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Trump 'still serious' about taking over Greenland, warns Danish Prime Minister

It comes a month after Trump ruled out using military force to take the island

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Trump is "still serious" about taking over Greenland, the leader of Denmark has claimed.
Trump is "still serious" about taking over Greenland, the leader of Denmark has claimed. Picture: Alamy

By Alex Storey

The Prime Minister of Denmark has told world leaders that Donald Trump is still "very serious" about taking over Greenland.

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Mette Frederiksen described the US President's "pressure" on the land as "totally unacceptable," following repeated US threats to annex it.

Ms Frederiksen was addressing leaders at the Munich Security Conference, where she said: "Unfortunately the US president remains very serious" about acquiring the Danish territory."

She added: "The people of Greenland have never been threatened before by anyone, so that pressure is unacceptable."

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Mette Frederiksen.
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen speaks at the Munich Security Conference. Picture: Alamy

The Danish leader said her Government is willing to work with the US, but added: "There are, of course, things that you cannot compromise on."

She added: "We don’t think it’s over. We now have a working group, we will try to see if we can find a solution, and we will do whatever we can, but of course there are red lines that will not be crossed."

Last month, Trump told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland he had ruled out using the US military to take over the island, but called for immediate negotiations to resolve the matter.

On that occasion, Trump said: "We won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive force, we'd be unstoppable, but we won't do that."

He also issued a chilling warning to world leaders over his attempted Greenland takeover, telling them: "You can say yes, and we'll be very appreciative, or you can say no and we will remember."

Speaking on Saturday, Ms Frederiksen added that NATO must be able to tackle more than one crisis at once, in reference to threats in the Arctic circle and Ukraine.

She continued: "We have to be able to tackle more crisis at the same time, because the old world is not coming back, and everything is interlinked.

"So the war in Ukraine has never been about Ukraine. Yeah, it's those who are suffering, but it's about Russia, and it's about Russia's imperial dreams.

"The same goes for the Arctic region. This is not about the Arctic region, it's about Russia's imperial dreams, the hybrid war against Europe that is going on every day has to be tackled at the same time as the war in Ukraine and the Arctic."

Munich, Germany.Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, and Jens Frederik Nielsen (r), Prime Minister of Greenland, take part in the opening of the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC).
Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, and Jens Frederik Nielsen (r), Prime Minister of Greenland, take part in the opening of the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC). Picture: Alamy

Alaskan senator Lisa Murtowski, a Republican, criticised the United States' approach to Greenland.

She said: "In my view, it has been offensive, this view that we can, that the United States, can come in and say we want this to to a sovereign territory.

"That's not how how major powers should act. This is not the way the United States should lead when it comes to the Arctic.

"This is not how we should lead when we are trying to build our alliances in an area that is so very necessary now."