PresidentDonald Trumpinsists that the United States will effectively take ownership of U.S. military bases in Greenland,making them sovereign U.S. land. A senior Greenlandic official described that scenario as a "red line."
Naaja Nathanielsen has a sprawling government portfolio as minister of business, trade, mineral resources, justice and gender equality for the Denmark-owned Arctic island. In an interview with USA TODAY on Jan. 25, Nathanielsen said that Greenland "giving up sovereignty is not on the table for now."
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She also said her government had not been "presented with anything" following a turbulent diplomatic week that saw Trump walk back his threats to take control, by force, of the Arctic island and keep negotiating.
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Her comments follow what Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte have described as an agreed "framework deal" on Greenland amid escalating White House threats over the territory. The announcement was made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21.
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But days after that announcement, top Greenlandic and European officials are still unclear about what Trump and Rutte agreed to in Davos. Details about the deal have not been disclosed. After the announcement,Trump abruptly scrapped tariffshe had threatened to impose on eight European nations that opposed his attempt to control Greenland. He also said he would not use force to achieve that.
Nathanielsen said her government only had talks with NATO after Trump and Rutte had already met at the annual event for the world's global elite in the Swiss Alps. And she stressed that NATO "does not have a jurisdiction or mandate" to discussGreenland's sovereignty. Her comments align with statements made by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. She said on Jan. 22 that Denmark could negotiate with the United States on almost any issue related to Greenland, but "we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty."
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Rutte said he did not raise the issue of Danish sovereignty over Greenland during his discussions with Trump. Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has also said that he is not in favor of any deal with the United States that would grant sovereignty for American military bases on Greenland.
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Still, in a series of statements and interviews about what could come next for Greenland, including one on Jan. 23 withThe New York Post, Trump signaled that taking ownership of land in Greenland where American bases are located was what he expected to happen.
Trump has for months pressured Denmark to hand over the entire island and said nothing short of ownership would be acceptable to him. "We'll have everything we want," Trump said in the interview with the Post.
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The idea of giving the United States a sovereign claim to its bases in Greenland, similar to Britain's bases in Cyprus, has also been raised with NATO and Western officials, according to a report inThe New York Times. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on the matter.
In aFox Businessinterview, conducted in Davos, Trump said, "We're going to have total access to Greenland," a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. "We're going to have all the military access we want."
The United States previously had more than a dozen bases and thousands of troops in Greenland. Today, it has one: thePituffik Space Basein northwestern Greenland, where about 150 military personnel run a radar tracking site for homeland missile defense and space surveillance.
Under the terms of a current U.S.-Denmark defense agreement, the Pentagon is permitted, subject to consent from Greenland and Denmark, to expand its military footprint in Greenland. Trump has repeatedly argued the United States needs Greenland to counter threats from Russia and China.
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Nathanielsen said in the interview that Greenland – and as far as she knows Denmark – would "have no problem" with the idea of NATO adding a permanent mission to Greenland in the interest ofboosting Arctic security. "We think that would be a good solution," she said.
"We still need to understand what and where the problems are that the U.S. sees."
Nathanielsen said that Trump's threats have caused deep anxiety in Greenland that she did not believe would go away any time soon, and there was also concern among Greenlanders that the U.S. president could change his tactics, or his mind, again. "Our mission as politicians and members of the cabinet is to try to get things back on track and figure out through dialogue how to deal with this," she said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Greenland pushes back on Trump over sovereignty for US bases