Greenland's prime minister said on Monday that the autonomous Danish territory is open to closer ties with the United States in areas such as mining, Greenland's broadcaster reported.
“We need to do business with the United States. We are beginning to open dialogue and explore opportunities for cooperation. [Donald] Muto Egede said this at a press conference in Greenland, according to public broadcaster KNR.
He added that the territory is “open for mining”.
“It will be the same for the next few years. We have to trade with the United States,” he was quoted as saying, according to KNR.
But Egede gave no indication that the island might be open to a U.S. takeover.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20th, sounded the alarm last week, refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland under US control.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said in an interview with Fox News over the weekend that the United States already has “troops” in place at military bases in northwestern Greenland.
In addition to its strategic location, Greenland, which is seeking independence from Denmark, possesses vast untapped mineral and oil reserves, despite a ban on oil and uranium exploration. are.
President Trump's Republican allies in the U.S. House of Representatives are trying to rally support for the Greenland Purchase Negotiation Authorization Act, according to a copy of the bill distributed to co-sponsors on Monday, Reuters reported.
Trump first claimed in 2019, during his first term as president, that he wanted to buy Greenland, but the offer was quickly rejected by Greenland and Denmark.
During a visit to Denmark last week, Egede said the Arctic “is entering a new era in the new year, when Greenland will be the center of the world.”
He said Greenland would continue to cooperate with the United States, but stressed that this was on Greenland's own terms and that “the people of Greenland will decide their future.”
“We don't want to be Danes. We don't want to be Americans. Of course we want to be Greenlanders,” he said.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters
