Leaders of the Greenlandic party firmly reject Trump’s push to acquire the island: “We don’t want to be Americans”
Leaders of the Greenlandic party rejected President Trump’s reiteration asking the US to control the islandsaying that the future of Greenland must be decided by its people.
“We don’t want to be American, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlandic,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement Friday night.
Mr. Trump reiterated on Friday that he would like to make a deal to buy Greenland, an independent region that is part of the Denmark’s NATO organization“the easy way.” He said that if the US is not yours, Russia or China will take it, and the US does not want them as neighbors. Supporters of NATO and Greenland disagree with Mr.
“If we don’t do it the easy way, we will do it the hard way,” said Mr. Trump, without explaining what that entails. The White House said it is considering a variety of options, including the use of the military, to acquire the island. US Senator Rand Paul he told CBS Mornings earlier this week that “he will do everything to stop any kind of military occupation of Greenland.”
The leaders of the Greenland party also said that “the future of Greenland must be decided by the people of Greenland.”
“As the leaders of the Greenlandic party, we would like to emphasize our desire to end America’s contempt for our country,” said the statement.
Officials from Denmark, Greenland and the US met on Thursday in Washington and will meet again next week to discuss the issue. to be renewed by the White House to control the island.
Juliette Pavy / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that America’s takeover of Greenland will be marked the end of NATO.
The statement of the party leaders said that “the work on the future of Greenland is done in consultation with the Greenlandic people and prepared on the basis of international laws.”
“No other country can interfere in this,” they said. “We must decide for ourselves the future of our country, without the pressure to make a quick decision, delay or interference from other countries.”
The statement was signed by Nielsen, Pele Broberg, Múte B. Egede, Aleqa Hammond and Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen.
Potter Pilu Chemnitz told his CBS News colleague BBC News that Greenlanders “are all tired of the US president” and “want to be left alone.”
85 percent of Greenlanders say they oppose US annexation, the BBC reports. Most also say they favor independence from Denmark, even though the Nordic country provides subsidies, military support and more to the independent area.
Although Greenland is the largest island in the world, it has a population of about 57,000 and does not have its own military. Protection is provided by Denmark, whose military is under the US
It is not clear how the remaining NATO members will respond if the US decides to take control of the island by force or if it will help Denmark. Former Danish Ambassador to NATO Michael Zilmer-Johns called Mr. Trump as “undermining the alliance that has stood with the US in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in the whole world.”
