US, Greenland pledge ‘mutual respect’ as envoy visits
The United States and Greenland have vowed to show “mutual respect” as the new US ambassador to Denmark makes his first visit to Nuuk following President Donald Trump’s interest in buying the Arctic island.
Relations between Denmark and its long-time ally the United States have become strained since Trump revived talk of wresting control of Greenland from Denmark; This proposal also met with deep resistance among the Greenlanders.
Ambassador Kenneth Howery, Washington’s new envoy to Denmark and a co-founder of PayPal, met in Nuuk with Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt and representatives of the Danish government at the annual Joint Committee.
“We reaffirmed our commitment to a strong and forward-looking relationship based on mutual respect,” the committee said in a joint statement.
“The United States and Greenland look forward to building on this momentum in the coming year and strengthening ties that support a safe and prosperous Arctic region,” the statement said.
Motzfeldt said earlier in the day that US comments about Greenland had created uncertainty among locals and stressed the need to talk openly with the US.
“Our country and the United States have been cooperating on the basis of common interests for 80 years. We need to rebuild trust so that we can continue good cooperation,” Motzfeldt said, according to the local newspaper Sermitsiaq.
Washington argues that Greenland, which is Denmark’s sovereign territory, is vital to US security and its ballistic missile early warning system, as the shortest route from Europe to North America passes through the island.
Both the Danish and Greenlandic governments have ruled out ceding the resource-rich island to US control.
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
