Greenland should hold direct talks with the U.S. government without Denmark, a Greenlandic opposition leader told Reuters, as the Arctic island weighs how to respond to President Donald Trump’s renewed push to bring it under U.S. control.
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he floated in 2019 during his first term in office, although he faces strong opposition to the idea in Washington, including from within his own party.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the U.S. ballistic missile defence system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
Is Denmark Antagonising?
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defence.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the U.S. government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonising both Greenland and the U.S. with their mediation.”
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how and when to achieve it. Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25% of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defence agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement – under which Greenland would receive U.S. support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a U.S. territory.
Greenland FM Says ‘No Direct Talks’
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
But Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday that Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the U.S. without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she said.
The Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio are due to meet next week.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalisation of our relationship,” Motzfeldt told Sermitsiaq.
Emotions are running high.
Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen posted on X a picture of a Danish soldier’s coffin being carried out of a church – a soldier the defence ministry said was killed in Afghanistan in 2011 – underlining Denmark’s contributions to its ally, the U.S.
“In first Afghanistan and then Iraq, Danish soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with our allies… Many capable, heroic soldiers paid the highest price,” he wrote.
Diplomatic Truck
In a rare move, the Tivoli amusement park in central Copenhagen was flying the Greenlandic flag on Thursday.
But Denmark and Greenland are seeking to steer the debate onto a diplomatic track, said Ulrik Pram Gad, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies. “The strategy is to get Trump’s undiplomatic social media statements put back into stabilised diplomatic channels,” he said.
NATO ambassadors in Brussels discussed Greenland on Thursday, agreeing the alliance should strengthen Arctic security, sources said. “No drama,” said a senior NATO diplomat. “Lots of agreement that NATO needs to accelerate its development of stronger deterrence presence in the region.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was weighing its response if U.S. plans materialise. “The messages we hear are extremely concerning,” she said.
Varying Attitudes
Top officials in the Trump administration seem to have different perspectives on how to achieve their objectives. Rubio appears not to favour a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister.
Many of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Congress dismissed talk of buying Greenland or taking it by force. “Greenland is not part of America, and we can’t simply take it because we want to. To do so would be a colossal mistake. It would end NATO,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said in a Senate speech.
Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, met on Thursday morning with the Danish ambassador to Washington, Jesper Moller Sorensen, and Greenland representative Jacob Isbosethsen.
Shaheen told reporters the U.S. should not be attempting to acquire Greenland, and Wicker said Washington’s focus could be on higher geopolitical priorities like threats from Russia and China.
But other U.S. officials say the military option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(with inputs from Reuters)
