Donald Trump’s threat to seize Greenland “should be taken seriously”, a former Prime Minister of the island has told Express.co.uk, warning the US is now the territory’s biggest security concern.
The US president-elect refused on Tuesday to rule out using military force or economic coercion to take control of Greenland after he argued that the territory is vital for America’s economic and security interests.
Kuupik Kleist, who was the prime minister of Greenland between 2009 and 2013, has stressed that this is no empty threat.
He told the Daily Express: “I think that the threats that Trump aired, when he aired his desire of taking control with Greenland, Canada and the Panama channel, should be taken seriously.”
Mr Kleist urged legislators in the territory not to “talk soft”, calling on them and others opposing Trump’s threats to “respond in the same tone”.
He added: “NATO members should cooperate and not threaten each other.”
When asked what he would do if still in charge, Mr Kleist said: “I would call upon the Indigenous world to protest that he is threatening the freedom movement.”
Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of military force comes after he expressed his interest in purchasing the island from Denmark, which currently owns the territory.
But Copenhagen has insisted it will never sell Greenland to the States.
Rasmus Jarlov, from Denmark’s Conservative People’s party, told the Daily Express: “This is not achievable and there is no way that it’s going to happen. Denmark will not sell people who do not want to be part of the United States to them.”
But he admitted that it is “difficult to handle the pressure from America”, adding that Trump’s refusal to rule out using military force is deeply worrying.
Mr Jarlov added: “All of a sudden our biggest concern is threats from the United States. It is a sad development and completely unnecessary.”
The Danish government is also taking the matter seriously, with Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announcing a massive boost in defence spending worth at least £1.2 billion.
He said the timing of the announcement was simply an “irony of fate” as it coincided by chance with Trump’s remarks that claiming control of the island was an “absolutely necessity for the US”.
Trump first expressed his interest in taking control of Greenland in 2019, when he said he was keen on buying the land and making its people US citizens.