“The chance that my fellow Greenlanders might go from one cruel colonizer to another is too brutal to even imagine,” the Icelandic musician wrote on Instagram, hitting out at both Donald Trump and Denmark.
It’s been an exhausting start to 2026, courtesy of Donald Trump’s sanctioned capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his revived threats of taking over Greenland.
The US President has repeatedly hinted at the prospect of having Greenland become an annexed part of the United States. He recently told reporters that the country “need(s) Greenland from the standpoint of national security”, citing how the country’s location is of strategic value when it comes to defence purposes.
Trump’s threats have renewed fears of a US invasion of the island, which is self-governed but remains part of the Danish kingdom. Denmark also continues to control Greenland’s foreign affairs and defense.
Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, warned on Monday that any US attack on a Nato ally would be the end of “post-second world war security”.
“If the United States decides to militarily attack another Nato country, then everything would stop – that includes Nato and therefore post-second world war security,” Frederiksen told Danish television network TV2.
Frederiksen’s comments came after Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, dismissed Trump’s threat as a “fantasy” and told the president “that’s enough now”.
“Threats, pressure and talk of annexation have no place between friends,” said Nielsen in a social media post. “That is not how you speak to a people who have shown responsibility, stability and loyalty time and again. Enough is enough. No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.”
Now, Icelandic music legend Björk has shared a note of solidarity with the people of Greenland, hitting out at Trump – and Denmark – and voicing her support for the country’s independence.
“I wish all Greenlanders blessing in their fight for independence,” she began, going on to make reference to her own country’s history. “Icelanders are extremely relieved that they managed to break from the Danish in 1944. We didn’t lose our language (my children would be speaking danish now), and I burst with sympathy for Greenlanders.”
Björk went on to highlight the scandal of “forced contraception” in the mid-’60s and early ‘70s. She acknowledged last year’s lawsuit by 143 women accusing the Danish government of focibly giving them IUDs without their consent in an effort to limit Greenland’s population growth. An official inquiry found that around 4,500 Greenlandic Indigenous women were impacted by the forced contraception campaign.
Björk also criticised the parental competency tests that were banned in May 2025, tests which forced families to be separated as young Inuit children were taken from their parents and given to Danish foster families.
She believes that “the Danish are treating Greenlanders like they are second class humans” in 2025.
“Colonialism has repeatedly given me horror chills up my back, and the chance that my fellow Greenlanders might go from one cruel coloniser to another is too brutal to even imagine,” the singer continued.
“’Úr öskunni í eldinn’, like we say in Icelandic,” she wrote. The phrase translates to “from ashes into the fire” - meaning that bad things can only get worse.
Björk concluded: “Dear Greenlanders, declare independence!!!! Sympathetic wishes from your neighbours. Warmthness.”
This is not the first time Björk has encouraged Greenland to separate from Denmark. She even has a song called ‘Declare Independence’, off her 2007 album ‘Volta’, which is dedicated to Greenland.
The musician’s last studio album was 2022’s ‘Fossora’. Last year, she featured on the track ‘Berghain’ on Rosalía’s album ‘LUX’ - Euronews Culture’s 2025 Album of the Year. She will be opening an exhibition of immersive works at the National Gallery of Iceland in May, and there are rumours that she will be releasing a new album this year.
