(VOVWORLD) - Greenland may become independent if its residents want, but is unlikely to become a U.S. state, Denmark's foreign minister said on Wednesday after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out force to take control of the Arctic island.
 Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen answers questions from the press in the Parliament, Christiansborg Castle, in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2025. (Ritzau Scanpix/Liselotte Sabroe/via REUTERS) |
Greenland's leader met with the Danish king in Copenhagen on Wednesday, a day after Trump's remarks thrust the fate of the mineral-rich and strategically important island, which is under Danish rule, to the top of world headlines.
Trump, who takes office on January 20, said on Tuesday he would not rule out using military or economic action to make Greenland part of the US. The same day, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., made a private visit to Greenland.
Greenland, part of NATO through the membership of Denmark, has strategic significance for the US military and for its ballistic missile early-warning system since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the Arctic island.
Greenland, the world's biggest island, has been part of Denmark for 600 years although its 57,000 people now govern their own domestic affairs. The island's government led by Prime Minister Mute Egede aims for eventual independence.
"We fully recognise that Greenland has its own ambitions. If they materialise, Greenland will become independent, though hardly with an ambition to become a federal state in the United States," Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said.
France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Europe would not let other nations attack its sovereign borders.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that European partners unanimously uphold the inviolability of borders.