Vivian Motzfeldt said she had “good hopes” for a meeting with Marco Rubio amid the US threat to take over Greenland.
Greenland’s foreign minister said the Greenlandic government should “take the lead” in planned talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as the US continues to threaten to occupy the autonomous Danish territory.
“When it comes to Greenland, Greenland should take the lead in talking with the United States,” Vivian Motzfeldt said on Friday, according to Danish broadcaster DR.
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He said the Greenlandic government should be able to talk to other countries independently of Denmark.
“What’s wrong with us talking to the United States on our own? I think we (Denmark and Greenland) share certain common values and policies that we both support,” Motzfeldt said.
Asked whether he would like to hold next week’s talks with Rubio without his Danish counterpart Lars Lökke Rasmussen, Motzfeld declined to comment, stressing that the talks would be joint.
“Greenland is striving towards statehood, which requires it to have its own foreign policy. But we are not there yet. Until then, there are certain laws and frameworks that we must abide by,” she said.
The planned talks come as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to seize Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, which has upset European leaders.
President Trump praised Greenland’s “strategic” importance in the Arctic region and accused Danish authorities of failing to adequately secure the waters around Greenland, a claim that local politicians rejected.
He argued Friday that the United States needs to occupy Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying it.
“We don’t want Russia or China to go to Greenland. If we don’t occupy Greenland, we’ll have Russia and China as neighbors. That’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
He added: “I want to get a deal the easy way. But if we don’t get a deal the easy way, we’re going to get a deal the hard way.”
The recent US attack on Venezuela and the abduction of the South American president, Nicolas Maduro, have raised concerns about what President Trump is planning for Greenland.
The future of NATO
Rubio met with NATO chief Mark Rutte on Friday, as the transatlantic military alliance seeks to deflect U.S. attention to Greenland by emphasizing efforts to strengthen Arctic security.
A NATO spokesperson said Rutte spoke with Rubio “about the importance of the Arctic to our common security and how NATO is working to strengthen our capabilities.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an armed attack on Greenland by the United States could spell the end of NATO.
But US General Alexus Grynkewicz, the head of NATO forces in Europe, said earlier in the day that the alliance was far from “in crisis”.
“So far, my work at the military level has not been affected. I can only say that today we are ready to defend every corner of our alliance territory,” Grinkevich told reporters during a visit to Finland.
“Therefore, we do not consider ourselves to be in crisis at this time,” he added.
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Motzfeldt also said he had “good expectations” for future talks with Rubio, but stressed that it was “too early to say what the outcome will be.”
“From our side, it’s clear that Greenland needs the United States and the United States needs Greenland. We must take that responsibility seriously,” he said, reiterating the need to restore a relationship based on trust with the United States.
