“We don’t want to be Americans,” Greenland’s political parties said after US President Donald Trump again suggested using force to seize the mineral-rich Danish autonomous territory.
The statement late Friday came after Trump repeated that Washington was “going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not”.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders,” the leaders of five parties in Greenland’s parliament said.
“The future of Greenland must be decided by Greenlanders.”
Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland, where the United States already has a military base.
Trump says controlling the strategic island is crucial for US national security given the rising military activity of Russia and China in the Arctic.
“We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. That’s what they’re going to do if we don’t. So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way,” the US president said Friday.
Both Russia and China have increased military activity in the region in recent years, but neither has laid any claim to the vast icy island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an invasion of Greenland would end “everything”, meaning the transatlantic NATO defence pact and the post-World War II security structure.
Trump has made light of the concerns of Denmark, a steadfast US ally that joined the United States in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“I’m a fan of Denmark, too, I have to tell you. And you know, they’ve been very nice to me,” Trump said.
“But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet next week with Denmark’s foreign minister and representatives from Greenland.
cbw/ach/mjw
© Agence France-Presse
