Greenland is holding talks with stakeholders on defense issues, but it is too early to talk about it, the island’s Prime Minister Mute Egede said.
⠀
“We are currently negotiating defense issues with relevant partners. It is too early to talk about this topic,” he said, answering a question at a press conference about whether the United States was going to strengthen its military presence in Greenland.
⠀
Egede clarified that the decision in any case will be made by the authorities and people of Greenland.
⠀
US President-elect Donald Trump said on January 7 that Greenland should become part of the United States, and emphasized its strategic importance for national security and the defense of the “free world,” including from China and Russia. Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede, for his part, said that the island is not for sale and will never be sold. At the same time, Trump refused to promise not to use military force to establish control over Greenland.
⠀
Greenland was a colony of Denmark until 1953. It remains part of the kingdom, but in 2009 it received autonomy with the possibility of self-government and independent choice in internal politics. In 2019, a series of publications appeared in the media that Trump was considering the possibility of purchasing Greenland.