Denmark and Greenland want to arrange a meeting with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the near future, reports the Danish DR.
Meanwhile, the White House writes in a statement that US President Donald Trump wants ”to acquire Greenland” and does not rule out ”from exploiting the US military”, according to Reuters.
The Danish government and the Greenlandic government have contacted the US State Department to arrange a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to Greenland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Research Vivian Motzfeldt, the meeting will take place between Marco Rubio, the Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and herself.
Motzfeldt says the meeting should be about ”America’s important statements about Greenland”.
The military ”always an alternative”
On Sunday, the US president said the US ”needs” Greenland, and on Tuesday night the White House issued a statement saying that the Trump administration is discussing options to acquire Greenland and ”exploiting the US military is always an option”, reports Reuters.
A senior US official tells the news agency that one of the options for ”acquiring” Greenland is to buy the territory from Denmark, another is to form a free association agreement with the island.
Mette Frederiksen: ”He wants Greenland”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier that the American threat is serious.
– We have to take this seriously, he wants Greenland, she says DR and emphasizes the importance of European support in the matter.
Denmark’s foreign policy committee also had an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the relationship with the United States, which quickly received criticism from Greenland.
Greenlandic politician critical of the Danish crisis meeting
No representative from the Greenlandic government was present at Tuesday’s crisis meeting in Denmark. Something that Pipaluk Lynge, chairman of Greenland’s foreign and security policy committee, calls frustrating.
– It’s a neo-colonialist way to exclude us, she tells DR.
According to Christian Friis Bach, chairman of the Danish foreign policy committee, there are reasons why the meeting took place without Greenlandic representation.
– This is a meeting where the Danish government informs Danish parliamentarians. I have made every effort to ensure that Greenlandic parliamentarians also receive information from their government at the same time. It is important that we have a good common ground, he says the Danish newspaper.
