OSLO, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Greenland’s parliament will bring forward a meeting to discuss its response to U.S. threats to take control of the Arctic island, the leaders of the five political parties in the Greenlandic assembly said in a joint statement.
President Donald Trump has said the United States must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia or China occupying the strategically located and minerals-rich territory in the future.
“We emphasise once again our desire for the U.S. contempt for our country to end,” the leaders of all five political parties elected to Greenland’s parliament said in their joint statement late on Friday.
“We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” they said in the statement, posted on social media by Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
A meeting of Greenland’s parliament, the Inatsisartut, will be brought forward to ensure that a fair and comprehensive political debate takes place and that the people’s rights are secured, the leaders said.
The date of the meeting has not yet been determined. Greenland’s parliament last met in November and had been scheduled to meet again on February 3, according to its website.
TRUMP’S RENEWED PUSH FOR GREENLAND
Trump said on Friday he would “do something on Greenland whether they like it or not” and that the U.S. military presence in the island under a 1951 agreement with fellow NATO member Denmark is not enough to guarantee the island’s defence.
Trump’s renewed push for Greenland, after U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, worries many of the island’s 57,000 inhabitants, whose widely held goal is to eventually become an independent nation.
A 2009 agreement between Greenland and Denmark explicitly recognised Greenlanders’ right to independence if they choose, but while all five parties say they want independence, they differ on how and when to achieve it.
“We must decide the future of our country ourselves, without pressure for a quick decision, delay or interference from other countries,” the party leaders said, adding that they sought dialogue based on diplomacy and international principles.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
