Denmark says it is ready to defend Greenland

Greenland is not for sale and Denmark is ready to defend every part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (statsminister) said at the NATO summit in Ankara, after President Donald Trump again argued that the USA should control the Arctic island.

Denmark responds to Trump’s Greenland claim

Frederiksen said Denmark would defend Greenland as part of NATO territory and as part of the Kingdom of Denmark (Kongeriget Danmark).

“We are ready to defend every centimetre of NATO, including our own territory,” she said, when asked whether Denmark was prepared to defend Greenland militarily.

“Of course Denmark is ready to defend the Kingdom of Denmark,” she added.

Her comments followed Trump’s statement on Tuesday that Greenland should be controlled by the USA, not Denmark. Trump also criticised Denmark for not doing enough to protect Greenland and repeated his claim that the island is surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships.

Frederiksen said she had not spoken with Trump during the NATO summit, but added that she was “unfortunately not surprised” by his remarks.

“From the beginning, when this started, I have said that he means it seriously, the Americans mean it seriously, and so do we,” she said. “We are not going to change our Danish and Greenlandic position.”

Greenland is not for sale, Frederiksen says

Frederiksen again stressed that Greenland is not for sale and said all countries, including Denmark’s allies, must respect Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.

“Greenland is of course not for sale. We hope that everyone, including our allies, will respect the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination,” she said.

Greenland has broad self-government and its own government, the Government of Greenland (Naalakkersuisut). It remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark, while Copenhagen keeps responsibility for defence, security and foreign policy.

The Danish position is that any future decision about Greenland’s constitutional status must be made by Greenland itself and Denmark, not by an external power.

Frederiksen said Greenland had made its position clear.

“Greenland has clearly said that it does not want to be part of the USA. We have sovereignty as a kingdom. We will not compromise on that,” she said.

NATO faces internal pressure over Article 5

The dispute has added pressure to the NATO summit in Ankara, where European leaders are trying to show unity on defence spending, Ukraine and Arctic security.

Frederiksen warned that uncertainty from Washington is forcing Europe to prepare for a less predictable NATO future.

“I will always prefer that we do it together with others, and that we preserve the NATO alliance, but the Americans are creating uncertainty around NATO, and therefore we have to step up,” she said.

She said Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which states that an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all, remains the alliance’s “strongest card”.

“If not everyone supports Article 5, both the USA and Europe will be in a much more vulnerable and dangerous situation,” she said.

Trump has repeatedly criticised NATO allies over defence spending. At the Ankara summit, he said the USA had been treated unfairly and had paid disproportionately much for the alliance.

Denmark pushes for more Arctic security

Frederiksen said Denmark wants to work with the USA on security and defence in the Arctic, but not at the expense of Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty.

She also said Denmark had helped convince NATO to increase its focus on the Arctic. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has previously supported a stronger allied role in Arctic security.

According to Frederiksen, the working group between the USA, Greenland and Denmark will continue, regardless of public statements made by different sides.

The Danish prime minister also said Denmark is close to meeting NATO’s goal of spending 5 percent of GDP on defence, and argued that the alliance should focus on external threats rather than internal conflicts.

“There are plenty of enemies outside NATO. We do not need any hostilities inside NATO,” Frederiksen said.

The dispute over Greenland now remains both a sovereignty issue for Denmark and Greenland and a test of NATO unity. Copenhagen is signalling that cooperation with Washington can continue, but only if it respects the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of Greenlanders to decide their own future.