The mayor of Nuuk shows a photo of the northern lights taken over South Greenland last night. They were exceptionally strong—red fans like these are a rare sight, even here.
In Nuuk, only green lights were visible through the clouds. While northern lights are a common occurrence in Greenland, the political situation that has now emerged is entirely new for the small population.
"People aren't used to seeing so many journalists on the streets and they're here from all over the world. Today, we're also seeing more military personnel in Nuuk. But emotionally, this has felt like a roller coaster for us. At first, we thought it was just a bad joke and then suddenly we were afraid," said the mayor of Nuuk.
City officials are urging people to support one another mentally and emotionally.
"I tell people that we need to talk to each other, to look out for one another. We've developed materials on how to talk to children about this, as well as how to discuss the situation with older people. What else are we doing — we're making sure there are spaces where people can come together. After Saturday's demonstration, we organized a large gathering at the cultural center. We had a concert, singing and comedians," Olsen said.
Under local rules, the person serving as mayor of Nuuk is not permitted to speak out or give interviews on political matters. Therefore, we are not addressing those topics here.
Source: A European Perspective, ERR
Originally published by Astrid Kannel on 21 January 2026 13:17 GMT+1