Greenland decries US doctor’s visit with Trump envoy as ‘deeply problematic’ | Greenland
Greenland’s government has criticized the arrival of a US doctor in Nuuk alongside Donald Trump’s special envoy Jeff Landry, saying the Greenlanders were not “experimental subjects”.
Joseph Griffin said he voluntarily joined the delegation to “assess the medical needs” of the Arctic island, which the US president has repeatedly threatened to invade.
Greenland’s health minister, Anna Wangenheim, immediately condemned his presence and described the situation as “highly problematic”.
“The health sector in Greenland has historically been the subject of geopolitical attention,” he said in a statement that pointed to deep sensitivities in the now largely autonomous region, which as a Danish colony suffered health-related abuses of Indigenous Greenlandic people.
“A society with long distances, a chronic shortage of healthcare professionals, and demographic development putting pressure on the system make us vulnerable – and this is exactly why it is deeply problematic for those with a political mission to make Greenland part of the United States to send so-called ‘volunteer doctors’ to Nuuk to ‘assess our needs’.
“Greenlanders are not experimental subjects of a geopolitical project. “Our health system should be developed through respectful cooperation and Greenlanders’ self-determination, not through political emissaries with hidden strategic interests.”
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also criticized the doctor’s presence, speaking after a meeting on Monday with Landry, who is also the governor of Louisiana, and Kenneth Howery, the US ambassador to Denmark.
He said: “If you want to learn about health conditions in Greenland, you should contact Greenland through the right channels.”
Griffin’s presence in Greenland appears to be the latest attempt by the United States to intervene in the island’s healthcare system after Trump said in February that a hospital ship was “on the way” (a proposal rejected by Nuk). The ship never arrived.
The visit of the US delegation took place at a time when negotiations between the US and Greenland regarding the future of the region were continuing.
Trump’s repeated claim that the United States should capture or control the island has sparked tensions between Washington and Copenhagen, both founding members of NATO, and across Europe more broadly.
Nielsen said the meeting with Howery and Landry was “conducted with mutual respect and good language” but that the Greenland government made it clear that its lands were not for sale.
“We are determined to continue the dialogue and find the best solutions for Greenland. We reiterated that the Greenlandic people are not for sale and our right to self-determination is not open to discussion,” he said.
The island’s foreign minister, Múte B Egede, said: “We have some red lines. We will not sell Greenland. We will have Greenland forever.”
Landry and Howery are scheduled to attend a business conference called Future Greenland on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Howery is scheduled to open the new U.S. consulate in Nuuk on Thursday.
Health care has become a particularly sensitive issue in Greenland after past mistreatment of local people by Danish doctors.
Mette Frederiksen, who became prime minister of Denmark last year and is currently serving as prime minister during ongoing coalition talks, issued a formal apology to the victims of the intrauterine device (IUD) scandal and announced the establishment of a reconciliation fund.
Between 1966 and 1970, thousands of women and girls, some as young as 12 years old, were implanted with IUDs without their knowledge or consent in an effort to depopulate Greenland.
