Greenland's prime minister has commented: “Greenland belongs to us,” ignoring US President Donald Trump's comments.
The tight-lipped Burup Egede made the announcement on Facebook on Wednesday, just hours after Mr Trump told Congress he intended to gain control of Greenland “one way or another.”
“Kalaallit Nunaat is ours,” Mr. Egede said in his post, using the Greenlandic name for his country.
“We do not want to become Americans or Danes; we are Kalaalit. The Americans and their leader must realize this. We cannot be bought and we cannot be taken away. We will decide our own future in Greenland,” he added.
The post ended with an emoji of a clenched fist and the flag of Greenland.
In Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, residents are taking Trump's ambitions for their country seriously.
Since taking office six weeks ago, Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in Greenland, a vast, mineral-rich island located along strategic shipping lanes in the North Atlantic.
Greenland, a self-governing island with a population of about 56,000, is located off the northeast coast of Canada, closer to Washington, D.C., than to Copenhagen.
Mr Trump made a direct appeal to the people of Greenland in his address to Congress a week before the country's parliamentary elections.
“We strongly support your right to determine your future, and if you choose, we would be happy to see you in the United States of America,” Mr. Trump said.
“We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights never before reached,” he added.
Still, Mr Trump's message reflects elements of the great-power approach that have marked the start of his second term.
Since taking office, he has proposed evicting Palestinians from Gaza and turning it into a “Middle Eastern Riviera”; pledged to regain control of the Panama Canal; and halted arms sales to Ukraine after the country’s president was slow to embrace Washington’s roadmap to a peace deal with Russia.
Mr Trump said his administration was “working with all stakeholders to try to get” Greenland.
“This is really necessary for the international security of the world. And I am confident that we will get it.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
