Denmark Summons US Official Over Reports of Interference in Greenland

TDT | Manama

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Denmark has called in the US charge d’affaires for talks after reports that American officials may have tried to interfere in Greenland, the Danish autonomous territory that President Donald Trump has expressed interest in controlling.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said that Greenland, rich in natural resources and strategically located, is important for US security. He has even suggested that force could be an option to secure the island.

However, most of Greenland’s 57,000 residents want independence from Denmark, but not to become part of the United States, according to a January poll.

Danish public television reported Wednesday that at least three US officials close to Trump were recently seen in Greenland, apparently gathering information on past controversies that strained relations between Greenland and Denmark. These include the forced removal of Greenlandic children from their families and a scandal involving forced contraception.

“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told AFP. “Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom will of course be unacceptable.”

He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been instructed to summon the US charge d’affaires for a meeting.