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The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the United States won’t take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory.
Trump’s announcement that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would be the envoy prompted a new flare-up of tensions over Washington’s interest in the vast territory of Denmark, a NATO ally.
During an announcement Monday about new warships, Trump said the U.S. “needs” Greenland for national security and that Landry wanted to be part of that goal.
“We have to have it and he wanted to lead the charge,” Trump said.
‘Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders’
Denmark’s foreign minister told Danish broadcasters that he would summon the U.S. ambassador to his ministry in response.
“We have said it before. Now, we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a joint statement. “They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security.”
“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the U.S. shall not take over Greenland,” they added in the statement emailed by Frederiksen’s office. “We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity.”
WATCH | U.S. eyes Greenland:
Denmark accuses U.S. of covert operations in Greenland
Denmark summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country to protest what Danish officials say is an unprecedented effort by people close to U.S. President Donald Trump to conduct secret influence operations in Greenland.
Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island.
In March, Vice-President JD Vance visited a remote U.S. military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of under-investing there.
The issue gradually drifted out of the headlines, but in August, Danish officials summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen following a report that at least three people with connections to Trump had carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.
On Sunday, Trump announced Landry’s appointment, saying on social media that “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World.”
Landry wrote in a post on social media that “it’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, seen here in June, has been appointed by Trump as special envoy to Greenland. (Kathleen Flynn/Reuters)
The Trump administration did not offer any warning ahead of the announcement, according to a Danish government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
‘Changes nothing,’ says Greenland PM
Deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly said Monday that Trump decided to create the special envoy role because the administration views Greenland as “a strategically important location in the Arctic for maintaining peace through strength.”
Greenland’s prime minister wrote in a statement that Greenland had again woken up to a new announcement from the U.S. president, and that “it may sound significant. But it changes nothing for us here at home.”
Earlier this month, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service said in an annual report that the U.S. is using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten military force against friend and foe alike.
Denmark is a member of the European Union as well as NATO.
The president of the EU’s executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on social media that Arctic security is a “key priority” for the bloc and one on which it seeks to work with allies and partners. She also said that “territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law.”
“We stand in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland,” she wrote.