Trump’s Takeover Threat Sparks Protests In Denmark Supporting Greenland

COPENHAGEN, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters gathered in Denmark on Saturday in solidarity with Greenland, demanding that the United States respect the Greenlanders’ right to self-determination in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to annex the Arctic island.

Trump said Greenland was vital to the security of the United States due to its strategic location and large mineral supply, and did not rule out the use of force to take it. European countries sent military personnel to the island this week at Denmark’s request.

Demonstrators chanting slogans such as “Greenland is not for sale” and carrying banners bearing Greenland’s red and white “Erfalasorput” flag as well as slogans such as “Hands Off Greenland” gathered in Copenhagen City Hall Square and marched towards the US embassy.

Julie Rademacher, president of Uagut, an organization for Greenlanders in Denmark, said: “I am very grateful for the great support we have received as Greenlanders… we are also sending a message to the world that you all need to wake up.”

“Greenland and Greenlanders have unintentionally become frontlines in the struggle for democracy and human rights,” he added.

Video footage from Reuters showed thousands of protesters. Spokespeople for organizers and police declined to give a crowd estimate.

Protests were continuing elsewhere in Denmark and are planned for later on Saturday in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.

Trump’s repeated statements about the candidate triggered an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between the United States and Denmark, both founding members of the NATO military alliance, and were widely condemned in Europe.

The 57,000-strong Greenland region, which has been governed from Copenhagen for centuries, remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which controls defense and foreign policy and finances much of its administration, although it has had significant autonomy since 1979.

All five political parties elected to Greenland’s parliament ultimately favor independence, but they disagree on the timeline for such a move and have said in recent days that they would prefer to remain part of Denmark rather than join the United States.

The protests in Denmark were organized by Greenlandic groups in collaboration with ActionAid Denmark, an NGO.

“We demand respect for the Danish Territory and Greenland’s right to self-determination,” said Camilla Siezing, president of the Inuit Joint Union of Greenlandic Native Associations in Denmark.

According to Danish officials, approximately 17,000 Greenlanders live in Denmark.

Only 17 percent of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s efforts to seize Greenland, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, while large majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island. Trump called the poll “fake.”

(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, Editing by Anna Ringstrom and Toby Chopra)