Greenland is able to speak.
Responding on Monday to the diplomatic earthquake set off final week by President-elect Donald J. Trump, who mused about taking over the large island within the Arctic Ocean, Greenland’s prime minister stated the territory wish to work extra carefully with the US on protection and pure assets.
“The truth is we’re going to work with the U.S. — yesterday, right this moment and tomorrow,” Prime Minister Múte Egede stated at a information convention in Nuuk, Greenland’s tiny, icebound capital.
However he was agency: Greenlanders didn’t wish to change into Individuals.
“Now we have to be very sensible on how we act,” he stated, including, “The ability struggles between the superpowers are rising and are actually knocking on our door.”
Mr. Trump refused to rule out using economic or military force to wrest again the Panama Canal and to take Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark that he steered shopping for throughout his first time period in workplace. Then, as now, Greenland and Denmark stated the island was not on the market. Panama’s leaders, too, rejected the menace.
Mr. Egede stated on Monday that “all of us have been shocked” by Mr. Trump’s phrases, which have been accentuated by a stunning and considerably mysterious go to by the president-elect’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to the island on the identical day.
The youthful Mr. Trump did a lightning-fast sightseeing tour, saying he was on personal enterprise, and since then, headlines around the globe have blared Greenland.
Most of Greenland’s territory is roofed in ice, solely about 56,000 individuals reside right here and, till lately, the island was greatest recognized for its icebergs and polar bears. As local weather change melts the Arctic ice, this area has been quietly falling into the cross hairs of the world’s powers.
The US, Russia, European nations, China and others have been eyeing the Arctic’s delivery lanes and the in depth mineral assets which might be not thought-about out of attain.
The island has been tied to Denmark for hundreds of years, first as a colony and now as a separate territory that has achieved a big diploma of autonomy in recent times. Denmark nonetheless controls the island’s international affairs and protection coverage.
However the surge of curiosity by worldwide powers dovetails with Greenland’s quest to achieve independence, and that itch has solely grown stronger. On the similar time, many individuals listed below are reluctant to utterly lower ties with Denmark due to the a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in subsidies that Denmark supplies annually.
In Nuuk, which was a sunny zero levels Fahrenheit on Monday afternoon, many individuals have been eagerly ready to listen to what the prime minister was going to say.
“No matter occurs, there’s no turning again,” stated Aviaq Kleist, the proprietor of a restaurant within the Nuuk Middle, the town’s greatest mall, with a pair dozen retailers. She joked that perhaps Mr. Egede would all of the sudden declare independence.
Mr. Egede didn’t — he danced across the query, saying the nation had been steadily working towards the purpose however that “completely different events have completely different views.” (There’s additionally a transparent independence course of that includes a referendum, ought to it come to that.)
The prime minister additionally expressed aid at feedback that JD Vance, the incoming vp, made on a Fox News show this weekend. Although Mr. Vance didn’t precisely rule out army pressure, saying, “We don’t have to make use of army pressure” as a result of “we have already got troops in Greenland,” his tone was upbeat as he spoke about Greenland’s “unbelievable pure assets” and “a deal to be made.”
The US has been inquisitive about Greenland for years. Throughout World Battle II, it established bases right here, and after the conflict, it tried to purchase Greenland from Denmark, which refused. At the moment, the American army runs the Pituffik Space Base, which makes a speciality of missile protection, on the northern finish of the island.
In Nuuk on Monday, individuals appeared to be on the identical web page because the prime minister, expressing a mixture of hope and warning. A number of stated they didn’t wish to be swallowed by the US. However they did desire a stronger partnership with America.
“What we actually want is extra cooperation and commerce,” stated Nielseeraq Berthelsen, a fisherman. He was working at an ice-encrusted seafood market, promoting hunks of whale pores and skin and shiny purple seal meat.
He stated that he was strolling by way of one other mall final week when somebody approached him out of the blue and invited him to a particular dinner.
Subsequent factor he knew, he stated, he was shaking the youthful Mr. Trump’s hand.
“He had a number of enthusiasm,” stated Mr. Berthelsen, who was standing in air so chilly that his eyes watered as he talked. “He had good power.”
Ivik Kristiansen contributed reporting.
