A day earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was sending a hospital ship to the autonomous Danish territory that he covets.<\/p>\n
But Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR: “The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs. They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialised treatment, they receive it in Denmark.”<\/p>\n
He added: “It’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland.”<\/p>\n
In Greenland, as in Denmark, access to healthcare is free. There are five regional hospitals across the vast Arctic island, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving patients from all over the territory.<\/p>\n
Without explicitly mentioning the US proposal, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was “happy to live in a country where access to healthcare is free and equal for all. Where insurance or wealth does not determine whether one receives dignified treatment.”<\/p>\n
Separately, early on Saturday Denmark’s Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention. <\/p>\n
AI-generated hospital ship<\/p>\n
Trump, in his Truth Social message on Saturday proposing a hospital ship, posted an AI-generated image of a US Navy medical vessel, USNS Mercy. <\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear if that meant he was deploying that ship to Greenland.<\/p>\n
“We are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there,” Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
“It’s on the way!!!” he added.<\/p>\n
The US president indicated the deployment was being carried out in coordination with Jeff Landry, appointed in December as the US Special Envoy to the Arctic island.<\/p>\n
Greenland already has five regional hospitals, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving the whole territory, whose population is 57,000.<\/p>\n
Aaja Chemnitz, who represents Greenland in the Danish Parliament, wrote on Facebook that while Greenland’s health system had its share of problems, they were best resolved through cooperation with Denmark — “which is one of the wealthiest and most educated countries, for example in the field of healthcare. Not with the United States, which has its own healthcare system problems.”<\/p>\n
Trump has repeatedly said he believes the United States must control Greenland to ensure US national security.<\/p>\n
Earlier threats he made to seize the territory, by force if necessary, have ebbed since he struck a “framework” deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to ensure greater US influence.<\/p>\n
The defence minister, Lund Poulsen, told DR he was not aware of a possible arrival of the suggested US hospital ship. <\/p>\n
“Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics,” he said. <\/p>\n
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