Greenland wants to be independent, not American or Danish, says the Prime Minister

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Greenland doesn’t want to be American or Danish, but it doesn’t want to be independent, the Arctic island’s prime minister said at the end of a week of violence following US President-elect Donald Trump. Reluctance to remove power to control the state.

“The status quo is not an option,” Mute Egede said, wanting the vast and geopolitically important island of 57,000 to have “its own voice” after gaining independence from Denmark and rejecting Trump’s attempted takeover. Greenland.

“We don’t want to be Denmark, we don’t want to be American, we want to be Greenland,” he said at a press conference on Friday.

At the same meeting, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Greenland’s demand for independence was “legitimate and understandable” and called America’s demand for an independent state “positive”.

Frederiksen added that she wanted to keep Denmark, Greenland and the autonomous Faroe Islands together. “I personally believe that if we stand together, we are strong in the international game,” she emphasized.

Trump this week refused to rule out using military force against the NATO ally to take Greenland under US control, as Washington seeks to fend off growing Russian and Chinese interests in the Arctic.

The world’s largest non-continental island is home to a U.S. military base, a hub for Arctic security, as well as the start of two new underground shipping lines and contains large amounts of rare earths and other minerals.

Home-ruled on most issues except Denmark’s foreign and security policy, Greenland has long sought independence but has struggled to achieve enough economic growth to sever ties with Copenhagen.

Egede, who has repeatedly said that Greenland will not be sold, said that the state is open to cooperation with the United States, which it has worked with for a long time, but stressed that its fate will be decided by Greenland. He said that while Trump’s military threats were “serious”, Greenlanders should avoid being “aggressive”.

“When I talk to the head of another country, I have to be with the Danish ambassador. “These are things we want to have our own voice,” he added.

Fredrickson is looking to meet with Trump to discuss the issue, and the president-elect said he did not bring up the subject of Greenland during his November election victory speech.

“It is positive to see the increasing US interest around Greenland. . . More cooperation is needed in investments and business and mining. Denmark is happy to invest more in Greenland, added the Danish Prime Minister.

Danish politicians, including Frederiksen, Trump in 2010. When they first offered to buy Greenland in 2019, they responded with anger and derision. But this time they responded in a very distorted way, saying that the island is not for sale but they want to cooperate with them. The US in the Arctic.

Danish ministers have admitted that they have not invested enough in the defense of Greenland, where they only have four ships, a surveillance plane and some dog sled guards. They have pledged up to $2 billion in additional investments, but officials have privately said they are dependent on NATO and the US military to fully protect the island.

Chinese companies have tried to invest in Greenland’s airports and various mining projects, but have been rejected by the US and Denmark.