‘Greenland is not for sale,’ lawmaker says amid Trump’s escalating threats

Lawmaker Aaja Chemnitz says it is ‘very important to find solutions’ arsenic apical US officials propulsion for power of Greenland.

A Greenlandic lawmaker has stressed that Greenland is “not for sale” arsenic United States President Donald Trump and elder members of his medication renew threats to instrumentality power of the autonomous Danish territory.

Aaja Chemnitz, a subordinate of the Danish parliament representing Greenland, welcomed talks betwixt US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Danish and Greenlandic officials expected to instrumentality spot adjacent week.

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“I deliberation it’s going to beryllium precise important to find solutions,” she told Al Jazeera connected Thursday.

But Chemnitz stressed that Greenland’s presumption connected its autonomy remains unchanged. “Greenland is not for sale, and Greenland ne'er volition beryllium for sale,” she said.

Since taking bureau successful January of past year, Trump has repeatedly said helium wants to instrumentality over Greenland, stressing the island’s “strategic” value successful the Arctic region.

“We request Greenland from a nationalist information situation. It’s truthful strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships each implicit the place. We request Greenland from the standpoint of nationalist security,” the US president told reporters connected Sunday.

But Trump’s propulsion has drawn beardown rebukes from Greenland and Denmark, the European Union, and different large US allies, including Canada.

On Tuesday, the overseas ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden stressed their committedness “to preserving security, stableness and co-operation successful the Arctic”.

“Security successful the Arctic rests connected respect for the cardinal principles of the UN Charter and planetary law, including the inviolability of borders,” the ministers said successful a joint statement.

“We collectively reiterate that matters concerning Denmark and Greenland are for Denmark and Greenland to determine alone.”

Yet contempt that opposition, the Trump medication continues to interval the anticipation of taking implicit Greenland – and it has refused to regularisation retired the anticipation of military action.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters connected Wednesday that “all options are ever connected the array for President Trump”.

“But I volition conscionable accidental that the president’s archetypal enactment ever has been diplomacy,” she said.

‘Important to find solutions’

Fears of a US subject cognition to instrumentality power of Greenland person grown aft the Trump medication sent the US subject into the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to abduct President Nicolas Maduro connected Saturday aft a months-long unit campaign.

The abduction, which has been denounced arsenic a usurpation of planetary law, comes amid Trump’s propulsion to exert US dominance successful the Western Hemisphere successful enactment with a 19th-century US argumentation known arsenic the Monroe Doctrine.

Some experts accidental the US president’s program to instrumentality implicit Greenland aligns with that doctrine.

Asked astir Washington’s stance towards Greenland, Rubio told reporters connected Wednesday that Trump is not the archetypal US president to look astatine however to “acquire” the territory. He besides did not regularisation retired utilizing subject force.

“If the president identifies a menace to the nationalist information of the United States, each president retains the enactment to code it done subject means,” Rubio said.

It remains unclear who precisely volition conscionable with Rubio adjacent week for talks connected the situation.

But Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said connected Tuesday that she and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had requested a gathering with the US caput of state.

“The intent of the gathering is to bespeak the US’s important statements connected Greenland,” Motzfeldt wrote connected societal media.

Chemnitz, the Danish lawmaker, told Al Jazeera connected Thursday that the planned talks are an accidental to code rising tensions implicit the US position.

“I deliberation it’s important to absorption connected diplomacy,” she said. “This is simply a precise unusual concern for us, and galore of america person been acrophobic astir everything that has happened.”

But Chemnitz stressed that the discussions indispensable beryllium conducted with respect. “We request respect,” she said. “In bid to person diplomacy, you besides request to person respect.”