Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has said after meeting with the White House that there are “fundamental differences” in positions on Greenland, writes the BBC.
Rasmussen said that the meeting on the 14th of January with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio was frank but constructive. However, he added that US President Donald Trump is insisting on “conquering” Greenland, which is completely unacceptable. The Dane stressed that it has been made very clear that this is not in Denmark’s interests.
After the meeting, Trump reiterated his interest in acquiring the resource-rich Arctic island – a position that has alarmed European allies and caused tensions within NATO.
The hour-long meeting between Danish and US representatives did not yield any tangible results, although an agreement was reached to establish a high-level working group to discuss the future of the autonomous Danish territory. Rasmussen said that there are boundaries that the US should not cross, and the task of the working group will be to find a compromise. He added that neither Greenland nor Denmark is opposed to the deployment of additional US military bases on the island.
The Danish foreign minister also noted that Trump’s vision for strengthening security in the Arctic region has some truth, but added that
the statements about Russian and Chinese warships hovering around the island are not true.
Despite its low population density, Greenland is ideally located to deploy early warning systems and monitor ship traffic in the region. Trump has regularly reiterated that the annexation of the island to the US is very important for national security. The Americans already have a military base in the northwestern part of Greenland, where about a hundred military personnel are stationed. The base has been on the island since World War II. Under the current agreement between the United States and Denmark, the Americans can send as many soldiers to Greenland as they deem necessary.
Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said the island was ready to expand cooperation with the United States but opposed a complete takeover.
Vance and Rubio did not comment after the meeting, while Trump told reporters that the United States needed Greenland for security reasons. There was nothing Denmark could do to stop Russia or China if they decided to conquer Greenland, but the Americans could protect the island, Trump added.
Meanwhile, Europeans have shown support for Greenland.
Sweden promised on the 14th of January to send armed forces to the island if necessary. Germany has said it will send an intelligence team to Greenland to assess the overall conditions for possible military assistance. British Defense Secretary John Healey said that, at Denmark’s request, Britain would send a military officer to work on the intelligence team. France, meanwhile, plans to open a consulate on the island in February. The French will also participate in the intelligence team.
Denmark has said it will increase its military presence on the island in close cooperation with its partners.
It is not yet clear whether Trump actually plans to use military force to acquire Greenland, but he refused to rule it out at a press conference on the 14th of January. Other options include purchasing the territory, although neither Greenlanders nor Danes have said the island is for sale.
Polls show that most Greenlanders oppose coming under U.S. rule. Most Americans also oppose taking over Greenland. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on the 14th of January found that only 17% of Americans support taking over Greenland, while 47% strongly oppose such a plan.
Read also: Russia speaks of Antichrist in Lithuania; Lithuanian Archdiocese dissociates from insults to Patriarch of Constantinople