EvanL
04-01-2004, 12:18 AM
Denmark, Canada downplay reports of trans-Atlantic squabble over lone island
at 15:02 on March 31, 2004, EST.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Canada and Denmark are not at odds over a tiny barren island off northwestern Greenland, officials said Wednesday as they downplayed suggestions that the icebound rock was causing a trans-Atlantic squabble.
Both countries claim sovereignty over the 1.3-square-kilometre Hans Island, roughly 1,100 kilometres south of the North Pole. "Denmark believes that it's part of Greenland and the Canadians have the same opinion but just the other way around," said Peter Taksoe-Jensen of the Foreign Ministry's international department.
Greenland, the world's largest island, is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Since 1973, when Canada and Denmark drew a border down the inhospitable strait halfway between Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island, the countries have decided that sovereignty over Hans Island and others in the Arctic region would be determined later, Taksoe-Jensen said.
"We didn't have the precise technological measurement methods that we have nowadays," he said, adding that who owns what is still being discussed 31 years later.
Recent Canadian news reports said the Danish navy has raised the flag while visiting the windy, rocky island. In Denmark, however, the story goes that Canadian sailors hoist the Maple Leaf flag when they set foot there.
The Danish navy patrols areas of northern Greenland at sea and on land to maintain a Danish presence in the vast Arctic area.
"There is a no crisis, there is no dispute," stressed Alex Jensen, a Danish navy spokesman.
Hans Island can only be reached during mild summers when the ice melts. The Danish navy did so in 2002 and 2003. "Before that, it was in 1988," Jensen said.
"It's an old story," said Erik Rosenstand, a spokesman with the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen. "There is nothing dramatic about all this."
Both Rosenstand and Taksoe-Jensen denied reports that a Canadian diplomat had been summoned to the Danish Foreign Ministry over the issue.
"No one has been summoned," Rosenstand said. "If someone is summoned, it means serious matter."
JAN M. OLSEN
© The Canadian Press, 2003
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at 15:02 on March 31, 2004, EST.
Printable version Send to a friend
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Canada and Denmark are not at odds over a tiny barren island off northwestern Greenland, officials said Wednesday as they downplayed suggestions that the icebound rock was causing a trans-Atlantic squabble.
Both countries claim sovereignty over the 1.3-square-kilometre Hans Island, roughly 1,100 kilometres south of the North Pole. "Denmark believes that it's part of Greenland and the Canadians have the same opinion but just the other way around," said Peter Taksoe-Jensen of the Foreign Ministry's international department.
Greenland, the world's largest island, is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Since 1973, when Canada and Denmark drew a border down the inhospitable strait halfway between Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island, the countries have decided that sovereignty over Hans Island and others in the Arctic region would be determined later, Taksoe-Jensen said.
"We didn't have the precise technological measurement methods that we have nowadays," he said, adding that who owns what is still being discussed 31 years later.
Recent Canadian news reports said the Danish navy has raised the flag while visiting the windy, rocky island. In Denmark, however, the story goes that Canadian sailors hoist the Maple Leaf flag when they set foot there.
The Danish navy patrols areas of northern Greenland at sea and on land to maintain a Danish presence in the vast Arctic area.
"There is a no crisis, there is no dispute," stressed Alex Jensen, a Danish navy spokesman.
Hans Island can only be reached during mild summers when the ice melts. The Danish navy did so in 2002 and 2003. "Before that, it was in 1988," Jensen said.
"It's an old story," said Erik Rosenstand, a spokesman with the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen. "There is nothing dramatic about all this."
Both Rosenstand and Taksoe-Jensen denied reports that a Canadian diplomat had been summoned to the Danish Foreign Ministry over the issue.
"No one has been summoned," Rosenstand said. "If someone is summoned, it means serious matter."
JAN M. OLSEN
© The Canadian Press, 2003
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