Greenland is not for sale, its leader says in response to Trump

December 23, 2024 MeighTimbol News 0
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Bourup Egede speaks at a press conference during the opening of the European Commission’s new office in Nuuk, Greenland, March 15, 2024. Ritzau Scanpix/Leiff Josefsen via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
REUTERS | Published December 23, 2024
COPENHAGEN, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Greenland is not for sale, its elected leader said on Monday, responding to comments made by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump regarding the “ownership and control” of the vast Arctic island that has been part of Denmark for over 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 comment.
Trump on Sunday announced that he had picked Ken Howery, a former envoy to Sweden, as his ambassador to Copenhagen, and commented on the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark and host to a large U.S. Air Force base.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, did not elaborate on the statement.
Denmark’s foreign ministry and the prime minister’s office were not immediately available for comment.
The Danish government must state in clear terms that control over Greenland is not up for discussion or negotiation, member of parliament Rasmus Jarlov of the opposition Conservative Party said on social media platform X.
“To the extent that U.S. activities aim to take control of Danish territory, it must be prohibited and countered. Then they can’t be there at all,” said Jarlov, who heads parliament’s defence committee.
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth. But development has been slow, leaving its economy reliant on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark.
With its Pituffik air base, Greenland is strategically important for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
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SOURCE: www.reuters.com

RELATED: Trump says US owning Greenland ‘absolute necessity’

THE HILL | Published December 23, 2024

President-elect Trump said on social media Sunday evening that the U.S. owning Greenland “is an absolute necessity,” in a statement announcing Ken Howery as his nominee to serve as ambassador to Denmark.

Howery, a tech investor who co-founded PayPal, was ambassador to Sweden in the previous Trump administration.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.

In late 2019, Trump said that buying Greenland, which is owned by Denmark, was “strategically” interesting, triggering an angry response from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

“Denmark essentially owns it. We’re very good allies with Denmark. We protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world,” Trump said at the time.

“Strategically, it’s interesting, and we’d be interested, but we’ll talk to them a little bit. It’s not number one on the burner,” he added.

Frederiksen called the idea “absurd,” telling reporters at the time, “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant.”

According to a book from The New York Times’s Peter Baker and The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, the president-elect suggested to aides of his during his first term that the U.S. could trade Puerto Rico for Greenland.

Trump also made waves abroad over the weekend with his posts and comments about the Panama Canal.

On Saturday, Trump expressed frustration with fees charged for the use of the Panama Canal via Truth Social, asserting that he would stipulate that oversight of the canal return to the U.S. when he comes back into the White House if that is not changed.

“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop.”

 

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SOURCE: www.thehill.com

 

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