{"id":684224,"date":"2026-01-09T10:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/684224\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T10:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:05:12","slug":"we-are-not-for-sale-chair-of-greenlands-top-labor-union-rebukes-trumps-call-for-annexation-greenland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/684224\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We are not for sale\u2019: chair of Greenland\u2019s top labor union rebukes Trump\u2019s call for annexation | Greenland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greenland<\/a> \u201cwill not be annexed\u201d, the longtime leader of its largest labor union has declared, refuting Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s claims that the Arctic territory\u2019s current status poses a national security threat to the US.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Guardian, Jess Berthelsen, chair of SIK, Greenland\u2019s national trade union confederation, said people in the territory do not recognize the US president\u2019s allegations that Russian and Chinese ships are scattered throughout its waters. \u201cWe can\u2019t see it, we can\u2019t recognize it and we can\u2019t understand it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has renewed<\/a> its threats to seize Greenland in recent days, and claimed that officials are even considering using military force as an option, following a raid<\/a> in Venezuela that culminated in the arrest and ouster of the nation\u2019s president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,\u201d Trump claimed<\/a> during an exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One. \u201cRight now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berthelsen, who has led SIK<\/a> for over 30 years, disputed this allegation. The union represents thousands of workers, from government employees to electricians, mechanics and fishers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Greenland, it\u2019s hard to recognize the demands Trump is setting,\u201d he said. \u201cHis claims about our waters being full of Russian and Chinese ships, we cannot see that at all. We can\u2019t recognize this postulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Danish navy is traveling in Greenland waters, and our big trawlers are also everywhere. If that had been the case, they could have told us already, but there\u2019s no such thing. So what is it that he\u2019s talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IsIs Greenland next for Donald Trump? | The Latest<\/p>\n

European leaders have sought to rally behind Greenland and Denmark in recent days. \u201cIt is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,\u201d Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, declared<\/a> in a rare European rebuke to the White House.<\/p>\n

Their statement came after Stephen Miller, Trump\u2019s deputy chief of staff for policy, claimed during a CNN interview that \u201cnobody\u201d was \u201cgoing to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland\u201d.<\/p>\n

Berthelsen emphasized that Greenland is a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark<\/a>, with self government. SIK is focused on reaching agreements with Greenland\u2019s government and private employers to better their everyday lives, he said \u2013 and eventually work toward independence as a country.<\/p>\n

An estimated 84% of Greenlanders support independence, according to a 2025 poll<\/a>, which found that just 6% back a US takeover. The territory has a population of about 57,000 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreenland is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and we have self government, and we have agreements with the Danish government,\u201d said Berthelsen. \u201cThat\u2019s how things operate. If this is to change, we will take the initiative to change. It\u2019s just hard to fathom the fact that that this is the climate among us at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

US corporations, like any other company from the world, can already apply to do business in Greenland, he added. SIK has agreements with the Danish state and companies, setting terms for wages and working conditions.<\/p>\n

a map showing the US, Greenland, Denmark, Russia and China<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooperation between Greenland and the US is undermined by the US government making constant threats to Greenland\u2019s autonomy, including the threat of military intervention, Berthelsen argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not for sale and that we will not be annexed,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will determine our own future, and we will continue to work with Denmark and the United States. We have always considered the United States as our ally. That has always been so for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not very comfortable to receive threats from a lifelong friend, a lifelong ally. Cooperation cannot take place if we are receiving threats like these constantly. How can we cooperate when we are receiving constant threats with military intervention? Nobody does that to their friends, or people they cooperate with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contacted for comment, the White House deferred to a statement made by press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday. \u201cAll options are always on the table for President Trump as he examines what\u2019s in the best interest of the United States, but I will just say that the president\u2019s first option always has been diplomacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greenland \u201cwill not be annexed\u201d, the longtime leader of its largest labor union has declared, refuting Donald Trump\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-684224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115864582453618520","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}