Numerous demonstrators in Denmark have protested and rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to overtake the self-governing Danish territory.
The protesters chanted “Kalaallit Nunaat,” the name of the Arctic island, in Greenlandic, before forming a sea of red and white chants outside Copenhagen city hall on Saturday.
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Aarhus, Aalborg, and Odense, Danish cities, as well as Nuuk, the country’s capital, hosted rally throughout the day.
We are also sending a message to the world that you all must wake up, according to Julie Rademacher, chair of Uagut, a Danish organization for Greenlanders.
“Greenland and the Greenlanders have involuntarily taken the lead in the fight for democracy and human rights,” she continued.
Trump announced 10% tariffs would be imposed on a number of European allies who oppose US control of Greenland starting on February 1st, including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The US president added that those tariffs would increase by 25% starting on June 1 and continue until a deal is reached to purchase Greenland, which the US president claims is important for his country’s interests.
Although efforts to change the US administration’s position have largely failed, Greenland and Denmark have since rejected the notion that the island is “owned” by the US.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week in Washington, DC, and said they “didn’t manage to change the American position.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen addressed reporters, “It’s obvious that the president has this desire to conquer over Greenland.”
Only 6 percent of Greenlanders were in favor of the territory joining the US, according to the most recent poll conducted in January of last year.
Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, who was reporting from Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, reported that a sizable rally on Saturday was planned.
“This is … the capital city, but]home to] only about 19-20, 000 people. Everyone we spoke with yesterday confirmed that they would be marching today,” Challands said.
“This is essentially Danes and Greenlanders coming together,” he said. Everyone in this country agrees that Greenland should eventually experience some form of independence,” he continued.
Denmark and Greenland are currently saying that remaining united is their best course of action right now.
Trump’s own Republican Party and some US lawmakers have also voiced opposition to the president’s plan to annex Greenland, arguing that it would violate US commitment to NATO and global stability.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons led a cross-section of US Congress members who traveled to Denmark on Friday to support the Trump administration’s position. He claimed that Greenland’s security situation was unavoidable.
“Danish is a part of Greenland. Our NATO ally is Denmark. In my opinion, that should be the discussion’s conclusion,” Coons told Copenhagen reporters.
Trump has blasted Denmark for repeatedly for failing to protect Greenland’s territorial waters in the Arctic.
According to French armed forces minister Alice Rufo, European NATO members are deploying troops to Greenland for a military exercise to demonstrate their resolve to “defend]their] sovereignty.
Source: Aljazeera
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