Greenland PM says he doesn't know what deal Trump and Rutte made on island, but draws 'red line'
Thousands of people protested, on Saturday, in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland Photo: Profimedia
The Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, stated on Thursday, in a press conference in the capital of Nuuk, that he does not know what the agreement reached on Wednesday by the American President Donald Trump and the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, regarding the component island of the Kingdom of Denmark, informs AFP.
“No one other than Greenland and Denmark has the right to conclude agreements regarding the island and the Kingdom of Denmark,” Nielsen insisted, adding that the Arctic island's sovereignty and territorial integrity are “our red line,” according to Agerpres.
Trump and Rutte reached a “framework agreement” on Greenland on Wednesday, after talks in Davos, the American president himself revealed during the evening.
Not many details about that compromise are known at the moment, but the leader of the White House assured the press that the United States got “everything it wanted”, “forever”.
“It's the ultimate long-term deal. And I think it puts everybody in a very good position, especially in terms of security, minerals and everything else,” Trump said as he left the summit in Davos, Switzerland. “It's a long-term deal.” “They give us everything we needed,” added the US president.
According to an AFP source close to the Trump-Rutte dialogue, it appears that the United States and Denmark will renegotiate the bilateral defense agreement concluded in 1951.
According to the same source, there was no discussion about the transfer of US military bases in Greenland under Washington's sovereignty.
Nielsen said Greenland wants to continue a “peaceful dialogue” on its future, but respecting the “right to self-determination”.
In Davos on Wednesday, Trump explicitly stated for the first time that he ruled out the use of force to enforce US claims on Greenland.
