The US Vice President JD Vance accused Denmark of not protecting Greenland on Friday and suggested that Washington better protect the semi-autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump forced.
During a visit to the US military base in Petenuffik in the north of the Arctic island, Vance said that the United States has no direct plans to expand its military presence on site, but would invest in resources, including additional naval ships.
He promised respect for Greenland’s sovereignty, but also suggested that the territory would recognize the advantage of the partnership with the United States, in the comments called the Danish Prime Minister.
“Denmark did not keep up and devoted the necessary resources to keep this basis, keep our troops and, in my opinion, people in Greenland before many very aggressive ideas from Russia, China and other nations,” said Vance.
He gave no details of the alleged ideas.
Trump has often said that the United States has a security relationship to acquire the island that has been checked by Denmark since 1721.
Vances sharp attacks against Denmark -a long -time US -ally and NATO member -offered another example of the low consideration of the Trump government for traditional US alliances.
Vance in particular has not held back in his news. During a trip abroad last month, he held European civil servants about freedom of expression and illegal migration on the continent and later accused the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump not to show enough gratitude during a controversial meeting in the White House.
In Greenland, Vance said on Friday, Russia, China and other nations an “extraordinary interest” in Arctic passages, marin routes and minerals in the region. He said the United States will invest more resources, including naval ships and military icebreakers who will have a greater presence in the country.
The US Vice President JD Vance was in Greenland on Friday and struck Denmark for not doing a good job to safely protect his half-autonomic territory. But as qupanuk Olsen explains in Greenland Content Content Content, many Greenlanders have not carried out the red carpet for Vance.
When Greenlanders expressed a deep discomfort about the visit, Vance swore that the people in Greenland have a “self -determination” and the US would respect their sovereignty.
“I think they will ultimately work with the United States,” said Vance. “We can make them much safer. We could make a lot more protection. And I think it would also do much better economically.”
His remarks came just a few hours after a new Breit government coalition, which aims to present the relationship with Denmark in the capital Nuuk.
The new Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frednerik Nielsen, said that the US visit had signaled a “lack of respect”, while Danish leader expressed its commitment to Greenland.
“We have been standing next to the Americans for many years. Therefore, the description of the Vice President in Denmark is not a fair,” said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in a statement to the Danish news agency Ritzau.
After US President Donald Trump threatens to take over Greenland, the country’s prime minister has called for a visit to a US delegation as a provocation and very aggressive visit. The Americans on the trip include the national security advisor Mike Waltz and Usha Vance, the wife of the Vice President.
Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that Vance “had a point that we didn’t do enough, but I’m a little provoked because it is also the Americans who didn’t do enough.”
Rasmussen said that the United States today has a basis with 200 soldiers, while the Americans had 17 military installations in Greenland with 10,000 soldiers during the Cold War.
During his visit to Greenland, Vance also briefly threatened the US Customs about Customs, and not the separate annexation threat, which Trump has repeatedly raised against his country’s neighbor.
“There is no way that Canada can win a trade war with the United States,” said Vance, when he answered a question from a reporter about the effects of the Americans, who felt from the introduction of tariffs to goods from US allies.
The US Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Friday that he believes that US President Donald Trump is on the right track with tariffs, and he believes: “There is no way that Canada can win a trade war with the United States.”
“We need Greenland”: Trump
When Vance’s visit was going, Trump said reporters in the White House that the USA needed Greenland to ensure “peace of the whole world”.
“We need Greenland, especially for international security. We have to have Greenland. There is no question about ‘do you think, we can do without it?’ We can’t, “said Trump.
Trump said that the waterways of Greenland had “Chinese and Russian ships everywhere” and the United States will not rely on Denmark or anyone to cope with the situation.
Rufus Gifford, a former US ambassador to Denmark, saw no reason for the United States to acquire Greenland to clear out security concerns. And the Trump administration takes over this front, he said, and simply alienates long-time allies.
“What we see here is this kind of authoritarian rhetoric that only Denmark and Greenland writes away from us,” he said to Bloomberg.
Shortly after his arrival, Vance welcomed the members of the US armed forces and thanked them for their service on the remote base, which is 1,200 kilometers north of the Arctic circle.
Vances Ms. Usha, the national security advisor Mike Waltz and the Minister of Energy Chris Wright accompanied him on the trip.
As part of an agreement from 1951, the United States is entitled to visit its basis whenever it wants, as long as it notifies Greenland and Copenhagen. Pittuffik is located along the shortest route from Europe to North America and is of crucial importance for the US warning system of the US ballist rockets.
The island, the capital of which is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen, has mineral, oil and natural gas assets, but the development was slow and the mining sector has experienced very limited US investments. Mining companies that work in Greenland are mainly Australians, Canadians or British.
An official of the White House said that Greenland had an adequate supply of minerals with rare earth that would provide the next generation of US economy.
“Everything about Trump”
The question now is how far Trump is willing to take over his idea, to take over the island, said Andreas Oäfagen, a senior researcher in Arctic politics and security at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute based in Oslo.
“It is still unlikely that the United States will use military means,” he told Reuters.
“But unfortunately it is likely that President Trump and Vice President Vance will continue to use other means of pressure, such as ambiguous statements, semi -official visits to Greenland and economic instruments,” he said.
Some residents of Greenland also consider how ready to make their threats reality.
“It’s all about Trump,” said Jens Ele Nielsen, the father of the new Prime Minister when he spoke to the British Channel 4 messages. “You may not know what to do tomorrow.”
Surveys have shown that almost all Greenlanders oppose to become part of the United States. Anti -American demonstrators, some of whom have “Make America Go Away” Caps and Holding “Yankees Go Going Home” banner, have presented some of the greatest demonstrations in Greenland.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the new prime minister, asked the political unit on Friday. His Pro Business Party, the Democrats, who prefers to gradually independence from Denmark, became the largest party in a election of March 11.
“At a time when we are under pressure, we have to stand together,” Nielsen told a press conference.
