There was hardly a better time to present the Greenland government: Just when the American Vice President and delegation was on the plane towards Greenland, the new alliance presented itself in Nuuk on Friday.
It is a coalition that has never existed in Greenland's history. Four parties are involved, 23 out of 31 seats in parliament has the alliance, and there was a lot of differences in content. The pressure from outside made it possible.
“75 percent of the population are united by this coalition,” said the designated Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen at the presentation of the new government in Nuuk. It is now important that the entire society holds together. “This is the only way to encounter the great pressure that we are exposed to from the outside.”
The pressure he meant became clear a few hours later, about 1000 kilometers further north. There, at the American military base Pituffik Space Base, the American Vice President JD Vance landed on Friday afternoon German time with a delegation. In the event of a appearance in front of press representatives, Vance made it clear that US President Trump and his government consider Arctic security to an important topic that will only become more important over the next few decades.
Trump: USA need Greenland for “world peace”
He accused Denmark not to do enough for Greenland's security and the US soldiers stationed there: “Our message to Denmark is very simple: they have not done a good job for people in Greenland.” Change that is the reason for Trump's politics. Denmark did not keep up with Russia and China, who were very interested in shipping routes and mineral resources in the Arctic. He is aimed at “the Danish leadership, which invests too little in Greenland and too little in his security architecture”. In the past, Vance Denmark had already accused of neglecting Greenland for far too long.
Vance also emphasized that the Greenlanders' right to self -determination did not clearly rule out a military approach: “The president said that he did not think that military violence will be necessary, but he believes that Greenland is an important part of security, not only the United States, but the world.” He hoped that the Greenlanders would “work” with the USA. “We could make them much safer, we could protect them much better, and I think it would be much better for them.”
Shortly before, Trump had repeatedly repeated that the USA would have to control Greenland for “world peace”, as the “Guardian” reports. On the sidelines of the swearing -in ceremony for the public prosecutor of New Jersey, he said: “Do you think we can do without it? We can't do that.”
Vance 'visit to Greenland took place without charge and at a – from a Greenland point of view – at a maximum of unfavorable time, which had caused sharp criticism in the past few days. The new head of government Nielsen renewed them on Friday. “In our opinion, this whole situation that he comes to visit when there is no government is not a statement of respect for an ally. It is a shame,” he said.
Changes to the plan after criticism and announced protests
The American travel plans were recently changed. Initially, a visit to Vance 'wife Usha Vance, which was a privately declared multi -day visit, was announced, which was supposed to be alleged out of cultural interest. Against the background of Donald Trump's threats that Greenland should become part of the United States, it was almost grotesque.
According to the original plans, it was planned, among other things, to visit a dog sled race. The program was then canceled after sheer criticism and announced protests. Usha Vance now only accompanied her husband to the military base, as did Trump's national security advisor Mike Waltz as well as Minister of Energy Chris Wright and the Republican Senator Mike Lee. The return flight was apparently planned again for the late evening of German.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had also practiced sharp criticism due to the attempted visit and accused the USA to exercise “unacceptable pressure”. On Friday, Frederiksen congratulated the new Greenland government and announced that she was looking forward to close cooperation “in an unnecessarily conflict -charged time”.
The new Greenland government also strives for independence from the Kingdom of Denmark, but only in the long term from a position of economic independence. When the time should be achieved is completely open. The new government now wants to quickly take negotiations with Denmark on a new framework of the cooperation. Calls after a rapid independence but there was no one on Friday. The strong pressure of America has approached the island of Copenhagen significantly again.
