United States: Just before his anticipated prime ministerial confirmation on Wednesday, Greenland dismissed President Donald Trump’s attempt at island dominance because its people wanted to chart their own independent path from Denmark.
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The parliamentary election results on Tuesday gave Demokraatit leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen an unexpected political leader advantage by outperforming all other parties involved.
The left-leaning parties that made up the previous government now face surprise defeat. Geopolitical issues stayed absent from the campaign which centered on healthcare and education because of Greenlanders’ strong resistance to Trump’s involvement according to AP News.
On Wednesday, Nielsen blasted Trump during a press conference after Trump addressed Congress, saying that the US required Greenland for its security needs and that acquisition seemed inevitable.
Greenland is moving towards independence
Since at least 2009, Greenland started its journey toward independence because Denmark acknowledged its right to self-determination in accordance with international law.
Most of the five significant political parties backing independence maintained different approaches to achieving independence after the election.
International media attention has focused on Greenland since Donald Trump declared his desire to acquire the island shortly after his January presidential return.
Trump aims to acquire Greenland because it holds crucial positions across North Atlantic navigable routes while maintaining the US Pituffik Space Base, which operates missile warning and space surveillance functions.
Greenland possesses vast reserves of rare-earth minerals that are essential for producing mobile phones and renewable energy technology.
During his discussion with Rutte Trump asked whether Denmark retained its authority to maintain control over Greenland which held the distinction as the planet’s largest island.
Trump noted about meeting with Rutte that “Denmark’s very far away” from Greenland and questioned whether that country still had a right to claim the world’s largest island as part of its kingdom.
Trump stated, “A boat landed there 200 years ago or something. And they say they have rights to it,” AP News reported.
“I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t think it is, actually,” he added.
Trump mentioned that US control of Greenland could be important for national security reasons and even suggested that NATO should be involved, but Rutte demurred.
However, Trump mentioned that the US already has a considerable military presence in Greenland and added, “Maybe you’ll see more and more soldiers going there. I don’t know.”