The leaders of the five political parties represented in the (Greenlandic Parliament) defended this Friday the right of the inhabitants of this autonomous Danish territory to decide their future in the face of threats from the United States. “The future must be decided by the Greenlanders. The task of the future of Greenland is done in dialogue with its people and based on international laws and the Statute of Autonomy. No other country can interfere in this,” stated in a joint statement.
The text highlights that this decision must be made without pressure and without the “interference” of other countries, and expresses the desire for the United States’ “contempt” for this Arctic island to cease. “We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” highlights the statement signed by the regional president, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and also signed by Pelle Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the second force in Parliament and the one that has shown the most understanding towards the United States.
The Greenlandic leaders remember that this country is governed by international law and its Statute of Autonomy and that it is its inhabitants who elect their parliament and their government, “which collaborates and will continue to collaborate with the United States and Western countries.” The declaration calls for a dialogue “based on diplomacy and international principles” and notes that this is the path “between allies and friends.”
“We will continue working to develop the possibilities to achieve security for our people throughout the country,” adds the text, titled We are together as a people, which ends with “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
The document was released before the American president, Donald Trump, assured that he will not allow “Russia or China to occupy Greenland” so he has decided to “do something” with this Arctic island, “whether by hook or by crook.” Trump insisted on several occasions to the media at the White House that the United States will do something in Greenland, “whether they like it or not” because if not, the Danish territory will be conquered by Russia and China.
The American president raised the question because “right now around Greenland there are Russian destroyers, there are Chinese destroyers and, furthermore, there are Russian submarines everywhere.” In addition, he questioned Denmark’s sovereignty over the territory by stating that, although he admires the Nordic country, “the fact that they landed there with a ship 500 years ago does not mean that they own that land.” The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is scheduled to meet next week with his Danish counterpart, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and the Greenlandic Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, to discuss the issue.
