Trump wants Greenland (and its 55,000 EU citizens). EU says ‘no comment’.
Greenland says island's fate must lie with Greenlanders, but EU declines to "comment on comments."
Are you a Greenlander worrying about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s latest claim that American “ownership and control” of your homeland is a “necessity”?
Well, even though the vast majority of Greenlanders are EU citizens, the EU’s diplomatic service, known as the European External Action Service (EEAS), is not exactly coming out all-guns-blazing against Trump’s suggestion of an impending land grab.
“I can offer you a quick reply: we do not comment on comments,” said Anouar El Anouni, an EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy.
Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, is not in the EU but is classed as an “Overseas Territory associated with the EU.” Out of almost 57,000 people living on the giant, mineral-rich island, only about 2,000 are non-Danes, meaning the population are mostly EU citizens.
Trump expressed his renewed interest in acquiring Greenland — after having initially done so back in 2019 — on Sunday, when he appointed his new ambassador to Denmark: PayPal co-founder and former U.S. Ambassador to Sweden Kenneth Howery.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” said Trump in a post on Truth Social.
Not everyone is as stand-offish as Brussels when it comes to expressing disapproval of Greenland falling into American hands.
“Greenland is ours,” said Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede on Monday on Facebook. “We are not for sale and will never be for sale.” Egede insisted that Greenland belonged to Greenlanders, who must not lose their “long struggle for freedom.”
Officially, Copenhagen aligns itself with Egede’s position.
Just hours after Trump’s remarks, Denmark announced it would boost its defense spending in Greenland to at least €1.3 billion, though the Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen called the timing an “irony of fate.”
The governments of Greenland and Denmark did not immediately reply to POLITICO’s request for comment.
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