Denmark throws gauntlet at Russia's feet in Arctic grudge match

OK, that might be overstating things just a little bit, but having recently bitch-slapped Canada in numbers of visits to Eff You, Denmark apparently is feeling a little chesty. The smallish Northern European country apparently has some big ambitions. But when Queen Margrethe II wants something, then by God her minions better hop to it, and they are:

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Scientific data shows Greenland's continental shelf is connected to a ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean, giving Danes a claim to the North Pole and any potential energy resources beneath it, Denmark's foreign minister said.
Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said Denmark will deliver a claim on Monday to a United Nations panel in New York that will eventually decide control of the area, which Russia and Canada are also coveting.

The BBC is reporting that Denmark did, indeed, file its claim with the UN today:

Denmark has presented a claim to the UN, arguing that the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.
Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said it was a "historic and important milestone" for Denmark.
Canada and Russia have already asserted their own sovereignty over the energy-rich Arctic territory.

I'm a little amused at the rationale for all this interest. The area under the Arctic Sea is believed to contain 13 percent of the world's undiscovered and recoverable resources. That's enough to warrant a claim on controlling those resources, but there may be some pie-in-the-sky reasoning at work:

Interest in the Arctic is intensifying as global warming shrinks the polar ice, opening up possible resource development and new shipping lanes.

The polar ice cap isn't shrinking -- it has been growing annually ever since a dip several years ago.

Also, as Ace points out, going toe-to-toe with Russia might not be wise -- Denmark's military is not exactly feared the world over. Vlad "Shirts are for the weak" Putin doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who gives a shit what the UN says. He seems more likely to take what he wants and dare the world to stop him -- like in Ukraine. Denmark is not intimidated, though:

Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen of Denmark's Syddansk University said the government in Copenhagen had staked its claim, partly to show the world that Denmark could not be pushed about, but also to prove a political point to the people of Greenland.
"There's a strong push for independence in Greenland, and Denmark wants to show it's capable of taking its interest into account," he told the BBC.

Go, Denmark. Poke that bear.