Greenland wants independence – PM

The Greenlandic people do not want to be either Danish or American, Prime Minister Mute Egede has said.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has reiterated the island’s ambition to gain independence from Denmark, stating that the Greenlandic people do not want to be either Danish or American.

Egede delivered the remarks on Friday during a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen.

Greenland’s leader expressed a readiness to “talk” with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly signaled a desire to acquire the world’s largest island, claiming Washington’s ownership of the Danish overseas territory was an “absolute necessity” for its national security.

At the same time, Egede reiterated Greenland’s strive for independence, stating its people wanted neither Copenhagen nor Washington to rule over them.

“Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American,” he stated.

“The desire for independence, the wish to be in one’s own house, is probably understood by all people in the world,” Egede stressed, adding that an independence vote “will come soon.”

The prime minister said he believed Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of force to acquire Greenland was “serious,” but promised to continue working with the US in the future.

From the early 19th century to the 1950s, Greenland was a territory under full control of Denmark. During World War Two, it was occupied by the US after Denmark proper was captured by Nazi Germany. Currently, the island hosts a US military base and the infrastructure for an early warning system for ballistic missiles.

In recent decades, meanwhile, the island has grown increasingly autonomous and was granted home rule in 1979, ultimately getting the right in 2009 to declare independence if a referendum passes.

Image credit: Mads Schmidt Rasmussen