Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, during a visit to Greenland, called on the United States to strengthen co-operation on security issues in the Arctic, while categorically rejecting Washington’s idea of a possible annexation of the island.
During a press conference with Greenland’s acting Prime Minister Muthe Burup Egede and newly elected Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, she addressed the US directly in English.
“I would like to take this opportunity to send a message directly to the United States of America. This is not just about Greenland or Denmark, this is about the world order that we have been building together on the other side of the Atlantic for generations. You cannot annex another country, even with a security argument,” she emphasised.
Her statement came shortly after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen met on the margins of the NATO summit in Brussels.
According to Rasmussen, Rubio recognised Greenland’s right to self-determination. The US State Department also reaffirmed the “strong relationship” between Washington and Copenhagen.
US President Donald Trump on 28 March reiterated his intention to bring Greenland under US control.
“Greenland is essential to our national and international security,” he said at a briefing in the Oval Office of the White House.
Earlier, responding to Trump’s claims of control over Greenland, the region’s prime minister, Muta Egede, said the island was “not for sale”.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with its own government and parliament.