French President Emmanuel Macron has reaffirmed his support for the sovereignty of the Danish territory of Greenland following renewed interest in annexing the territory from the United States.
Macron on Dec. 23 recalled his June visit to Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, saying that the territory “belongs to its people,” while Denmark is “its guarantor.”
The people of Greenland have full Danish citizenship, meaning that they are members of the European Union, although the island is geographically part of North America, sharing a land border with Canada that is less than a mile long on Hans Island, which is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Despite its location, Greenland has politically and culturally been associated with the northern European kingdoms of Norway and Denmark for more than 1,000 years.
‘We Have to Have It’
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Landry recognizes “how essential Greenland is” for U.S. national security, and will strongly advance his country’s interests to ensure the safety of allies and the wider world.
Greenland, an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty, has long been considered important to the United States due to its strategic location and vast mineral resources, with an estimated 1.5 million tons of rare earth materials.
Trump told reporters from Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 22: “We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals. ... If you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.
“We need it for national security. We have to have it.”
‘Completely Unacceptable’
Both Denmark and Greenland have consistently rejected any proposals to sell the territory, which is the world’s largest island, with a total area of 836,330 square miles.The territory has a devolved government within a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with King Frederik X its head of state as the monarch of Denmark and Jens-Frederik Nielsen serving as the Greenlandic prime minister. Greenland has the right to declare independence under a 2009 agreement.
Nielsen responded to Trump’s comments on Facebook.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Dec. 22 that he would summon U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Kenneth Howery, who he said had pledged “mutual respect” during a recent visit to Greenland.
“Out of nowhere, there is now a special U.S. presidential representative, who, according to himself, is tasked with taking over Greenland,” Rasmussen told Danish government-owned television station TV2. “This is, of course, completely unacceptable.”
Earlier this month, Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt had said that signals coming from Washington about Greenland were creating uncertainty among locals.
‘Large Real Estate Deal’
During his first term, Trump expressed interest in purchasing the strategically located island, which has faced long-standing financial challenges and is heavily dependent on funding from Copenhagen, as well as from its fish and shrimp industries.“So, they carry it at [a] great loss, and strategically for the United States, it would be nice. And, we’re a big ally of Denmark and we help Denmark, and we protect Denmark.”
Washington has previously made offers to purchase Greenland, first in 1867 and again in 1946 under President Harry Truman, with the Danes declining on both occasions. The majority of the population, just more than 89.5 percent, are Greenlandic Inuit, with 7.5 percent Danish and smaller percentages of other ethnic groups.
