Trump's 'message' for Greenland
Source: Fox News
Greenland’s prime minister has declared “Greenland is ours” and cannot be taken or bought, in defiance of US President Donald Trump.
Mute Bourup Egede’s message follows Trump’s claims that his administration supports the Arctic island’s right of self-determination – but said the United States would acquire the territory “one way or another”.
Egede said the island’s citizens were neither American nor Danish because they were Greenlandic.
The US must understand that, he wrote in a post in Greenlandic and Danish on Facebook.
Egede said the future of Greenland would be decided by its people.
His post came hours after Trump renewed his threats to take over the territory in a direct appeal to Greenlanders during a speech to US Congress on Tuesday (local time), a week before islanders head to the polls for parliamentary elections.
“We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump said.
“We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.”
But Trump also said his administration was “working with everybody involved to try to get it”, referring to his wishes to acquire Greenland from Denmark – a long-standing US ally.
“We need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” Trump said, to applause from assembled Republicans.
Many in Greenland, a vast and mineral-rich island that is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, are worried and offended by Trump’s threats to seize control of their homeland.
Greenland’s minister for natural resources, equality, business and justice Naaja Nathanielsen said the scenes from the US Congress showed a “fundamental lack of respect for us as a people, for our historical connection to these lands and for our democratic institutions”.
She said she was “not blind” to the potential for increased trade and cooperation, but “the absence of a respectful tone stands in the way”.
“Hearing American legislators giggle over statements like ‘we are gonna get it one way or the other’ is disrespectful,” Nathanielsen said.
“I say no thank you to the idea of Red, White and Blueland. No thank you to the prospect of becoming an American state or some other form of American subsidiary.”
Asked about Trump’s comments, Denmark’s foreign minister said he did not think Greenlanders wanted to separate from Denmark in order to instead become “an integrated part of America”.
Lars Lokke Rasmussen sought to strike an optimistic tone, saying he believed that Trump’s reference to respecting Greenlanders’ right to self-determination was “the most important part of that speech”.
“I’m very optimistic about what will be a Greenlandic decision about this. They want to loosen their ties to Denmark, we’re working on that, to have a more equal relationship,” he said during a trip to Finland.
Lokke said it was important that next week’s parliamentary elections were free and fair “without any kind of international intervention”.
Greenlanders head to the polls on Tuesday. Trump’s recent comments about taking over the island have ignited unprecedented interest in full independence from Denmark, which has become a key issue during campaign season.
-with AAP