Four of the five elected parties in Greenland agree to form a broad coalition on the eve of US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the arctic island.
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Greenlandic lawmakers agreed on Thursday to form a new government, banding together amid pressure and renewed threats from US President Donald Trump to annex the Danish crown Arctic nation.
Four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s Parliament earlier this month have agreed to form a coalitional that will have 23 of 31 seats in the legislature. The agreement is set to be signed on Friday, according to local media.
The agreement comes as Trump ramps up and intensifies his efforts to gain control of the Arctic island “one way or the other”.
US Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to arrive in Greenland on Friday. He will be visiting the US’ Pituffik Space Base alongside his wife – Usha Vance – which supports missile surveillance and defence operations.
Usha was initially scheduled to visit on her own, but on Wednesday, JD announced he will be accompanying her on her trip as to not let her “have all that fun by herself”.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, leader of the Demokraatit party – the biggest party in parliament – has been intent on forming a broad coalition. Since his centre-right party’s surprise victory in the 11 March election, Nielsen has argued that an urgent coalition is vital to resist US pressure.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede has slammed the Vance's intended trip, calling it “very aggressive”.
“Until recently, we could safely rely on the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we liked to work closely”, said Egede to local media.
“But that time is over, we have to admit that, because the new American leadership is completely and utterly indifferent to what we have stood together on so far, because now it is only a matter of them taking over our country over our heads,” he added.
Trump covets Greenland, a self-governing region of Denmark, because it has rich mineral deposits and straddles strategic air and sea routes at a time when the US, Russia and China are all vying for position in the Arctic.
Putin not surprised by renewed US interest in Greenland
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Trump's push for control over Greenland wasn't surprising given longtime US interest in the mineral-rich territory.
Speaking at a policy forum in the Artic port of Murmansk, Putin noted that the United States first considered plans to win control over Greenland in the 19th century, and then offered to buy it from Denmark after World War II.
“It can look surprising only at first glance and it would be wrong to believe that this is some sort of extravagant talk by the current U.S. administration,” Putin said.
“It’s obvious that the United States will continue to systematically advance its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.”
Trump irked much of Europe by suggesting that the United States should in some form control the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of Denmark, a US ally and NATO member.
As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources.
Putin noted that Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region.
“We are certainly concerned about NATO members describing the Far North as the region of possible conflicts,” he said, noting that Russia's neighbours Finland and Sweden have joined the alliance.
“Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic, but we will closely follow the developments and mount an appropriate response by increasing our military capability and modernising military infrastructure.”
Russia has sought to assert its influence over wide areas of the Arctic in competition with the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway as shrinking polar ice from the warming planet offers new opportunities for resources and shipping routes.
China also has shown an increasing interest in the region, believed to hold up to one-fourth of the Earth’s undiscovered oil and gas.
“We won’t allow any infringement on our country’s sovereignty, reliably safeguard our national interests while supporting peace and stability in the polar region,” Putin said.
While pledging to strengthen Russia's military foothold in the Arctic, Putin stressed that the Kremlin was holding the door open to broader international cooperation in the region.