Copenhagen:
Greenland is not for sale, its elected leader said on Monday, responding to comments from newly elected US President Donald Trump about the “ownership and control” of the vast Arctic island that has been part of Denmark for more than 600 years.
“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” the island’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said in a written response.
Trump announced Sunday that he had selected Ken Howery, a former envoy to Sweden, as his ambassador to Copenhagen, commenting on the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark and host to a major U.S. air base.
“For purposes of national security and liberty throughout the world, the United States of America believes that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, did not elaborate on the statement.
The Danish Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s office were not immediately available for comment.
The Danish government must state in clear terms that control of Greenland is not up for discussion or negotiation, Conservative Opposition Party MP Rasmus Jarlov said on social media platform X.
“To the extent that American activities aim to take control of Danish territory, they must be prohibited and opposed. Then they can’t be there at all,” said Jarlov, chairman of parliament’s defense committee.
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, has a wealth of minerals, oil and natural gas. But development has been slow, making the economy dependent on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark.
With its Pituffik air base, Greenland is of strategic importance for the US military and its ballistic missile warning system, as the shortest route from Europe to North America passes through the island.
During his previous term, Trump expressed interest in purchasing Greenland in 2019, but the proposal was immediately rejected by both Denmark and the island’s own authorities before formal discussions could take place.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen labeled Trump’s offer as “absurd” at the time, prompting him to label her rejection of the idea as “nasty” and subsequently cancel a visit to Copenhagen.
Mette Frederiksen will remain in her role as Danish Prime Minister.
Since 2009, Greenland has had the right to declare independence from Denmark. The island of about 56,000 inhabitants, which depends annually on significant budget transfers from Copenhagen, has so far refrained from doing so.
In addition, Trump on Sunday threatened to reassert US control of the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of charging excessive tariffs to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.
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