Denmark Criticises ‘Tone’ Of Vance’s Greenland Comments

Denmark on Saturday stated it didn’t just like the “tone” of US Vice President JD Vance feedback that Copenhagen had not completed sufficient for Greenland throughout a go to to the strategically positioned, resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.

“We’re open to criticisms, however let me be fully trustworthy, we don’t admire the tone through which it is being delivered,” Overseas Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen stated on X.

“This isn’t the way you communicate to your shut allies, and I nonetheless think about Denmark and the USA to be shut allies,” he stated.

Vance made his feedback throughout a visit to the Pituffik House Base in northwestern Greenland, considered by each Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation.

“Our message to Denmark could be very easy: You haven’t completed a great job by the folks of Greenland,” Vance informed a press convention.

“You’ve got under-invested within the folks of Greenland and you’ve got under-invested within the safety structure of this unimaginable, lovely landmass,” he added.

Trump argues that the USA wants the huge Arctic island for nationwide and worldwide safety and has refused to rule out using power to safe it.

“We’re not speaking about peace for the USA. We’re speaking about world peace. We’re speaking about worldwide safety,” Trump claimed to reporters on the White Home on Friday.

Requested concerning the potential use of power, Vance confused the US administration didn’t assume that “is ever going to be vital”.

“We predict this is sensible and since we expect the folks of Greenland are rational and good, we expect we’re going to have the ability to lower a deal, Donald Trump-style, to make sure the safety of this territory but additionally the USA of America,” Vance stated.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen additionally hit again at Vance in an announcement.

“For a few years, we have now stood by the People in very tough conditions,” she stated, referring to Danish fight deployments alongside American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The Vice President’s reference to Denmark isn’t correct,” she stated.

Vance was accompanied by his spouse Usha, Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz, Power Secretary Chris Wright, Utah Senator Mike Lee and former Homeland Safety Advisor Julia Nesheiwat, who’s Waltz’s spouse.

Danish and Greenlandic officers, backed by the European Union, have insisted that the USA is not going to receive Greenland.

Frederiksen has condemned the US determination to go to the Arctic island uninvited as “unacceptable strain” on Greenland and Denmark.

A majority of Greenlanders opposes US annexation, in line with a January ballot.

The Pituffik base is a necessary a part of Washington’s missile defence infrastructure, its location within the Arctic placing it on the shortest route for missiles fired from Russia at the USA.

Often called Thule Air Base till 2023, it served as a warning publish for doable assaults from the Soviet Union through the Chilly Warfare.

It’s also a strategic location for air and submarine surveillance.

In January, Copenhagen stated it could allocate nearly two billion {dollars} to beef up its presence within the Arctic and north Atlantic, buying specialised vessels and surveillance tools.

Greenland is residence to 57,000 folks, most of them Inuits.

It’s believed to carry large untapped mineral and oil reserves, though oil and uranium exploration are banned.

Trump’s want to take over the territory has been categorically rejected by Greenlanders, their politicians and Danish officers.

Whereas all of Greenland’s political events are in favour of independence, none of them helps the concept of changing into a part of the USA.

A brand new broad four-party coalition authorities was introduced in Greenland simply hours earlier than the US delegation’s arrival, following elections earlier this month.

Incoming prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen stated the territory wanted unity presently.

“It is extremely vital that we put apart our disagreements and variations… as a result of solely on this method will we be capable to address the heavy strain we’re uncovered to from exterior,” he stated.