{"id":278049,"date":"2026-01-10T18:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/278049\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T18:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:08:08","slug":"greenland-proposes-direct-talks-with-us-in-attempt-to-resolve-tensions-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/278049\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenland proposes direct talks with US in attempt to resolve tensions \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greenland<\/a>\u2019s foreign minister has proposed direct talks between her government and Washington to resolve tensions over the future of the Arctic island.<\/p>\n

Vivian Motzfeldt spoke ahead of claims by Donald Trump<\/a> that if he is unable to make a deal to acquire the Arctic territory \u201cthe easy way\u201d then he would have to \u201cdo it the hard way\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not,\u201d the US president said on Friday, \u201cbecause if we don\u2019t do it, Russia<\/a> or China<\/a> will take over Greenland, and we\u2019re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenland\u2019s political leaders have disputed claims of Russian and Chinese incursions and, in a joint statement across party lines, asserted their independent identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VivianVivian Motzfeldt wants a ‘normalisation’ of Nuuk’s relationship with Washington. Photograph: Emil Helms\/Getty <\/p>\n

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory, alongside the Faroe Islands, in the three-nation Danish kingdom. It has full autonomy in most areas except key areas such as foreign policy and defence. <\/p>\n

After three centuries of Danish rule, with ample tension and resentment on both sides of the Atlantic, Ms Motzfeldt said her country was working towards independence \u2013 including on foreign policy \u2013 but was \u201cnot there yet\u201d.<\/p>\n

Constitutional provisions allow Greenland operate representations around the world, mainly within areas of full jurisdiction including trade, industry, fisheries and mining. <\/p>\n

However Greenlandic officials are not allowed speak to foreign leaders without Danish officials present. Despite the status quo \u2013 that foreign policy is conducted from Copenhagen \u2013 Ms Motzfeldt said \u201cit should be Greenland that takes the lead and speaks with the United States<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our side, it is clear that Greenland needs the US and that the US needs Greenland,\u201d she told Danish broadcaster DR. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat responsibility must be taken seriously … what would be wrong with us holding meetings with the US alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018They think we\u2019re for sale but they just don\u2019t understand us\u2019: Greenlanders on US takeover planOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Plenty, according to Danish officials. Since Mr Trump\u2019s first-term expressions of interest in Greenland, they have feared Washington will try to drive a wedge between Copenhagen and Greenland\u2019s capital, Nuuk.<\/p>\n

As fears grow that this strategy is now in play, Ms Motzfeldt and Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen will meet their US counterpart Marco Rubio<\/a> next week. <\/p>\n

US officials insist Denmark<\/a> has neglected the security of Greenland \u2013 which Danish politicians reject strenuously \u2013 and that the island\u2019s untapped mineral wealth makes it worth taking by force if necessary.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018We don\u2019t know what\u2019s coming\u2019: Unease in Greenland as Donald Trump revives his Arctic ambition<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Such remarks have caused alarm in Greenland.<\/p>\n

Ms Motzfeldt told Greenland\u2019s Sermitsiaq daily newspaper that her \u201cgreatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalisation of our relationship\u201d with the US.<\/p>\n

Ms Motzfeldt has been foreign minister for three years and is chairwoman of the Siumut party, with a social democratic background. <\/p>\n

She and other government parties are facing pressure from Greenland\u2019s opposition parties to take the lead in three-way stand-off with Washington and Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Pele Broberg, a long-time backer of independence, denounced Denmark for allegedly \u201cantagonising both Greenland and the US with their mediation\u201d in the crisis. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should back off Greenland and say let the Greenlanders talk to the US and let them figure out what they want,\u201d Mr Broberg, head of Naleraq opposition party, told Canada\u2019s CBC. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe remote town of Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland. Photograph: Esther Horvath\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s ramping-up of pressure has exposed and aggravated long-running tensions between Nuuk and Copenhagen. <\/p>\n

Particularly damaging have been recent revelations of forced adoptions and birth control treatments involving the native Inuit population \u2013 prompting a state apology from Denmark.<\/p>\n

According to Danish media, a recent joint video meeting of the Greenlandic and Danish foreign affairs committees ended in angry disagreement. <\/p>\n

Greenlandic foreign affairs committee head Pipaluk Lynge, whose party is part of the coalition government, accused Denmark of holding talks behind their backs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a neo-colonial way of excluding us,\u201d she reportedly told her Danish colleagues. <\/p>\n

While polls show a majority of Greenlanders would back independence, most people agree it is unrealistic until the island finds a way to replace Danish transfers of around \u20ac600 million annually \u2013 around one fifth of its annual income.<\/p>\n

Separate polls show a vast majority do not want to become part of the US. <\/p>\n

In advance of next week\u2019s talks, speculation is growing that the US may offer Greenland\u2019s 53,000 residents one-off cash payments of up to $100,000 (\u20ac86,000) if they secede from Denmark and join the United States in some form. <\/p>\n

The US operates one military base on Greenland and, five years ago, reopened its consulate there after a 67-year hiatus. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greenland\u2019s foreign minister has proposed direct talks between her government and Washington to resolve tensions over the future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,381,382,356,13,14,17768,6,11,12,15,16,6587,5,550,7,8,384,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-278049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-denmark","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-greenland","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-marco-rubio","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-russia","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-topstories","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-world","28":"tag-world-news","29":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115872144028155478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}