‘Greenland
belongs to the Greenlanders,’ says Danish PM as Donald Trump Jr. arrives
Mette
Frederiksen stresses that America doesn’t call the shots on the strategically
important Arctic island’s future.
January 7, 2025 4:20 pm CET
By Seb Starcevic and Jakob Weizman
Greenland has made it clear that it is not for sale, Danish
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday, in response to U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump’s fixation with buying the massive Arctic island.
Frederiksen said Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede “has
been very, very clear … that there is a lot of support among the people of
Greenland that Greenland is not for sale and will not be in the future either.”
The Danish leader’s remarks come after Trump suggested
purchasing Greenland from Denmark last month, calling a U.S. acquisition of the
Arctic territory an “absolute necessity.” He also made the proposal in 2019
during his first term which drew a rebuke from Frederiksen.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., landed in Greenland on
Tuesday on what he called a private visit. But his entourage included firebrand
conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the elder Trump’s personnel director,
Sergio Gor. Trump Sr. described them as his representatives.
“Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland. The reception has
been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and
PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump wrote in a Tuesday post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Five years after slapping down Trump’s Arctic aspirations,
Frederiksen reiterated once more that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
“On one hand, I am pleased regarding the rise in American
interest in Greenland,” Frederiksen said in an interview Tuesday with Danish
broadcaster TV 2. “But of course it is important that it takes place in a way
where it is the Greenlanders’ decision, what their future holds.”
Greenland, the world’s largest island with a population of
around 60,000, was a Danish colony until it became self-ruling with its own
parliament in 1979. It remains a territory of Denmark, with Copenhagen
exercising control over its foreign and defense policy.
As global powers seek to expand their reach and footprint in
the Arctic, mineral-rich Greenland — which hosts a U.S. military base — is
coveted for its strategic value in security and trade.
Frederiksen, who in 2019 described Trump’s bid to purchase
the island as “absurd,” said it was up to Greenlanders to decide their own
future, calling the growing independence movement on the island “legitimate.”
“I can notice a strong wish amongst many Greenlanders to
move toward independence,” she said. “It is legitimate, and therefore I think
that it is important that Greenland’s future is shaped in [the Greenlandic
capital] Nuuk.”
Under a 2009 agreement with Denmark, Greenland can declare
independence only after a successful referendum — which its leader Egede
appeared to hint, during his New Year’s address, might be held in tandem with
the island’s upcoming parliamentary election in April.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário