US Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by his spouse Usha and President Donald Trump’s nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz, made a short however controversial go to to the US Pituffik House Base in Greenland.
The journey, meant to garner help for Trump’s persevering with vying to purchase Greenland and make it one other US state, has reignited a diplomatic spat and heightened considerations amongst Greenlanders about their sovereignty.
Chatting with troops on the base, Vance reassured that army power wouldn’t be essential to increase US affect in Greenland. As an alternative, he argued that locals would willingly select alignment with america over Denmark, which he accused of failing the island’s folks. ‘Denmark has not finished a very good job for the folks of Greenland, and the US must step in,’ Vance declared. He additionally pointed to the rising presence of Russia and China within the Arctic, warning that the world can not ‘bury our heads within the sand – or, on this case, the snow.’
‘Lack of respect for revered ally’, in keeping with danish PM
Vance’s stopover brought about one thing of a diplomatic spat with Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, criticising the dearth of an official invitation. Nielsen instructed reporters the go to confirmed ‘a scarcity of respect for an ally’, whereas Frederiksen refuted Vance’s claims about Denmark’s safety efforts. ‘For a few years, we’ve stood facet by facet with the People in all tough conditions,’ she mentioned with Denmark’s elevated defence investments, together with new Arctic ships and surveillance capabilities. Frederiksen accused the US of placing ‘unacceptable stress’ on Greenland, and he or she has vowed to withstand.
Locals in Greenland additionally expressed some unease concerning the go to. Karl-Peter, a resident of the capital Nuuk, voiced fears to the BBC about Trump ‘attempting to manage the nation’. Qupanuk Olsen, a politician from Greenland’s pro-independence Naleraq get together, echoed his considerations, referencing Donald Trump Jr’s January go to. ‘We’re afraid of being colonised once more,’ she mentioned. ‘We’ve been a colony below Denmark for 300 years, and it nonetheless feels prefer it. Now one other coloniser is eyeing us.’
JD Vance go to might point out for nearer ties with Greenland
Regardless of the backlash, there have been solutions from some corners of presidency that Greenland would possibly want to contemplate nearer US ties as a part of a sustainable independence and defence technique. In the meantime, the Danish PM highlighted Greenland’s place in NATO and referred to as for a extra cooperative method to Arctic safety based mostly on ‘worldwide guidelines’.
Polls present 85 per cent of Greenlanders oppose changing into a part of the US, highlighting that coaching a 51st state within the Arctic gained’t be a stroll within the park.