Danish PM visits Greenland as officials talk in US
The first meeting of officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States took place in Washington DC after President Donald Trump assured that he would not use force to resolve the dispute in the Arctic region.
Speaking to reporters in Copenhagen on Friday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen did not say who participated in the previous day’s talks, according to the Ritzau news agency.
Lokke Rasmussen announced that a working group was established to find a solution to the Greenland problem.
The Danish minister emphasized the need for a “calm process”, saying: “We will not communicate about when these meetings will be held, because what is needed now is to remove the drama from this situation.” he said.
Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday that the United States would not use force to seize Greenland, having previously refused to rule that out.
He also withdrew his threat to impose punitive tariffs on European countries that opposed the US plan to buy Greenland.
Trump said that the framework for a future agreement regarding Greenland and the entire Arctic region was determined during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited Greenland on Friday to show support for the Arctic island.
Frederiksen, who got off his plane at the airport in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, was welcomed by Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
The two were seen embracing on the asphalt before setting off.
Frederiksen flew directly to Nuuk from Brussels after meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte earlier in the day to discuss how the military alliance could improve security in the wider Arctic region.
Greenland is an autonomous region of the kingdom of Denmark. The two governments say the island is not for sale and its sovereignty is not up for debate, but they are open to talks on other issues such as security and economic development.
“We are preparing the next steps,” Frederiksen told reporters as he walked with Nielsen in central Nuuk. “Above all, I am here to show our strong support to the people of Greenland during a difficult time.”
Trump said on Thursday he had secured full and permanent U.S. access to Greenland after meeting with Rutte, who said allies must step up efforts to fend off threats from Russia and China. The US military already has extensive access to Greenland, although Washington has reduced its presence there to a single small base since the Cold War.
The future of the island sparked a crisis in transatlantic relations after Trump demanded that Greenland become US territory, refused to rule out the possibility of using military force to achieve it, and announced new tariffs on European countries that objected.
The crisis calmed after he lifted his threat to use force on Wednesday and withdrew proposed tariffs on Thursday.
“We agree that NATO should increase its engagement in the Arctic. Defense and security in the Arctic is a matter for the entire alliance,” Frederiksen said in a social media post along with a photo of himself and Rutte taken in Brussels. he said.
Rutte said he was working with the Danish leader to improve deterrence and defense.
Diplomats from Denmark and the United States met in Washington on Thursday to draw up a plan on how to move forward, Denmark’s foreign minister said Friday.
“We will not communicate when these (future) meetings happen, because what is needed now is to take the drama out of this situation… we need a calm process,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.
Rutte and Trump agreed to further talks on updating the 1951 treaty between the United States, Denmark and Greenland governing U.S. military access and presence on the Arctic island, a source familiar with the matter said. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Janis Laizans in Nuuk and Soren Jeppesen and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Toby Chopra)
with DPA
