Vivian Motzfeld says she has ‘good hopes’ for talks with Marco Rubio amid US threats to seize Greenland.
Greenland’s foreign minister has said that the Greenland government should “take the lead” in planned talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the United States. The threats continue to take over the autonomous Danish territory.
“When it comes to Greenland, Greenland should take the initiative and talk to the United States,” Vivian Motzfeld said on Friday, according to Danish broadcaster DR.
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She said the Greenlandic The government should be able to communicate with other countries independently of Denmark.
“What would be wrong with us holding meetings with the United States on our own? I assume that we (Denmark and Greenland) share some common values and policies that both countries stand on,” Motzfeldt said.
Asked if she would prefer to meet with Rubio next week without her Danish counterpart, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Motzfeld declined to comment, insisting the talks would be held jointly.
“Greenland is working towards statehood, which requires us to run our own foreign policy. But we’re not there yet. Until then, we have some laws and frameworks that need to be followed,” she said.
The scheduled talks come as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex Denmark’s self-governing territory of Greenland. European leaders were shocked.
Trump has praised the island’s “strategic” importance in the Arctic region and accused Danish authorities of failing to adequately secure the waters around Greenland – a claim denied by local politicians.
“We don’t want Russia or China to go to Greenland, which — if we don’t take Greenland — you’re going to have Russia or China next door. That’s not going to happen,” he told reporters at the White House on Friday.
The Trump administration has ruled out using military force to seize Greenland, telling reporters this week that “all options” remain on the table.
Recent US attacks on Venezuela and Kidnapping The South American country’s President Nicolas Maduro has raised concerns about what Trump is planning for Greenland.
The future of NATO
Rubio held talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte on Friday as the transatlantic military alliance seeks to reduce Washington’s interest in Greenland by emphasizing efforts to boost security in the Arctic.
A NATO spokesman said Rutte spoke with Rubio about “the importance of the Arctic to our shared security and how NATO is working to enhance our capabilities in the High North.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that Armed US attack Taking Greenland could spell the end for NATO.
But the head of Nato’s forces in Europe, US General Alexis Grinkwich, said earlier in the day that the alliance was far from being in “crisis”.
“To date my work at the military level has not been affected … I can only say that we are still ready to defend every inch of the territory of the alliance,” Grinkevich told reporters during a visit to Finland.
“So I see us far from being in trouble right now,” he added.
Motzfeldt, Greenland’s foreign minister, also said she had “good expectations” of Rubio’s upcoming meeting but underlined that “it is too early to say how it will end”.
“From our side, it is clear that Greenland needs the United States, and the United States needs Greenland. That responsibility must be taken seriously,” she said, reiterating the need to return to trust-based relations with Washington.