Thousands Protest in Denmark Against Trump’s Threats to Acquire Greenland

Thousands of protesters gathered across Denmark on Saturday in solidarity with Greenland amid US President Donald Trump’s threat to annex the Arctic island.

Demonstrators assembled in Copenhagen’s City Hall Square before marching towards the US embassy, chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and holding banners with slogans such as “Hands off Greenland” alongside Greenland’s red and white flag.

Trump says Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large supply of minerals. He has not ruled out the use of force to take it. European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.

The protests in Denmark were organised by Greenlandic groups in cooperation with ActionAid Denmark, an NGO. Camilla Siezing, chair of Inuit, the Joint Association of Greenlandic Local Associations in Denmark, said the demonstrators demand respect for the Danish Realm and for Greenland’s right to self-determination.

Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, an organisation for Greenlanders in Denmark, said Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily become the front in the fight for democracy and human rights.

Protests were also ongoing in other locations across Denmark and are scheduled to take place in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. Spokespersons for organisers and police declined to provide a crowd estimate.

Trump’s repeated statements about the island have triggered an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between the United States and Denmark, both founding members of the NATO military alliance, and have been widely condemned in Europe.

The Greenland territory of 57,000 people, governed for centuries from Copenhagen, has carved out significant autonomy since 1979 but remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark, which controls defence and foreign policy. All five political parties elected to Greenland’s parliament ultimately favour independence, but they disagree on the timeline and have in recent days said they would rather remain part of Denmark than join the United States.

Some 17,000 Greenlanders live in Denmark, according to Danish authorities. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just 17 per cent of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and large majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island. Trump has called the poll fake.

SOURCE: Reuters