The mayor of Greenland’s capital has called on media professionals and content creators to act responsibly after a German comedian’s failed attempt to hoist the US flag.
Maxi Schafroth, 41, a Bavarian comic, tried to run up the Stars and Stripes on a flagpole near the cultural centre in Nuuk but was confronted by angry passersby.
When questioned he claimed to be a US official, before leaving to disapproving looks from local people, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist at the scene. Local media said Schafroth was reported to the police and fined.
Avaaraq Olsen, the mayor of Sermersooq district, which includes the capital, was outraged. “Raising a flag at our capital cultural centre, the flag of a military superpower that for weeks has been implying military force against our country, is not a joke. It is not funny. It is immensely harmful,” she said in a statement.
Olsen said Greenlanders, particularly children, were worried and afraid about the current situation. “When you amplify those fears for content, clicks or laughs, you are not being bold or creative. You are adding to the distress of an already vulnerable population,” she said.
“So, pause before you film. Think before you stage something ‘funny’. Consider whether your next question or stunt will inform the world or simply make a child cry or a family feel less safe in their own country.”
Greenland’s government is working to alleviate the stress and anxiety among the population caused by Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the Arctic territory.
Schafroth is known in Germany for his involvement in the satirical programme Extra Drei, which is broadcast on the NDR channel and attracts more than 1 million viewers. In a statement to Germany’s Der Spiegel and the Ritzau agency, the channel expressed its regrets after the incident.
Trump’s longstanding territorial designs on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, have triggered the most serious crisis in Nato’s history. He has since backtracked on a threat of using force to acquire Greenland and begun talks with Copenhagen and Nuuk.