Danish Foreign Minister: Greenland may gain independence, but it is unlikely to join the United States

JANUARY 8, 2021 01:36 pm ET

Denmark says that Greenland, the world's largest island, may someday become an independent country if that is what its people want, but it's highly unlikely that it would ever become a US state as US President-elect Donald Trump seemed to suggest on Friday.

"We are very well aware of Greenland's ambition. We are very open for Greenland's ambition," Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told reporters. "If it comes to reality, if it comes to pass, then Greenland will become an independent state. But I don't see any potential or likelihood that Greenland could become a US federal state."

Greenland, which has been part of Denmark for 600 years, has home rule but no role in Danish foreign affairs. It has a population of about 57,000. Mut Erikainen Egede, prime minister of the Greenland home rule government, said his government wants to achieve full independence.

Relations between Greenlanders and Danes have been strained by reports of beatings and other abuse of Greenlanders during the colonial period. Egede said last month in a New Year's address that the island will not be for sale.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also weighed in on Trump's odd comments, on his third day in France for talks with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"I don't have anything else to add other than what's been said already, but I think I can speak with some confidence and say that what [Trump] talked about, about trying to get control of Greenland, is not going to happen," he said in a press conference in Paris Friday afternoon.

Blinken was asked: "Did you discuss with your French counterpart the remarks made by the president-elect Donald Trump who seemed to indicate that the United States should seek to take over Greenland?" The secretary of state responded that he had not.

But he offered more, saying that Trump's remarks "certainly was not a good idea" and, even more to the point, "it was also clearly not going to happen, as I said. I certainly don't want to spend that much time discussing it here, but I'll leave it there."

European Reaction

In response to the "Greenlandgate" comments, leaders and government officials in several European countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, and Poland responded to the US president-elect's comments.

Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, reiterated that the Danish territory of Greenland is "not for sale" and that Greenland belongs to Greenlanders.

In a statement Friday, she said she does not believe it is the US's aim to use military or economic pressure to force Greenland to become a US state.

"We've never even imagined that the US would take such a step," she said in the statement distributed by her office. "And I do not believe that they will."

Denmark's foreign minister offered similar remarks.

"Anders Samuelsen, the Danish foreign minister, also told a Danish radio station Friday that "Greenland is a part of Denmark, which entails a responsibility for the entire Danish kingdom," according to news reports.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said at a news conference Friday that the United States was not seeking to buy Greenland from Denmark, but did not say whether that scenario could be possible in the future

Speaking to French public radio, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Trump's remarks about Greenland and Panama Canal showed the threat of returning to power politics after four centuries of a world order based on international law and the rules-based system. France and Europe must "get their act together: militarily, in terms of their competitiveness, in terms of what they represent in the world," rather than be "intimidated."

"We should not let ourselves be intimidated," Le Drian said, adding that France must "get its act together: militarily, in terms of their competitiveness, in terms of what they represent in the world."

Le Drian said that he did not think the US would "invade" Greenland but that "there is only one solution" to the matter. Le Drian, who has met Egede, said Greenland was a member of the European Union via Denmark.

"We are all clear, [the Greenlandic people] themselves are very clear, it's a European territory," and the EU would not tolerate any country trying to seize territory that falls within the EU, he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Saturday that Germany was "aware of the remarks on Greenland and Canada issued by the president-elect" but added that Germany "does not consider it helpful to speculate about the reasons" behind such comments.

"Germany remains committed to the core principle of international law" that bans the use or threat of force to change borders, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

In written statement, Seibert said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed at a meeting last November that Germany and France should work toward strengthening their "European security architecture in coordination with our allies and partners, above all NATO."

Seibert also referred to comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's top foreign affairs aide, Roland Jürgens, who on Friday said Germany would work with its European partners to prevent others from making unilateral decisions about the territory of its allies

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said that Trump's declaration on Greenland was an "impulse of a campaign continuation."

In Poland, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna, said on Friday's remarks by Trump, calling them an "impulse of a campaign continuation" that did not constitute a basis for any policy decisions. He said they should be "treated with due caution."

The Polish diplomat, speaking to TVN24 news channel, said he didn't see any political context or meaning behind Trump's comments, as he won't be taking over the US administration for another two months. Szejna pointed out that before Trump's comments on Greenland, there was an attempt to buy the Danish Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.

"It was some kind of a campaign impulse," Szejna said. "I do not see a political context or meaning behind these American comments, especially since Mr. Trump, as a president-elect, is not in the position to make any policy decisions. Moreover, he will actually be the president in just over two months."