OSLO (Reuters) -Denmark will not yield to “unacceptable” pressure from the United States for control of semi-autonomous Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday, warning Greenlanders’ right to self-determination was at stake.
President Donald Trump has said he wants the United States to take over the minerals-rich and strategically-located Arctic island for reasons of national and international security, and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.
“The world order we’ve built through generations is being challenged like never before,” Frederiksen said in a speech for National Day.
“In recent months Greenland and Denmark have been subjected to unacceptable pressure from our closest ally,” she added, referring to the United States.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on a visit to the island in March accused fellow NATO member Denmark of not doing a good job keeping Greenland safe and suggested the United States would better protect the territory.
Vance’s visit followed an election victory by Greenland’s Demokraatit party, which favours a slow approach to independence rather than the quicker departure proposed by some others.
Leaders of Denmark and Greenland have said only Greenlanders can decide the territory’s future, and the Danish constitution gives the island the right to seek independence.
Fundamental principles in the transatlantic relationship such as national sovereignty, the respect for borders and people’s right to self-determination are now at stake, Frederiksen said.
“But we don’t bend. We Danes are not like that,” she added.
Denmark’s King Frederik, who is popular in Greenland, visited the island in late April in a show of unity amid the diplomatic stand-off with Trump.
A 1951 agreement between the United States and Denmark gives the U.S. the right to construct military bases in Greenland as long as Denmark and Greenland are notified.
The island, whose capital Nuuk is closer to New York than Copenhagen, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth, but development has been slow and the mining sector has seen very limited U.S. investment.
(Reporting by Terje SolsvikEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
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