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Canada and France planned to open diplomatic consulates Friday in the capital of Greenland, showing support for NATO ally Denmark and the Arctic island in the wake of U.S. efforts to secure control of the semiautonomous Danish territory.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand was traveling to Nuuk to inaugurate the consulate that officials say also could help boost cooperation on issues like climate change and Inuit rights. She was being joined by Canada’s Indigenous governor general, Mary Simon.
France’s Foreign Ministry said Jean-Noël Poirier also would take up his duties as consul general, making it the first European Union country to establish a consulate general in Greenland.
Poirier will be “tasked with working to deepen existing cooperation projects with Greenland in the cultural, scientific, and economic fields, while also strengthening political ties with the local authorities,” the ministry said.
Canada pledged to open a consulate in Greenland in 2024, before Trump’s recent talk of a takeover, and the formal inauguration was delayed from November because of bad weather.
Anand met Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen in Denmark on Thursday and posted on social media that “as Arctic nations, Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark are working together to strengthen stability, security, and cooperation across the region.”
France says the decision to open its diplomatic outpost was taken when President Emmanuel Macron visited in June.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced in January he would slap new tariffs on Denmark and seven other European countries that opposed his takeover calls, only to abruptly drop his threats after he said a “framework” for a deal over access to mineral-rich Greenland was reached with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s help. Few details of that agreement have emerged.
Last week, technical talks started between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland to put together an Arctic security deal. The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland had agreed to create a working group during a meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio before Trump made his tariff threats.