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Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, uncooked supplies, mining, vitality, regulation enforcement and equality, addresses MPs at a gathering within the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) room, within the Homes of Parliament, Westminster, organised by the APPG for Greenland following US threats to take over the territory.
James Manning – Pa Photos | Pa Photos | Getty Photos
Greenlanders are “bewildered” by U.S. President Donald Trump’s “devastating” bid to annex the Arctic island, its enterprise minister has instructed CNBC, as the difficulty turns right into a geopolitical firestorm.
Chatting with CNBC on Tuesday forward of Trump addressing the annual World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland, Naaja Nathanielsen, minister for enterprise and mineral assets, described the worldwide consideration as “fairly devastating” for most of the roughly 57,000 Greenlanders.
Requested how individuals in Greenland have been feeling amid Trump’s pursuit of the island, Nathanielsen stated: “Persons are frightened, persons are afraid, persons are bewildered.”
“[We have] all the time thought-about ourselves as an ally of the U.S. and have tried to accommodate the wants from the U.S. over time and executed so fortunately,” Nathanielsen stated through video name.
“To unexpectedly discover ourselves within the midst of a storm that is about buying us like a product or a property, it is actually tough for us — to not point out the threats of navy motion and an precise occupation of our nation.”
Her feedback come because the U.S. president stepped up his efforts to accumulate the self-governing Danish territory, which he has claimed is “crucial” for U.S. nationwide safety. On Monday, he answered “no remark” when requested by NBC if he’d use navy drive to grab it.
“There could be no going again,” Trump stated of his plans in a social media publish on Tuesday.
The U.S. president on Saturday pledged to impose a rising wave of tariffs on eight European nations from Feb. 1 for opposing the U.S. buying Greenland.
To unexpectedly discover ourselves within the midst of a storm that is about buying us like a product or a property, it is actually tough for us.”
Naaja Nathanielsen
Greenland’s minister for enterprise and mineral assets
European political leaders have sought to push again and are anticipated to carry talks over easy methods to reply within the coming days. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday described Trump’s tariff threats as “essentially unacceptable,” whereas British Prime Minister Keir Starmer referred to as the transfer “utterly unsuitable.”
Nathanielsen instructed CNBC she had been “actually moved by the robust present of solidarity” from European political leaders. “You can’t go together with a scheme the place it’s important to settle for that an ally occupies one other ally,” she stated.
‘A menace we have now by no means seen earlier than’
Protests have taken place in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and Denmark’s Copenhagen in current days, with individuals marching with pink and white Greenlandic flags.
Opinion polls have proven that Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose U.S. management, whereas a powerful majority assist independence from Denmark.
Folks wave Greenlandic flags as they participate in an indication that gathered virtually a 3rd of town inhabitants to protest in opposition to the US President’s plans to take Greenland, on January 17, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland.
Alessandro Rampazzo | Afp | Getty Photos
Nathanielsen stated: “We now have all the time recognized that our place on the earth geographically causes some tensions. We’re used to this. We was once a colony of Denmark. So, we’re not we’re not unfamiliar with complexity and controversy and battle — however we have now all the time discovered our methods to adapt to the state of affairs and work with it.
“And proper now, I feel we’re dealing with a menace we have now by no means seen earlier than. So, I’m completely sure that had been we to change into occupied, that will imply the destruction of our tradition. And I discover that fairly devastating.”
Nathanielsen stated the island’s lawmakers would search extra readability on the way it can accommodate the U.S. “with out being swallowed up” by it.
“The specter of occupation is devastating to us. It’s completely not one thing that we might be capable to work with in any respect,” Nathanielsen stated.
“So, we don’t need to be purchased. We now have made that fairly clear. After all, we do not need to be occupied — what nation on the earth we would like that? However we do need dialogue. We do need collaboration. And we do need to decrease the temperature,” she added.
What subsequent for Greenland?
In 2009, Greenland was granted larger autonomy over its home affairs via the Self-Authorities Act, which additionally gave the island the fitting to carry an independence referendum. Denmark stays chargeable for its international, protection and safety insurance policies.
Most Greenlandic political events assist independence however disagree over when and easy methods to attain it. The independence motion has change into a balancing act between the island’s final purpose of self-determination and the necessity for Denmark’s monetary assist for important companies, similar to well being and training.
Chatting with CNBC earlier this month, Aaja Chemnitz, an MP representing Greenland within the Danish Parliament, stated Greenlanders needed to “be sure that we’re not dehumanized, which I feel we have now been on this entire state of affairs.”
“The persons are resilient. And I feel it is vital to keep in mind that, after all, you possibly can’t purchase a rustic, however you may also not purchase a inhabitants,” Chemnitz instructed CNBC on Jan. 8.
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