Greenland’s prime minister said he will seek a closer relationship with the US, highlighting the Arctic island’s push for independence amid renewed interest from Donald Trump.
“We have started a dialog and seek opportunities for cooperation with Trump,” Mute B. Egede said at a press briefing in Nuuk on Monday, according to local broadcaster KNR.
“We have the doors open in relation to mining,” he said. “This will also be the case in the coming years. We have to trade with the US.”
His comments come after President-elect Trump last week reiterated his ambition to take control of Greenland, a self-ruling territory of Denmark with 57,000 people. The island holds large reserves of gold, diamonds, uranium and rare earth metals used in electronic devices. It’s also expected to be a key part of global shipping routes in the coming decades.
US House Republicans on Monday unveiled a bill that would allow Trump to start negotiations with Denmark “to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.” Representative Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, is the main sponsor of the two-page “Make Greenland Great Again Act.” A Panama Canal reacquisition bill has also been introduced, and has 16 sponsors so far.
Thousands of bills are introduced in the US congress every year; the vast majority of them never make it though the legislative process. Meanwhile, both Egede and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have repeatedly stressed that Greenland is not for sale, and that it’s up to the Greenlandic people to decide their future.
Egede in recent weeks has stepped up his rhetoric on loosening ties with Denmark and has indicated a referendum on independence could be coming in the next election period. Greenland is due to hold a general election no later than April, where independence and Greenland’s future ties are likely to be in focus.
A potential secession would have to be approved by the Danish parliament, but Denmark’s ruling coalition has said it’ll respect any decision from Nuuk.
The Danish government has also welcomed Trump’s interest in Greenland. Speaking ahead of a NATO summit in Helsinki on Tuesday, Frederiksen reiterated that Denmark would like to work closer with the US in the region.
“We have already a very close, a very deep cooperation when it comes to the Arctic region and the defense of Greenland and the whole region,” Frederiksen said. “And we would like to deepen that corporation.”
The renewed focus on Greenland has given the territory more leverage in its relationship with Denmark, putting the world’s largest island in an unexpected position of power.
“The situation now is that other countries have started to listen to us in Greenland,” Egede said at Monday’s press conference.
The Greenlandic prime minister will hold a meeting with the self-rule’s party leaders on Tuesday to discuss the situation, according to local media Sermitsiaq.
