US takeover not in Greenland’s best interests: Denmark FM

COPENHAGEN: A US takeover of Greenland is not in the island´s interests, Denmark´s foreign minister said on Friday, after his US counterpart warned President Donald Trump´s talk of buying the territory was “not a joke”.

“It´s not a joke either when we say that Greenland shall of course not become an American possession,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR. “It is not in the interests of the Kingdom of Denmark”, which includes Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, he said.

“Nor is it in Greenland´s, that´s crystal clear. So let´s put that aside,” he said. Greenland belongs to Greenlanders and is not for sale, he reiterated.

“That´s not only what (Greenland´s) law on autonomy says, but also international law. You can´t just sell something like that, that (kind of practice) is a thing of the past,” Lokke Rasmussen said.

“In 1917 we sold the Danish West Indies (today the US Virgin Islands) without asking the people there what they wanted. We can´t do that in a modern society, and we won´t do it.”

Since Trump was sworn in on January 20, he has repeatedly insisted that the United States will eventually end up taking over the Danish autonomous territory. His Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday played down the threat of the United States using military force against Denmark, a NATO ally, but said of Trump´s remarks on Greenland: “This is not a joke.”

“President Trump´s put out there what he intends to do, which is to purchase it,” Rubio told SiriusXM Radio. After a whirlwind tour of Berlin, Brussels and Paris on Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she had received strong support from her European counterparts to counter Trump´s bid.