VZCZCXRO5866
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHCP #0356/01 2300642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 180642Z AUG 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5121
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COPENHAGEN 000356 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR OES, EUR, AND EUR/NB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV DA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR FULTON MEETS GREENLAND PREMIER 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000356  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified; protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Ambassador Fulton paid her initial call on 
Greenland's Premier, Kuupik Kleist, August 14.  Kleist 
stressed that he desires close cooperation with the United 
States and the Ambassador committed to continued U.S. 
engagement in Greenland. Specifically, the two discussed how 
to further develop educational exchanges between the U.S. and 
Greenland, the prospects of addressing Greenland's many 
pressing social issues, and the challenges Greenland faces in 
creating environmentally sustainable economic growth. Both 
Kleist and the Ambassador agreed that the 
U.S.-Greenland-Denmark Joint Committee remains a useful tool 
in addressing some of these issues, while others may need 
discussion in broader fora, like the Arctic Council.  The 
meeting came one week ahead of Ambassador Fulton's first 
visit to Greenland, scheduled for August 20-21.  End Summary 
 
(U) Change and Continuity 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Ambassador Fulton held her first meeting August 14 
with Greenland's Premier, Kuupik Kleist, at the offices of 
Greenland's Representation in Copenhagen.  Kleist was 
accompanied by Head of Representation Tove Soevndahl Pedersen 
and Senior Advisor Adam Worm.  The Ambassador was accompanied 
by Pol/Econ Counselor and PolOff (notetaker). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Kleist warmly welcomed the Ambassador and told her 
he was pleased that she was meeting with him so early in her 
tenure.  Ambassador Fulton, noting that Kleist was also still 
relatively new in his term of office, congratulated the 
Premier on his June 2 election win and told Kleist she was 
looking forward to visiting Greenland's capital, Nuuk, August 
20-21.  Kleist told the Ambassador that his new government 
was still very much settling in.  The election had been 
historic, with Kleist unseating a party that had held the 
reins of government in Greenland for the past 30 years. 
Right now, Kleist and his government were working on next 
year's budget, which he remarked was "not a joy."  Still, he 
was excited to be leading and was taking what he said would 
be first steps to help Greenland establish a more stable and 
diversified economy. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kleist congratulated the Ambassador on her 
appointment and remarked that he had met every U.S. 
ambassador for the last 20 years, but that Ambassador Fulton 
was the first woman he had met in the job.  Ambassador Fulton 
pointed out she was in good company, as one of her 
predecessors, Eugenie Anderson, who served 1950-53 in 
Copenhagen, had been the first woman to carry the title of 
U.S. Ambassador.  The Premier also said that he and all other 
Greenlanders had closely followed last year's U.S. 
presidential election, adding that President Obama was 
extremely popular in Greenland.  Kleist boasted that he had 
stolen a page from the President's own election campaign 
book, stressing the need for change in Greenland. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Citing geography and a shared history dating back to 
World War II, Kleist noted that Greenland had always had a 
close relationship with the United States.  That relationship 
had been re-launched in 2004 when the U.S., Greenland, and 
Denmark signed the Igaliku Agreements, which updated the 1951 
defense agreement governing the U.S. military presence in 
Greenland.  The Igaliku Agreements had also dramatically 
expanded cooperation between the U.S. and Greenland beyond 
just security issues to encompass culture and education, 
environmental and scientific cooperation, and the promotion 
of strong commercial and economic ties.  Kleist expressed 
hope these ties could be strengthened, and noted that "we may 
need to review" some issues.  He told the Ambassador the he 
was looking forward to discussing Joint Committee and other 
issues in detail with her in Nuuk. 
 
(U) Setting a Common Agenda 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Asked by Kleist what specific interests she had 
vis-a-vis Greenland, the Ambassador pointed to climate change 
and December's COP-15 summit, public diplomacy and 
educational exchanges, and women's issues.  Kleist noted that 
women were taking on an ever more prominent role in modern 
Greenland, with many now taking the lead in seeking education 
in Greenland, Denmark and abroad. (Note: Kleist's Inuit 
Ataqatigiit, or Inuit Community party, led the way in 
promoting women in the last parliamentary election campaign, 
providing half of its candidate seats to women.  Kleist's 
government has four female and four male ministers. End Note) 
 Women were increasingly leading in Greenland as climate 
change and economic development drive social change, the 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000356  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
result being less prominence for traditionally male roles 
tied to fishing and hunting.  Ambassador Fulton noted that 
the United States had undergone similar changes in its 
history, particularly as some communities moved away from 
predominantly agriculture-based economies.  Still, whether it 
was in providing assistance in confronting some of 
Greenland's difficult social issues, or in helping young 
Greenlanders seek out additional educational opportunities 
and ways to connect with the broader world, the Ambassador 
said that the United States was interested in exploring 
opportunities for dialogue and partnership. 
 
(U) Creating Sustainable Growth 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Specifically addressing climate change, Kleist noted 
that Greenland had been the setting in recent years for a 
series of increasingly large and high-profile international 
gatherings.  Kleist was happy for the attention, which 
Greenland had been able to use to attract new tourism and 
business interest to Greenland, but wanted to see more 
substance.  Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, 
was discussing with the Danes how to best balance new 
prospects for economic growth with the imperatives of a 
sustainable climate policy.  When Denmark signed the Kyoto 
Protocol, Kleist explained, there was no real industrial 
development in Greenland.  Now, Greenland faced the prospect 
of real growth in its mineral sector and was negotiating with 
U.S aluminum giant Alcoa to construct a large smelter in 
Western Greenland.  This project alone would increase the 
volume of Greenland's CO2 emissions by an order of magnitude. 
 Still, Greenland needed room to grow and develop 
economically, and Kleist hoped to reach an agreement with the 
Danes on how to allow for this before the COP-15 summit in 
Copenhagen in December. 
 
(SBU) Ilulissat II 
------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Kleist also raised the upcoming "Ilulissat II" 
meeting in Canada.  Greenland had served as the venue for the 
original Ilulissat ministerial, which Kleist thought had done 
a good job of delineating, if not solving, some of the 
difficult issues surrounding pursuit of resources and the 
exercise of sovereignty among the Arctic coastal states. 
Kleist, however, was concerned that Ilulissat II was already 
creating some disagreements among members of the Arctic 
Council regarding what the meeting should do and who should 
take part.  Kleist commented that, "to be honest, I'm not 
really sure what the purpose is."  Kleist wondered whether 
there might be opportunities for the U.S. and 
Denmark/Greenland to coordinate in advance of Ilulissat II 
and he told the Ambassador that the Danish embassy in 
Washington had recently approached the Department (Note: 
presumably, OES. End Note) to discuss this. 
 
 
(U) Joint Committee, Self-Governance 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) Regarding the U.S.-Greenland-Denmark Joint 
Committee, Kleist said he believed there had been good 
progress.  He felt that all three sides wanted to see the 
Joint Committee flourish.  Kleist voiced the hope that all 
sides would continue to contribute resources and time to the 
Joint Committee, where Greenland felt it was especially 
important to focus on exchanges and to look for ways to 
provide young Greenlanders additional opportunities to 
advance their education. 
 
¶10. (SBU) On the recently-concluded Self-Governance Agreement 
with Denmark, which entered into force on June 21, Kleist 
said there were two broad views in Greenland.  One was inward 
looking, arguing that self-governance made Greenland "master 
of its own house" and should lead to increased Greenlandic 
autonomy.  The other view, which Kleist said he championed, 
asserted that more self-governance for Greenland required 
more engagement with the rest of the world, particularly with 
Greenland's neighbors.  Kleist said he viewed relations with 
the United States through this prism, and wanted to do what 
he could to encourage the U.S. and Greenland to do more 
together.  The Ambassador echoed that sentiment, noting that 
the U.S. was ready to strengthen ties with Greenland. 
 
(U) Comment 
----------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Kleist is a savvy politician and it was clear that 
he wanted to use this first exchange with Ambassador Fulton 
to highlight cooperation with the U.S. He avoided more 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000356  003 OF 003 
 
 
controversial topics like "CIA flights," or the 1968 crash of 
a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber in Greenland, and in discussing 
the Joint Committee he largely steered clear of requests for 
dedicated funding (which we have indicated in the past will 
not be forthcoming).  Still, in the days following his 
election in June, Kleist said publicly that he would be 
reviewing most of Greenland's agreements with international 
partners to ensure they were producing the best results for 
Greenland, and Kleist at one point in his meeting with the 
Ambassador noted that "we may need to review" some issues. 
Kleist knows that the U.S. presence in and relationship with 
Greenland is the largest and most developed of any 
international partner's.  Our security cooperation at Thule 
Air Base, our growing agenda in the Joint Committee, and the 
Alcoa aluminum smelter project all are reasons for Kleist to 
look to the U.S. for partnership and support as Greenland 
enters a new era of greater autonomy. 
FULTON