COPENHAGEN – Denmark’s prime minister will aim to shore up a united front with Greenland on Thursday (Friday Manila time) during a visit to the autonomous territory, which US President Donald Trump has vowed to take over.
Tensions between the United States and Denmark have soared since Trump has said repeatedly he wanted to take control of the resource-rich Arctic island for security reasons.
“It is clear that with the pressure put on Greenland by the Americans, in terms of sovereignty, borders and the future, we need to stay united,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday after arriving on the island for a three-day visit.
Frederiksen’s visit comes on the heels of a trip by US Vice President JD Vance last week that both Nuuk and Copenhagen viewed as a provocation.
It also follows the formation of a new Greenland coalition government led by the center-right Democrats party, which won a general election in March.
“I have but one wish and that is to do all that I can to take care of this marvelous country and to support it at a difficult time,” Frederiksen said.
Observers say her visit will reassure the island of 57,000 people, the vast majority of whom, polls show, want to become independent from Denmark but do not wish to become part of the United States.
“I think it’s very, very important and it’s very reassuring for Greenlanders to see a Danish head of government,” Mikaela Engell, an expert on the Arctic territory who previously served as Denmark’s High Commissioner to Greenland, told AFP.
Earlier this year, “the Danish government was almost invisible,” she said, describing Copenhagen’s efforts as tip-toeing, trying to accommodate US interests and not antagonize Trump.