“We have created the framework for a future agreement regarding Greenland, and actually the entire Arctic region. This solution, if implemented, will be beneficial to the United States and all NATO countries. Based on this agreement, I will not impose tariffs, which were to enter into force on February 1,” Donald Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform. During his speech in Davos, he assured that he did not intend to take the island by force.
Donald Trump changes his mind. Reactions from Greenland and Denmark
This news brought relief to some people in Greenland and Denmark. “It looks more promising than anything I've seen in weeks,” Mikkel Runge Olesen, a researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies in Copenhagen, told The New York Times. He added that Danes are cautiously optimistic.
In turn, one of the two Greenlandic members of the Danish parliament, Aaja Chemnitz, criticized the American president in a sharp Facebook post. “What we are witnessing these days in Trump's statements is completely absurd,” she began.
“NATO under no circumstances has an independent mandate to negotiate anything except us, the people of Greenland. Nothing about us without us,” she added. She said it was “absolutely absurd” to assume that NATO could have any influence on decisions regarding their country and raw materials.
Kuno Fencker, a member of the local parliament, is also dissatisfied with the fact that the talks are taking place without Greenland's participation and wants closer relations with the US. “Greenland should be directly involved in what is happening,” he said, quoted by The New York Times.
“This morning we had a president who did not rule out taking over Greenland by force. Now he says he will not take over Greenland by force,” commented Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on the Danish television station TV 2. He added that he had talked with the NATO Secretary General for a while and the use of force was no longer an option. “It gives a small glimmer of hope,” he said.
This is supposed to be the plan for Greenland
According to the findings of the New York Times, the plan for Greenland under consideration includes the possibility of Denmark transferring small parts of the island to American sovereignty, where military bases could be established.
Meanwhile, the Axios website reports that the Secretary General of NATO presented a proposal assuming respect for Danish sovereignty over Greenland. According to the website, the project envisages renewing the 75-year-old agreement between Washington and Copenhagen, enabling the deployment of elements of the American Golden Dome defense system in Greenland, strengthening the security of the island, increasing NATO activity in the region and activities related to its raw materials.
