Greenland’s party leaders rejected President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for the United States to take control of Greenland, saying its future must be decided by Greenlandic people.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement Friday night.
Trump said again on Friday that he would like to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous region that is part of NATO ally Denmark, “the easy way.” He said that if the U.S. does not own Greenland, Russia or China will take it over, and the U.S. does not want them as neighbors.
Trump also said, “If we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” without explaining what that would entail. The White House said it is considering a range of options, including using military force, to acquire the island.
In their statement, the Greenland party leaders reiterated that “Greenland’s future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.” They also said Greenland’s leaders would like to emphasize once again their wish that “the United States’ contempt for our country ends.”
Officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States met Thursday in Washington and will meet again next week to discuss the renewed push by the White House for control of the island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO, according to the report.
The party leaders’ statement said that “the work on Greenland’s future takes place in dialogue with the Greenlandic people and is prepared on the basis of international laws.” It added: “No other country can interfere in this,” and “We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for quick decision, delay or interference from other countries.”
The statement was signed by Nielsen and the party leaders Pele Broberg, Múte B. Egede, Aleqa Hammond and Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen.
Greenland is the largest island in the world and has a population of around 57,000. The report said Greenland does not have its own military and that defense is provided by Denmark, whose military is dwarfed by that of the U.S.
The report said it was unclear how other NATO members would respond if the U.S. decided to forcibly take control of the island, or whether Denmark would receive aid from the alliance.