“Everyone is downloading an app to boycott US goods.” A Belarusian architect shared her vibe from Greenland

Zinaida Liashonak, a graduate of the BNTU Faculty of Architecture, worked as an urban planner in Ilulissat, the center of the Greenlandic municipality of Avannaata, 350 km north of the Arctic Circle, from 2022 to 2024. For the past year, Zinaida has been living and working in Denmark.

"Searching for the best places to house sled dogs": What did the Belarusian do in Greenland?

I've been in Denmark for a little over a year. I moved thanks to a job as an urban planner in the Municipality of Odense.

Aapilattoq settlement in Greenland. Photo by interviewee

Before that, for a little over two years, I worked in the same position in Greenland's northernmost municipality.

I ended up in Greenland because Danish municipalities wouldn't hire me, and in Greenland, there are such problems with "staff turnover" and finding specialists that I got hired there on my second attempt. The staff problem is significant for Greenland; it's worth remembering this throughout the entire story.

Working in Greenland is a wonderful opportunity to try designing in a country where there is no private land ownership and job tasks are very diverse. And with work experience in Greenland, you also get proof that you are capable of working in Danish and in a Danish position.

There aren't many employees in the Greenlandic municipality, but there are many tasks. Therefore, there's room for initiatives and for "ordinary" tasks. Among the latter were, for example:

• organizing the voting process to choose names for new streets;
• assisting with maps for a company involved in street snow removal;
• cooperating with the construction of a new international airport;
• searching for opportunities to expand cemeteries;
• finding the best places to house sled dogs.

Павялічыць

Aapilattoq settlement in Greenland. Photo by interviewee

All of this was very interesting and gave the feeling that your work was not in vain.

I moved from Greenland to Denmark for several reasons. Despite the variety of work tasks, over time, the work became more routine. For more than two years, I missed the opportunity to travel cheaply. And my original plan was to try my hand at planning specifically in Denmark.

Relations between Danes and Greenlanders and the language question

In Denmark, Danes usually don't know much about Greenland, and very few of them have ever been there, even as tourists. Therefore, their understanding of Inuit is very abstract. Danes who live in Greenland or who have worked and lived there for at least a few months understand much better both the not-so-pleasant position the island's inhabitants are/were in, and the trauma of the Inuit from previous Danish policies in Greenland.

It's important to note that many Greenlanders live in Denmark, and quite a few of them are in Odense, where I currently work. But I don't know how they feel about this whole situation.

In Greenland, I worked in Danish. Almost all Greenlanders know Danish, but there are those who understand it better than they speak it, or simply refuse to speak the language of the colonizers. In such cases, I have to call a colleague to help with translation, because citizens have the right to be served in the municipality in the language they wish to use. But in my field of work, these were, rather, exceptions.

The Greenlandic language belongs to a completely different language family — the Eskimo–Aleut languages. And it is very difficult to learn. Moreover, there are very significant differences between dialects and within dialects. For example, even within the West Greenlandic dialect, the same word in different localities can mean yellow or green.

I didn't manage to learn Greenlandic; I only know a couple of phrases. But if there were a plan to stay in Greenland, it would be advisable to learn the language, at least out of politeness. Besides, knowing Greenlandic would give you many more opportunities for communication with colleagues.

The Trump Factor

I can't say I remember anything about Trump's statements about Greenland during his first term (Trump first voiced his intention to buy Greenland in 2019 — Ed.). But I well remember my colleagues' reaction to his statements about Greenland after his second election victory, at the end of 2024.

Павялічыць

Cemetery in the town of Upernavik in Greenland. Photo by interviewee

My Danish colleagues were concerned, but to varying degrees.

Greenlandic colleagues, on the other hand, were mostly surprised, some a little concerned. And one of them was happy, because "anything is better than the Danes." But by the end of 2025, even this single person changed his position.

In general, all Greenlanders I'm friends with on social media very clearly support the idea that Greenland should decide its own future and should not do so under duress. Many who previously did not speak about politics have now started to do so.

Currently, the question of Greenland occupies a lot of space and time in absolutely all Danish media. There have also been demonstrations in support of Greenland. At work, many colleagues are concerned, some very concerned. Discussions on this topic have also taken place. But Danes are usually very diplomatic, so conversation topics are rarely very sharp.

I don't know a single person in Denmark who would support Trump's idea [to annex Greenland to the USA]. In Greenland itself, many advocate for complete independence. But most of them understand that a very significant part of Greenland's budget comes from financial payments from Denmark. And that a very large portion of workers in Greenland, especially in healthcare, are Danes, and that some areas of responsibility (such as issuing visas and work permits) are currently handled by Denmark.

That is, complete independence requires long and thorough preparation, because a country with just over 56,000 inhabitants cannot provide itself with specialized professionals "tomorrow."

By the way, I also know Danes who support Greenland's complete independence.

Currently, there's a slight anti-American sentiment in the Danish air. This mainly concerns attempts to stop buying American services or goods. A very striking example of this is the recent news that an application that allows filtering goods so as not to accidentally buy something from the USA is rapidly gaining audience.

Some attempts to abandon US technology and services directly relate to information security. But McDonald's in the center of Odense, as far as I can see, has not emptied out.

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