The president of the United States, Donald Trumpmaintains his idea of taking over Greenland and control it despite having rejected a hypothetical military invasion, denounced this Monday the prime minister of this Danish autonomous territory, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
Nielsen recalled in a speech in the Inatsisartut (Greenland Parliament) that Trump already expressed his desire to control the island in 2019 and that he has repeated it on several occasions during the last year.
“This, unfortunately, is still valid and it hasn’t changed. Recently the possibility of a military operation has been rejected, but the vision of Greenland and its population has not changed: Greenland must be linked to the US and controlled from there,” Nielsen said of the annexationist desire of Trump at the beginning of an extraordinary debate in the Inatsisartut about the situation.
Nielsen described Trump’s threats as “unacceptable” and regretted that they had created “a lot of insecurity” in the Greenlanders.
“The Naalakkersuisut (Greenlandic Government) works to protect the Greenland we know and the options that have been created. Greenland is the inheritance for our children and cannot be bought or sold. We are part of the Kingdom of Denmark and continue to develop in accordance with the Statute of Autonomy. “No one is going to control us from the outside,” he said.
European support
The Greenlandic leader – who for less than a year has headed a government that brings together the entire moderate independence movement and three quarters of Parliament – stressed that Greenland is not alone but is protected and thanked the European countries for their support.
“In that sense it is important to highlight that although this deals directly with Greenland, it also has to do with the future of the I’LL TAKEthe protection of western world and the democracy global,” Nielsen said.
Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland, which he claims to need national security reasonshas generated a crisis in NATO and with several European countries, which it threatened with duty for sending soldiers to the arctic island.
Trump announced two weeks ago after meeting in Davos (Switzerland), where he was attending the World Economic Forum, with the Secretary General of the Alliance, Mark Rutte, a pre-agreement that he assured satisfied all his wishes.
High level meetings
American, Danish and Greenlandic diplomats have begun high-level meetings to study Washington’s security concerns, although both Copenhagen and Nuuk have stressed that the island’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are not at issue.
“The dialogue has begun and the Naalakkersuisut will work to lead to concrete results. At the same time we will strengthen the close dialogue with Western countries together with Denmark and work for even greater collaboration with the European Union,” said Nielsen.
Greenland – which has a population of just under 57,000 inhabitants in 2.2 million square kilometers (80% permanently covered in ice) – has had since 2009 a Statute of Autonomy that includes the right of self-determination.
This Arctic island relies heavily on fishing and annual financial aid from Denmark, which covers almost half of its budget.
