Reykjavik has summoned the US ambassador after US President Donald Trump posted a picture of Iceland and other countries covered in US flag, Reuters reports.
The map Trump posted shows the US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean covered in US flags, with all visible territory referred to as the United States. The US president had posted the map on the social network Truth Social without any explanation.
Icelandic broadcaster RUV reported that Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir has summoned US ambassador Billy Long for talks. He took office in August. The Foreign Ministry said it had made it clear that Trump’s post and the published map were completely unacceptable.
Trump’s statements that the US should take over Greenland have already strained relations between Washington and Denmark, which controls the Arctic island. Both countries are founding members of NATO, and
the US president’s statements have also caused a rift in relations with other European countries.
Iceland voted against resuming talks on joining the European Union in late August. The referendum was largely precipitated by Trump’s undisclosed intentions regarding Greenland. Supporters of resuming talks cited concerns about the US’s credibility, which makes it necessary to consider closer ties with the EU, but analysts have pointed out that domestic issues nevertheless came to the fore and determined the outcome.
Trump released the map hours after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a 200 million euros investment in Greenland during a visit to the island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, speaking to reporters in Nuuk, said the message from the Greenland government and people was clear. She said the government and people have made it clear time and again that they do not want to become Americans, and she hoped no one would question that, not in the United States or anywhere else in the world.
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