The Danish government rejected the possibility of buying Greenland, as Donald Trump spoke about.
We recognize that Greenland has its own ambitions. If they are implemented, Greenland will become independent, although unlikely with the desire to be a federal US state, says Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
He believes that Washington’s concerns about security in the Arctic are related to the activity of Russia and China in the region.
A day earlier, Danish Prime Minister Matte Frederiksen said that Greenland “belongs to the Greenlanders” and is not for sale.
America will not determine the future of a strategically important Arctic island. Greenland has made it clear that it is not for sale. Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders, said the Danish Prime Minister.
According to Frederiksen, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has clearly said that Greenland society maintains the belief that Greenland is not for sale and will not be for sale in the future:
On the one hand, I am pleased with the growth of American interest in Greenland. But, of course, it is important that Greenlanders make their own decisions about their future,” Frederiksen said in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV 2.
In the new interview, Trump did not rule out using military force to take control of Greenland or the Panama Canal, which he has discussed in recent weeks. He emphasized that the United States needs these territories “for economic security.”
We need Greenland for national security.” People don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if it does, they should give it up because we need it for national security,” Trump added.
The French Foreign Minister announced on January 8 that the EU will not allow any country to attack Greenland.
According to Barro, the EU cannot allow other countries of the world, whoever they are, to attack its sovereign borders. He doesn’t expect Trump to invade Greenland, but added that Europe must finally “wake up.”
Background
US President-elect Donald Trump has again raised the possibility that the US could buy Greenland, the largest island in the world and a self-governing territory of Denmark. Bloomberg recalled that Trump first put forward this idea in 2019 during his first presidential term. Then as now, the answer from the other side of the supposed agreement was a resounding “no.” Undeterred, he threatens to impose very high trade tariffs on Denmark if it does not back down.
As Trump surely knows, other US leaders have made their mark on history with such big ideas, and Andrew Johnson is remembered as the president who oversaw the acquisition of Alaska from Russia in 1867.
When Trump proposed a potential purchase of Greenland in 2019, he framed it as a “big real estate deal” that could ease Denmark’s public finances.
This time his argument is that US control of the island is vital to national security.
Situated in the North Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America, the island has long been a center of tension between world powers. In addition to being larger than Mexico and Saudi Arabia, Greenland is strategically located on the border of the North Atlantic and Arctic, a region whose vast reserves of critical minerals and fossil fuels are coveted by the United States, Russia and China. It is already home to the northernmost US airbase and a radar station used to detect missile threats and monitor outer space.
A century ago, such deals were not unusual: Before the purchase of Alaska, the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million in 1803. There is even a precedent involving Denmark. In 1917, the government of Copenhagen sold what is now known as the US Virgin Islands. There are actually many other islands for sale, but they tend to be smaller and located in warmer climates. Joseph Blocher of Duke University Law School wrote in 2014 that “the market for sovereign territories appears to have dried up.”
Because the 830,000-square-mile (2.1 million square kilometer) island is not yet for sale, its value cannot be estimated. However, to get an idea of how much it might be worth, it’s worth noting that its gross domestic product was just over $3.2 billion in 2021, according to the World Bank. The island receives an annual subsidy from Denmark of about $600 million. By comparison, the purchase price for Alaska in 1867—$7.2 million—is today just over $150 million, which most would consider a pretty good deal.
It’s unclear. When he floated the idea in 2019, University of Greenland associate professor Rasmus Leander Nielsen told local media that Denmark could not sell Greenland because its 2009 Home Rule Act “clearly states that Greenlanders are their own people. ” Trump hopes the territory will gain independence and then decide to negotiate its sale to the United States. As it turns out, the possibility of secession from Denmark has long been discussed in Greenland, and last year local legislators presented a draft constitution for an independent state, although the island of 57,000 people is still far from full independence.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Burup Egede responded to Trump’s latest proposal by saying the island would never be sold, although the territory is still open to cooperation and trade with the rest of the world, especially its neighbors.
Earlier this year, Greenland’s autonomous authorities published a draft foreign, security and defense policy in which they expressed a desire to forge closer ties with North America over trade in important minerals. It proposes giving the Greenlanders greater influence in key defense issues historically under Danish control.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.