The prime minister of Greenland mentioned he welcomes talks with President-elect Donald Trump over Greenland’s future.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has expressed readiness to carry talks with President-elect Donald Trump over the president-elect’s expressions of curiosity in buying Greenland on the premise of safety imperatives for the US and its allies.
“We’re prepared to speak,” Egede mentioned. “Cooperation is about dialogue. Cooperation signifies that you’ll work in the direction of options.”
Egede added, nonetheless, that Greenland seeks to be an impartial, sovereign nation; not a U.S. territory. This means that talks with Trump would revolve round a deal targeted on assets and safety, reasonably than about turning into the 51st state.
“We have now a need for independence, a need to be the grasp of our personal home,” Egede mentioned. “That is one thing everybody ought to respect.”
As a semi-autonomous territory, Greenland runs its personal home issues however its international affairs—together with protection—are managed by Denmark. The previous Danish colony is strategically positioned about midway alongside the shortest route from Europe and Russia to North America. It’s additionally residence to a big U.S. house facility and its proximity to the Arctic signifies that it performs a key function in monitoring and managing Arctic safety.
Trump has mentioned that buying Greenland can be useful for the safety and financial pursuits of the US and its allies.
The president-elect’s proposal to purchase Greenland was rejected by the Greenlandic prime minister, who mentioned the Arctic island is “not on the market.”
“The Greenlandic folks’s alternative for independence has been adopted by means of the provisions of the Self-Authorities Act, thereby making a authorized foundation for the way independence might be achieved,” Egede mentioned.
“A draft structure for our nation has additionally been ready,” he added. “Work has already begun with regard to creating the framework for Greenland as an impartial state inside the potentialities and provisions of the Self-Authorities Act.”
Throughout the Jan. 10 press convention in Copenhagen, the Greenlandic prime minister mentioned that the will to hunt independence doesn’t imply slicing all ties or relations with Denmark.
“Greenland is for the Greenlandic folks. We don’t need to be Danish, we don’t need to be American. We need to be Greenlandic,” Egede mentioned on the presser.
Nonetheless, Egede’s remarks about wanting to carry talks with Trump counsel a possible new deal might be within the pipeline that would bolster America’s safety footprint within the Arctic and pave the way in which for extra useful resource extraction, together with for essential minerals.