By Anxo Lamela
Copenhagen, Jan 13 (EFE). – Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic President Jens-Frederik Nielsen showed a united front on Tuesday, ahead of their meeting in Washington to address tensions over the U.S.’s interest in acquiring the Arctic island.
“One thing must be clear to everyone: Greenland does not want to be owned by the US, Greenland does not want to be governed by the US, Greenland does not want to be part of the US,” Nielsen said at a joint press conference with Frederiksen.
“We choose the Greenland we know today, which is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added.
Nielsen reiterated that Greenland “is not for sale” and described the situation as “very serious” due to the “enormous” pressure on the territory.
“The bottom line is that Greenland cannot be bought. We are together in the kingdom with Denmark and will always be part of the Western alliance. The future of Greenland will be decided by the Greenlanders, as stated in the Autonomy Statute. With that message, we are traveling to the United States tomorrow,” Nielsen said.
Frederiksen added that Denmark is “not looking for conflict, but the message is clear: Greenland is not for sale.”
She insisted that “it has not been easy” for Denmark to “stand up to completely unacceptable pressure from our closest ally for a generation,” as she warned that “there is much evidence the hardest part now lies ahead of us.”
White House meeting with Vance and Rubio
Monday ‘s press conference came ahead of Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, ‘s trip to Washington to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The meeting, as confirmed by Rasmussen, will be held at the White House and hosted by US Vice President JD Vance.
His presence, which was not initially planned, has raised suspicions among Danish analysts and politicians, as Vance has been noted for a discourse similar to that of President Donald Trump, questioning Danish sovereignty and attacking Copenhagen.
“This is bad news,” said Unity List leader Pelle Dragsted, while far-right politician Morten Messerschmidt believes his presence represents an “escalation.”
Criticism from the Greenlandic opposition
In recent days, the leaders of the five political parties represented in the Inatsisartut (the Greenlandic Parliament) published a statement defending their right to decide their future.
“We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” they said, adding that “The future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”
However, Naleraq, the second-largest parliamentary party and the sole opposition party, has criticized Denmark and the Greenlandic government.
It supports beginning the independence process outlined in the 2009 Statute, which includes negotiations between Copenhagen and Nuuk, as well as a referendum.
Nalerq accused the Greenlandic government of rejecting dialogue with the US and pursuing a tactic of “posting messages on Facebook.”
“Denmark is about to trigger the collapse of the NATO alliance, in a panic wanting to keep Greenland in its ranks, although Greenland simply does not want to be part of Denmark,” the party’s leader, Pele Broberg, said recently.
NATO surveillance mission
In an attempt to calm Trump, several European countries, led by Germany and the UK, have raised the possibility of increasing NATO’s presence in Greenland.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius suggested increasing surveillance operations, patrols, reconnaissance, and maneuvers.
“Considering the size of the island of Greenland (2.1 million square kilometers) and its very small population of 55,000, of which between 25,000 and 30,000 live in Nuuk, it is clear that we are not talking about a normal territory. This means that complete protection cannot be achieved with the presence of troops alone,” he said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte again avoided referring to the conflict on Tuesday, saying that he could not comment publicly on a debate between two members of the Alliance, the US and Denmark, although he maintained that there were “no disagreements” between the allies regarding Arctic security. EFEalc/mcd
