Trump
must give up ‘fantasies about annexation’, says Greenland’s PM
Leader of
former Danish colony, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, condemns US ‘threats’ as Nordic
neighbours offer support
Miranda
Bryant Nordic correspondent
Mon 5 Jan
2026 11.24 GMT
Greenland
has urged Donald Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” after the US
president, fresh from his military operation in Venezuela, again threatened to
take over the Arctic territory.
In a
bracingly direct statement, the Greenlandic prime minister, Jens-Frederik
Nielsen, accused the US of “completely and utterly unacceptable” rhetoric,
declaring: “Enough is enough.”
On
Sunday, Trump said the US needed Greenland “very badly” – renewing fears of a
US invasion of the largely autonomous island, which is a former Danish colony
and remains part of the Danish kingdom. Greenland’s foreign and security policy
continues to be controlled by Copenhagen.
“Threats,
pressure and talk of annexation have no place between friends,” said Nielsen in
a social media post on Monday. “That is not how you speak to a people who have
shown responsibility, stability and loyalty time and again. Enough is enough.
No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.”
Greenland,
he said, was “open to dialogue” but it had to come through the appropriate
channels and in line with international law, “not random and disrespectful
posts on social media”.
He added:
“Greenland is our home and our territory. And that is how it will remain.”
He was
backed by the EU, which on Monday said it would not stop defending the
principle of territorial integrity, particularly when it came to a member of
the 27-member bloc.
“The EU
will continue to uphold the principles of national sovereignty, territorial
integrity and the inviolability of borders,” EU foreign policy spokesperson
Anitta Hipper told reporters.
“These
are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them, all the more so
if the territorial integrity of a member state of the European Union is
questioned.”
The
comments come after Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, on Sunday said
it made “absolutely no sense to talk about the US needing to take over
Greenland”. She added that the US had “no right to annex any of the three
countries in the Danish kingdom”.
After
refusing to rule out military intervention to gain control of Greenland last
year, Trump has been relatively quiet on the subject in recent months.
But the
US bombardment of Venezuela to capture its president, Nicolás Maduro, and
Trump’s comments over the weekend have renewed fears that he may act on his
threats.
Speaking
on Air Force One, asked whether he expected to take action in Greenland, he
refused to answer, saying he would revisit the subject “in 20 days” before
going on to mock Danish defence efforts.
“Right
now, Greenland is full of Chinese and Russian ships everywhere. We need
Greenland for national security reasons. Denmark will not be able to handle the
task.”
Last
month, Danish intelligence services accused the US of using its economic power
to “assert its will” and threatening military force against its allies. It
comes against the backdrop of increasing tensions in the Arctic as three global
superpowers – the US, China and Russia – fight for dominance over minerals and
other geopolitical assets in the region as the ice melts.
Nordic
neighbours Sweden, Norway and Finland have all expressed their support for
Denmark. The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said: “Only Denmark and
Greenland have the right to decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland.
Sweden fully supports our neighbouring country.”
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