark supports continuation of the "Future 
of the IWC" but believes progress over the past year has slowed 
because the "Small" Working Group is still too large to make 
progress on difficult issues.  On the other hand, Samsing expressed 
surprise that the results of meetings held between even smaller 
groupings, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and 
Japan had not been shared with other IWC members like Denmark. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Samsing said Denmark believes that it is absolutely 
essential to keep observers away from the SWG meetings.  Denmark 
does support inviting members and observers to inter-session 
meetings.  Samsing praised the "neutrality" and "effectiveness" of 
SWG chair De Soto, and Denmark believes that view to be widely 
shared among SWG participants. 
 
Chairmanship Issue 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Denmark also supports IWC Chairman Hogarth's candidacy for 
another term.  Regarding the vice-chairmanship, Denmark has no firm 
position.  Samsing did not rule out the possibility of voting for 
the Japanese candidate, but he believes any Japanese candidate would 
face opposition from anti-whaling nations. 
 
What about Greenland? 
 
¶6.  (SBU) After Denmark's request for an aboriginal harvest quota 
for humpback whales was denied at the last annual IWC meeting, a 
Greenland Home Rule Government minister had urged the Danish 
government to permit Greenland to withdraw from the IWC.  Greenland 
is a self-governing territory but nevertheless still part of the 
Kingdom of Denmark.  Denmark formally represents Greenland in the 
IWC, but typically provides a Home Rule representative a seat at the 
negotiating table. Greenland thus cannot leave the IWC on its own. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Still, Samsing told us that it would be technically 
possible for Denmark to notify the IWC that the "territorial 
applications" of the IWC are limited to the Faeroe Islands and 
Denmark, allowing Denmark to thus technically exclude Greenland from 
the IWC.  However, Samsing implied that Denmark clearly prefers the 
status quo on Greenland's IWC status.  He said Denmark would again 
request a new aboriginal quota of ten humpback whales for Greenland. 
 Samsing said he had warned Hogarth that "time is running out" on 
Greenlandic patience with the IWC and real progress on aboriginal 
whaling quota increases must be made if Denmark is to keep the 
Greenlanders engaged within the IWC. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Samsing, noting that Greenland was forming a new 
government following June 2 parliamentary elections, said it is too 
soon to know what the new Home Rule Government's whaling policy will 
be.  Samsing expects Greenland's new government to send 
representatives to Madeira, but he would not speculate further, 
saying only "then we will see what happens." Samsing noted parallel 
themes reflected in Greenlandic politics: resentment of what is seen 
as "cultural imperialism" and interference in Inuit affairs by the 
IWC and other international institutions (Greenlanders are still 
seething over the European Parliament's recent ban on Canadian seal 
skin imports), balanced by the recognition that it is in Greenland's 
interest to cooperate with and participate in international 
institutions. 
 
Comment 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Greenland's new government takes the reins June 12 and its 
position on whaling issues will likely not be clear before the 
meeting in Madeira.  Greenland's new Premier, for his part, has 
signaled his desire to ensure that Greenland engages with a 
globalized world.  But Greenland's government, while new, faces the 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000270  002 OF 002 
 
 
difficult and long-standing challenge of reconciling conflicting 
influences in its whaling policy: protection of Greenlandic cultural 
identity, promotion of Greenland's economic development, and 
engagement with the broader international community.  We expect to 
see these tensions continue to manifest themselves in Greenland's, 
and Denmark's, dealings with the IWC. 
MCCULLEY