Greenland talks about Hans in Ottawa

Josef Motzfeldt, the finance and foreign affairs minister for Greenland, was in Ottawa late last month, where he met Peter Van Loan, the parliamentary secretary to Peter MacKay, Canada’s foreign affairs minister.

The two continued discussions on which country may lay claim to Hans Island, the tiny, disputed hunk of rock between northern Ellesmere Island and Greenland.

Motzfeld said Canada and Denmark-Greenland were likely to conduct a scientific survey of the area to help decide jurisdiction.

“The scientists will tell us Hans Island belongs to Greenland. If the Canadians don’t agree with that decision, then we have to add a third institution, like the United Nations, to make the decision,” he told Reuters in an interview.