French leader’s visit to Greenland comes after US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex the Arctic territory.
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Greenland this month, the French presidency has announced, in the wake of United States expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semi-autonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland’s new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
The talks between the leaders will focus on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, energy transition and critical minerals, the French presidency said in a statement on Saturday.
Frederiksen welcomed Macron’s upcoming visit and said in a statement that it is “another concrete testimony of European unity” in the face of a “difficult foreign policy situation”.
The visit comes amid US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.
This trip aims to “strengthen cooperation” with the Arctic territory in these areas and to “contribute to the strengthening of European sovereignty”, the French presidency statement stressed.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to control the immense Arctic territory, rich in mineral resources and strategically located, “one way or another”.
“We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,” Trump said in an interview in March.
The US has also suggested that Russia and China have strategic designs on Greenland.
Trump’s Vice President JD Vance visited the US military base in Pituffik, northwest Greenland, on March 28, in a trip seen as a provocation at the time.
Vance accused Denmark of not having “done a good job for the people of Greenland”, not investing enough in the local economy and “not ensuring its security”.
The vice president stressed that the US has “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of the island as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.
“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” 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.”
Denmark, for its part, insists that Greenland “is not for sale”.
Addressing American leaders from the huge island, the prime minister said in early April: “You cannot annex another country.”
Faced with American threats, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.1bn) in financial commitments for Arctic security, covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites.
Greenland’s main political parties, which are in favour of the territory’s independence in the long term, are also against the idea of joining the US.
According to a poll published at the end of January, the population of 57,000 mostly Inuit inhabitants, including more than 19,000 in the capital, Nuuk, rejected any prospect of becoming American.
Incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in March that the territory needed unity at this time.
“It is very important that we put aside our disagreements and differences … because only in this way will we be able to cope with the heavy pressure we are exposed to from outside,” he said.
