NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Greenland’s party leaders have rejected President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for the United States to take control of the island, saying Greenland’s future must be decided by its people.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said in a statement on Friday night.
Trump said again on Friday that he wanted a “easy way” deal to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous region that is part of NATO ally Denmark. He said that if the United States does not own it, then Russia or China will take it over and the United States does not want them as neighbors.
“If we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said, without explaining what that meant. The White House said it was considering a range of options, including using force to acquire the island.
The leader of the Greenland Party reiterated that “Greenland’s future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”
“As leaders of the Greenland Party, we would like to emphasize once again that we want the United States to end its contempt for our country,” the statement said.
Officials from Denmark, Greenland and the United States met in Washington on Thursday and will meet again next week to discuss the White House’s renewed push for control of the island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO.
“Work on Greenland’s future is based on dialogue with the Greenlandic people and is based on international law,” the party leader’s statement said.
“No other country can interfere in this matter,” they said. “We must decide our country’s future ourselves without being pressured by other countries’ quick decisions, delays or interference.”
The statement was signed by Nielsen, Pele Broberg, Múte B. Egede, Aleqa Hammond and Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen.
Although Greenland is the world’s largest island, it has a population of approximately 57,000 people and does not have its own military. Defense is provided by Denmark, whose military strength pales in comparison to that of the United States
It is unclear how the remaining NATO members would react if the United States decided to forcefully take control of the island, or whether they would provide assistance to Denmark.