New Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Sunday that U.S. statements about the mineral-rich Arctic island have been disrespectful and that Greenland “will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.”
Nielsen made the remarks in defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in taking control of the strategic territory as Nielsen stood side by side with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on the second day of a three-day official visit. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
“The talks from the United States have not been respectful,” Nielsen said at a news conference at the prime minister’s Marienborg official residence in Lyngby, 12 kilometers (8 miles) north of Copenhagen.
“The words used have not been respectful. That’s why we need in this situation, we need to stand together,” he added.
Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, recently agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory.
Greenland’s government said that Nielsen’s three-day visit, which began Saturday, was aimed at future cooperation between the two countries.
“Denmark has the will to invest in the Greenlandic society, and we don’t just have that for historical reasons. We also have that because we are part of (the Danish) commonwealth with each other,” said Frederiksen.
“We of course have a will to also continue investing in the Greenlandic society,” she added.
Nielsen is set to meet King Frederik X on Monday, before returning to Greenland with Frederik for a royal visit to the island.
Frederiksen and Nielsen were asked whether a meeting between them and Trump was being planned.
“We always want to meet with the American president,” Frederiksen said. “Of course we want to. But I think we have been very, very clear in what is the (Danish commonwealth’s) approach to all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark.”