Greenland’s prime minister, Múte B Egede, has called for the international community to step in after it was announced that Donald Trump’s national security adviser and the US second lady will visit the Arctic island, accusing Washington of “foreign interference”.
Mike Waltz and Usha Vance are due to arrive in Greenland this week as part of a delegation that will also include the US energy secretary, Chris Wright.
Trump has pledged to make the autonomous territory – part of the kingdom of Denmark, which ruled Greenland as a colony until 1953 and continues to control its foreign and security policy – part of the US, “one way or the other” and has refused to rule out using military or economic force to do so.
A spokesperson for the Danish police said they had sent extra personnel and sniffer dogs to Greenland as they step up security measures before the visit. René Gyldensten said the extra officers, deployed on Sunday, were part of regular steps taken during visits by dignitaries but declined to specify the number of extra police flown in on a chartered aircraft. News reports put the figure at dozens.
Greenlandic parties are currently in coalition talks after an election less than a fortnight ago in which the country voted for a complete overhaul of its government, with the Democrats replacing Egede’s party, Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), as the biggest party in the Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament.
Egede reacted angrily to the White House announcement on Sunday, accusing Greenland’s allies of “hiding” and “almost whispering” their support. If the international community did not step up its support for Greenland, he warned, the situation would escalate.
“Yes, the western allies stood together and helped each other through thick and thin, but it has turned upside down now with the sitting president in the USA,” he told the Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq.
“But the fact that our other allies in the international community feel like hiding in a small corner and almost whispering that they support us has no effect, and if they do not speak out loudly about how the USA is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day, and the American aggression will increase.”
He added: “So we need our other allies to clearly and distinctly come with their support and backing for us.”
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the leader of Greenland’s Democrats, who is expected to become the next prime minister, called for calm and said they would continue to take the time needed to reach a “solid and sustainable political agreement”. He accused the US of a “lack of respect” in planning the visit while coalition talks were still happening.
“The visit, which is said to be ‘private’, is pure charm offensive, and if we allow ourselves to be influenced by it, for example by rushing to form a new coalition, we may become even more vulnerable to pressure,” Nielsen told Sermitsiaq.
“So let’s cool our nerves and maintain our common goal of showing the outside world that our country is not a commodity, and that we have sovereignty over the country, which must be respected and no one can take it away from us.”
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Vivian Motzfeldt, the chair of the social democratic party Siumut, which was in coalition with IA in the last government but suffered its biggest ever defeat in this month’s election, said she understood concerns about the upcoming US visit. But she said she believed it was time to look at what opportunities increasing cooperation with the US might offer Greenland.
She wrote on social media: “The United States wants a closer relationship with our country, and if that had happened a year ago, we would have had a very different reaction in our country. The president’s words, which change everything, are the basis for our assessment today, and it is understandable, since the words used should not be used among countries that are allies.
“Instead of worrying, we should examine how the opportunities that arise can benefit our country.”
The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Sunday that the planned visit “cannot be seen independently of the public statements that have been made”. She added: “In the kingdom, we want to cooperate with the Americans. But it must be a cooperation that is based on the fundamental values of sovereignty and respect between countries and peoples …
“This is something we are looking at seriously. The dialogue with the US regarding Greenland will take place in close coordination between the Danish government and the future Greenlandic government.”
Announcing the trip on Sunday, the second lady’s office said Vance would visit Greenland together with her son and a US delegation from Thursday to Saturday this week. The White House later announced that Waltz and Wright would visit the US military base in Greenland, Pituffik, for briefings from US personnel. They are expected to join Vance to visit historical sites and attend a dog sled race.
