NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Leaders of Greenland’s political parties have firmly rejected renewed calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for the United States to take control of the island, stressing that Greenland’s future must be decided solely by its people.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four other party leaders said in a joint statement released Friday night.
Trump reiterated on Friday his desire to strike a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and a member of NATO through Copenhagen, describing it as the “easy way.” He claimed that if the United States does not take control of the island, Russia or China could do so, which he said Washington does not want.
“If we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said, without elaborating. The White House later said it is considering a range of options to acquire Greenland, including the possible use of military force.
In response, Greenland’s party leaders emphasized that “Greenland’s future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”
“As Greenlandic party leaders, we would like to emphasize once again our wish that the United States’ contempt for our country ends,” the statement said.
Officials from Denmark, Greenland, and the United States met in Washington on Thursday and are expected to meet again next week to discuss the renewed push from the White House regarding control of the island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that a U.S. takeover of Greenland would effectively mark the end of NATO.
The Greenlandic leaders added that “the work on Greenland’s future takes place in dialogue with the Greenlandic people and is prepared on the basis of international laws.”
“No other country can interfere in this,” they said. “We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for quick decision, delay or interference from other countries.”
The statement was signed by Nielsen along with Pele Broberg, Múte B. Egede, Aleqa Hammond, and Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, has a population of about 57,000 and does not maintain its own military. Defense is handled by Denmark, whose armed forces are significantly smaller than those of the United States.
It remains unclear how other NATO members would respond if the United States were to forcibly take control of Greenland or whether they would move to defend Denmark in such a scenario.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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