Greenland does not want to be American or Danish, PM says

Mute Egede, who antecedently said territory ‘not for sale’, underlined people’s tendency to beryllium ‘master of ain house’.

Greenlanders bash not privation to beryllium American oregon Danish, the Arctic island’s premier curate has said, aft US President-elect Donald Trump refused to regularisation retired utilizing subject unit to get the territory.

Prime Minister Mute Egede, who had insisted the territory was “not for sale” aft Trump flagged his “ownership and control” intentions past month, expressed his openness to prosecute with the United States astatine a quality league successful Copenhagen connected Friday.

However, helium besides underlined Greenland’s independency aspirations, which person gained momentum successful caller years arsenic Danish assemblage abuses against the predominantly Inuit colonisation person travel to light.

“Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We bash not privation to beryllium Danish, we bash not privation to beryllium American. We privation to beryllium Greenlandic,” helium said astatine a quality league alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

“We person a tendency for independence, a tendency to beryllium the maestro of our ain location … This is thing everyone should respect,” said Egede.

“But that doesn’t mean we are cutting each ties, each practice and each relations with Denmark,” helium added.

He besides noted that Greenland is portion of the North American continent, and “a spot that the Americans spot arsenic portion of their world”. He said helium was unfastened to holding talks with Trump astir what “unites us”.

“Cooperation is astir dialogue. Cooperation means that you volition enactment towards solutions,” helium said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who besides attended the quality conference, said, “The statement connected Greenlandic independency and the latest announcements from the US amusement america the ample involvement successful Greenland. Events which acceptable successful question a batch of thoughts and feelings with galore successful Greenland and Denmark.

“The US is our closest ally, and we volition bash everything to proceed a beardown cooperation,” she said.

‘Absolute necessity’

Trump earlier this week refused to regularisation retired utilizing military oregon economical force successful bid to bring Greenland nether US control. Trump said past period that “ownership and control” of Greenland was an “absolute necessity” for the US, arsenic it seeks to antagonistic increasing Russian and Chinese involvement successful the Arctic region.

Trump had antecedently floated buying Greenland during his archetypal word arsenic president from 2017 to 2021, adjacent postponing a 2019 sojourn to Denmark aft Frederiksen rebuffed the idea.

A “private” visit to the territory this week by his son, Donald Trump Jr, sparked further speculation that the president-elect would marque a propulsion to bargain Greenland erstwhile helium takes bureau connected January 20.

The US maintains a subject basal successful the bluish portion of the strategically important territory, location to 57,000 people.

Greenland was a Danish colony from 1721 until 1953 but is present a self-governing Danish territory. In 2009, it secured the close to assertion independency done a vote.

Source

:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies