Denmark moves to boost Greenland’s defence capabilities after US President-elect Donald Trump doubles down on controversial remarks of US dire to control the arctic nation.
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The Danish government announced a major plan to bolster Greenland’s defence capacity just hours after US President-elect Donald Trump publicly repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic country, home to just 56,000 people.
Without giving specifics, Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish media outlet Jyllands-Posten that Copenhagen would invest a “double digit" billion amount in Danish krone to upgrade the country’s defences.
The unspecified defence spending could amount to anywhere from €1.34 billion to €13.27 billion.
Trump said on Sunday on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the US would seek ownership and control of Greenland for “purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world”.
In response, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said, “Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland.” He also stated that his country is “not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom.”
Greenland has its own extensive local government but is still affiliated with the Danish crown.
The country was a Danish colony until 1953, when it was reclassified as a district of Denmark. Greenland was then fully integrated in the Danish state under the constitution of Denmark, making its people, citizens of Denmark.
Trump has recently expressed an interest in the US taking control of neighbouring Canada and territories such as Panama, citing economic stakes in the eponymous canal.
He also pledged to confront drug-producing gangs in Mexico, likening his plans to the US intervention against the so-called IS terrorist group in Syria.