'We do not want to be Americans' says Greenland's PM as Trump hints at land grab
'We do not want to be Americans' says Greenland's PM as Trump hints at land grab
Summary
Greenland's Prime Minister Múte B. Egede stated that Greenlanders want independence and neither want to be Danes nor Americans, following Donald Trump's comments about acquiring the territory for strategic reasons.
Trump suggested using force or economic pressure, alarming Denmark and Europe.
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen reaffirmed Greenland's sovereignty, stating "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders."
The US sees Greenland as key in Arctic geopolitics, given its resources and location, but Egede stressed Greenland's identity as distinct from Denmark, the US, or NATO politics.
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Considering that USA does not rule out using force, Greenland should tell them to close their military base on Greenland and send their loud mouths back to their own territory.
The base is probably established using some long-term lease agreement. One would have to read the fine print about ending the agreement, but in principle - I agree.
There is another complexity, though - the words were said by not-yet-president. There might be a difference between a president threatening another land, and a not-yet-president doing so. Currently the president is Biden and will remain so for 9 more days.
Regardless, if the US base in Greenland were to see motions towards ending its lease agreement - especially if Trump keeps saying the things he has - that would be 100% understandable.
When the countries were still on amicable terms, Ukraine leased Russia some naval bases in Crimea, and we know what happened subsequently in 2014 - they were used to stage a takeover of the peninsula.
That's assuming either Greenland or the US act in good faith. Pieces of paper and law aren't magic forcefields that prevent something from happening. If Greenland needs to secure itself, expelling threats to their independence from its land isn't going to hinge on a lease agreement.
All agreements should have a clause in them moving forward that any comments from the USA president or congress memeber about taking over the other parties land is an immediate ending of the agreement with all property in said territory immediately becoming the property of other nation.