US vice president JD Vance has accused Denmark of neglect as he landed in Greenland for an unsolicited and controversial visit to the Arctic island.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Mr Vance claimed in a speech at the ice-locked US military base of Pituffik in northwest Greenland. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful land mass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”
Mr Vance said the US has “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of Greenland as he encouraged a push for independence from Denmark.
Greenland, a former Danish colony, is a semi-autonomous territory within the kingdom of Denmark, its foreign and security policies run by Copenhagen.
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“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Mr Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they’d fare a lot better economically as well.”
He was joined by his wife Usha and other senior US officials on a visit to an American military base in a trip that was scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes angry that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.
Soon after arriving, Mr Vance briefly addressed US troops stationed at the base as he sat down to lunch with them, saying that the Republican administration of Donald Trump is very interested in “Arctic security”.
He and his entourage, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, energy secretary Chris Wright and senator Mike Lee of Utah, then received briefings from military officials.
“As you all know, it’s a big issue and it’s only going to get bigger over the coming decades,” Mr Vance said at the start of his lunch with troops, noting that he was the first US vice president to visit Greenland.
The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the US and the Nordic country have soured after Mr Trump repeatedly suggested that the United States should in some form control the territory of Denmark – a traditional US ally and Nato member.
In Washington, Mr Trump said the US “needs Greenland for international security”.
Speaking to reporters soon after Mr Vance’s arrival at the military base, he alluded to the rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.
“Greenland’s very important for the peace of the world,” Mr Trump said. “And I think Denmark understands, and I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.”
Friday’s one-day visit to the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, removed the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation. It also reduced the likelihood that Mr Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Mr Trump’s announcements.
Ahead of Mr Vance’s arrival, four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month signed an agreement to form a new, broad-based coalition government. The parties banded together in the face of Mr Trump’s designs on the territory.
“It is a time when we as a population are under pressure,” Greenland’s new prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said before the accord was signed to applause and cheers in the capital, Nuuk.
He added that “we must stick together, together we are strongest”, Greenland broadcaster KNR reported.
In a post on Instagram, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen congratulated Mr Nielsen and his incoming government, and said that “I look forward to close co-operation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time”.
Ms Frederiksen said on Tuesday that the US visit, which was originally set for three days, created “unacceptable pressure”. She has said that Denmark wants to work with the US on defence and security, but Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.
Initially, Ms Vance had announced a solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dog sled race in Sisimiut. Her husband then subsequently said he would join her on that trip, only to change that itinerary again – after protests from Greenland and Denmark – to a one-day visit of the couple to the military post only. – AP
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