Inuit lawmaker asked to leave the podium at Danish Parliament after speaking only in Greenlandic

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A lawmaker representing Greenland in Denmark’s Parliament was asked to leave the podium of the assembly after she refused to translate her speech delivered in Greenlandic — the Inuit language of the sparsely populated Arctic island — into Danish, highlighting strained relations within the Danish Realm.

Aki-Matilda Høgh-Dam, from the social democratic Siumut party, is at the center of a debate about whether lawmakers from Greenland and the Faeroe Islands can speak in their own tongues before the Danish Parliament. The two semi-independent territories each hold two seats in the Folketing in Copenhagen.

During a traditional debate day Thursday, where parties’ political affairs spokespeople explain their party’s line, Høgh-Dam gave an eight-minute speech in Greenlandic. She had beforehand distributed a translation of her speech to the members of the assembly.

When she had finished, Parliament Speaker Søren Gade asked her if Høgh-Dam she was going to repeat it in Danish, to which she said no.

Gade told her that “one cannot debate a speech ... if the speech is not also delivered in Danish” and asked her to step down. He added that Høgh-Dam, who is fluent in Danish, had been informed last year that Greenlandic and Faeroese lawmakers can speak in their local tongues if they themselves translate it into Danish immediately afterward. Høgh-Dam said she had no intention of doing that.

Danish, which is taught in Greenland's schools, is the language in the Copenhagen assembly. Høgh-Dam demands simultaneous interpretation. Gade has said that the Folketing is not geared for that but Greenlandic and Faeroese lawmakers can get extra funds to hire translators.

The other Greenland lawmaker in Denmark — Aaja Chemnitz of the left-leaning Inuit Ataqatigiit — spoke in Danish Thursday evening. Later, her party said it backed Høgh-Dam's stance.

Greenland was a colony under Denmark’s crown until 1953, when it became a province in the Scandinavian country. In 1979, the island was granted home rule, and 30 years later Greenland became a self-governing entity. But Denmark retains control over justice, foreign and defense affairs. However, relations have been tense between the two. including because of revelations of misconduct by Danish authorities in Greenland during the 20th century.

A movement for the vast island’s independence has intensified over the past two decades. Greenland, which has a population of some 57,000 and whose main export is fish, still relies heavily on Denmark for annual financial support, which is budgeted to be 4 billion kroner (nearly $600 million) in 2024.

Lawmaker Aki-Matilda Hoeegh-Dam, top right, representing Greenland, attends the opening of the Folketing, which is also the beginning of a new parliamentary year, at Christiansborg in Copenhagen, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Lawmaker Aki-Matilda Hoeegh-Dam, representing Greenland, attends the opening of the Folketing, which is also the beginning of a new parliamentary year, at Christiansborg in Copenhagen, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation that it was a Russian spy, was not shot to death as claimed by animal rights groups but died of a bacterial infection, Norwegian police said Friday.

A final autopsy by Norway's Veterinary Institute “concludes that the probable cause of death was bacterial infection -- possibly as a result of a wound in the mouth from a stuck stick,” Amund Preede Revheim, head of the North Sea and Environment section of the police in south-western Norway said.

“There have been no findings from the autopsy that indicate that the whale has been shot,” he stressed, adding that the autopsy had been “made difficult by the fact that many of the whale’s organs were very rotten.” As there was no indication of foul play, there was no reason to start a criminal investigation into its death, Preede Revheim said.

The tame beluga, which was first spotted in 2019 not far from Russian waters with a harness reading “Equipment St. Petersburg,” had been nicknamed "Hvaldimir,” combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was found floating in a southern Norway bay on Aug. 31.

In September, animal advocate groups OneWhale and NOAH filed a police report saying that the animal’s wounds suggested it was intentionally killed.

They pointed at several wounds found on the animal’s skin, including what was interpreted as a bullet hole.

“Assessments made by the Veterinary Institute and the police’s forensic technicians are that these are not gunshot wounds. X-rays of the chest and head were carried out without any projectiles or other metal fragments being detected,” police said in a statement.

Earlier, police had described a stick about 35 centimeters (14 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) wide which was found wedged in the animal’s mouth, its stomach was empty and its organs had broken down, police said. No further details were given.

The 4.2-meter (14-foot) long and 1,225-kilogram (2,700-pound) whale was first spotted by fishermen not far from the Arctic town of Hammerfest.

Its harness, along with what appeared to be a mount for a small camera, led to media speculation that it was a “spy whale.” Experts say the Russian navy is known to have trained whales for military purposes. Media reports also have speculated that the whale might have been trained as a therapy animal.

There was no immediate reaction from OneWhale or NOAH.

FILE - In this photo taken in April 2019 a beluga whale found in Arctic Norway is fed. (Jorgen Ree Wiig, Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries via AP)