The Minister of Mineral Resources from Greenland rejects US attempts to divide the mineral resources of the island, stating that no external power should decide the fate of the vast natural wealth of the Arctic territory, reports Politico, according to News.ro.
“Everything is negotiable except sovereignty,” Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen said in an interview with Politico, two days after US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte held closed-door talks that the US president said included an agreement on the island's resources.
Nathanielsen disputed the two's right to do so, saying his country “will not accept the future of its mining sector being decided outside of Greenland”.
Trump began the week threatening to impose massive tariffs on EU countries if they did not cede Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, but dropped the bellicose tone on Wednesday after saying he had reached a “framework for a future deal” with Mark Rutte.
The answer is “No”
If this agreement includes permission for any country other than Greenland to control its minerals, the answer from Nuuk is “no”, the minister said.
The Arctic island is home to enough quantities of certain rare earths to meet a quarter of global demand, along with huge amounts of oil, gas, gold and clean energy metals, but has extracted almost none of it.
While the exact details of the framework remain unclear, a European official told Politico on Thursday that it could include an oversight board to oversee the island's minerals.
Nathanielsen, however, rejected this possibility.
“That would mean giving up sovereignty, that is, our jurisdiction, what happens to our minerals,” she said, suggesting, however, the possibility of solving the problem of Greenland's resources through multilateral discussions.
Greenland is not willing to give up its sovereignty
“I'm not saying an agreement can't be reached,” the Greenlandic politician said, adding that the government “has no objection to (NATO) capacity building in Greenland or any kind of monitoring” and that it is open to developing a mining cooperation agreement with the US starting in 2019. “But we can't start trading minerals for sovereignty,” she added.
After meeting Greenland Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen in Nuuk on Friday to discuss a potential deal with Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that while the situation remains dire, there is “a way” they will try “together with the Americans.”
Frederiksen met with Rutte in Brussels on Friday morning to discuss the details of the NATO chief's talks with Trump.
Nielsen said Thursday that it does not yet know the details of the deal.
The European Union has scrambled to build a raw materials supply chain virtually from scratch as global supply chains for materials vital to clean energy, technology and military equipment become less secure amid fracturing global alliances. Greenland is seen as a potential solution, and the EU has signed a strategic partnership with it in the field of minerals in 2023.
Nathanielsen believes that the US has shown more “swiftness” in building mineral supply chains, thanks to the many trade agreements signed by Trump with dozens of countries around the world and the alignment of national legislation. The EU “was a little slower in this regard, because it is much more difficult”, remarks the minister from Greenland.
Now Greenland is taking a cautious look at the levels of risk posed by the US after Trump appeared to rule out military intervention on the island. “People are still nervous, but we've taken steps down the ladder of conflict,” Nathanielsen said. However, it became clear that “the US is an ally, not necessarily a friend at this point,” she added.
