The man likely to become Greenland’s next prime minister has rejected Donald Trump‘s bid to take over the island. Jens-Frederik Nielsen pushed back against the US President’s repeated threats to annex Greenland, which is part of Denmark.
Mr Nielsen’s centre-right Democrats secured a shock victory in elections this week. He told Sky News: « We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders and we want our own independence in the future. And we want to build our own country by ourselves. »
Greenland’s outgoing prime minister, Múte Egede, wrote on Facebook that he would convene a meeting of party leaders to reject Mr Trump’s claims.
He added: « This time we need to toughen our rejection of Trump. People cannot continue to disrespect us…
« The American president has once again evoked the idea of annexing us. I absolutely cannot accept that. »
His comments came after Mr Trump vowed again that the US would take over Greenland. This time during a sit down in the Oval Office with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO.
Mr Trump said the result of Greenland’s election was « very good » for the US and said the person who did the best « is a very good person » as far as the administration was concerned.
In response to a question about a possible annexation of Greenland, the leader of the free world said: « I think it’ll happen. »
He said Denmark is « very far away » from Greenland, despite it being an autonomous part of that kingdom.
Mr Trump added: « A boat landed there 200 years ago or something. They say they have rights to it. I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t think it is, actually. »
He noted that the US already has a military presence in Greenland, adding: « Maybe you’ll see more and more soldiers going there. »
Pituffik Space Base is a US Space Force base on the northwest coast of Greenland which supports missile warning and space surveillance operations. It was established under a defence agreement between Denmark and the United States.
Mr Trump last week told a joint session of Congress that the US needed Greenland to protect its own national security interests and he expected to get it « one way or the other ».
The island has a population of 56,000 people, most of whom are from Indigenous Inuit backgrounds.
Mr Nielsen’s Demokraatit pro-business party favours a slow path to independence. It won a surprise victory in Tuesday’s parliamentary election, outpacing the two left-leaning parties which formed the last government.
Demokraatit won 29.9% of the vote by campaigning to improve housing and education standards while delaying independence until Greenland is self-sufficient.
Naleraq, the most aggressively pro-independence party, finished in second place, with 24.5% of the vote. It was followed by Inuit Ataqatigiit, which led the last government, at 21.4%.
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