In Greenland, JD Vance attacks Denmark but rules out military option

We have not invested enough in the Arctic for many years,

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen admitted recently

China is more concerned about access to the Arctic than those minerals,

said Tsukerman

China has focused its mineral efforts on Africa, where it is indeed far ahead of the U.S. Russia has been focused on the Arctic,

she continued

Their total resources of these rare earths could be greater than what China has,

she told Fox News Digital

This is not how you speak to your close allies, and I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies,

he said

You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass,

he added

It is very important that we put aside our disagreements and differences... because only in this way will we be able to cope with the heavy pressure we are exposed to from outside,

he said

Lars Løkke Rasmussendanish Foreign Minister

We respect that the United States needs a greater military presence in Greenland, as Vice President Vance mentioned this evening. We, Denmark and Greenland, are very much open to discussing this with you,

Rasmussen said

I want to make it clear: The United States respects the right of the Greenlandic people to determine their own future. The United States is committed to supporting Greenland's aspirations for prosperity and security, with no intention of infringing on its sovereignty.”

He said

Greenland’s future will be decided by the Greenlandic people alone. There is no room for negotiations about our sovereignty.”

Mute Bourup Egede, Prime Minister of Greenland, has rejected any notion of the island being sold or acquired, saying

Mette Frederiksenprime Minister

We are a good and strong ally,

Frederiksen said

If the people and government of Greenland/Denmark remain opposed it is hard to see how governance as a state could work."

But he added

The Trump administration is consistent in its messaging in wanting to acquire Greenland, and in sending high-level (albeit uninvited) delegations there to start a conversation,

Connecticut scholar Zellen said

It would be just a horrendous catastrophe for the transatlantic relationship, or NATO or U.S. relations with Europe and the rest of the world,

he said

Greenland is not a territory that lends itself to military takeover: It is a huge chunk of ice surrounded by a rocky strip of land interspersed with sharp mountains and deep, ice-filled forms. No two settlements connected by road, once landed, the invaders would go nowhere."

He told Newsweek

The elected representatives are all more or less unified on the message that Greenlanders do not wish to be governed by a foreign power, be it Denmark, the U.S. or anyone else. They wish to be Greenlanders."

Also predicting protests, law professor Johnstone said

The scenario of Greenland becoming the 51st state of the United States is highly unlikely."

Similarly, Dr. Romain Chuffart, the President and Managing Director of The Arctic Institute, told Newsweek

It is possible that Greenlanders may, once the conversation starts, find the benefits of statehood and being part of our constitutional fabric brings many advantages, and select this as the final sovereign form."

Geography research scholar Barry Scott Zellen, Ph.D, of the University of Connecticut, who is a senior fellow in Arctic security at the Institute of the North, told Newsweek

From an international legal standpoint, unilateral annexation or a forced acquisition of Greenland would constitute a clear violation of international law, notably territorial integrity and the right to self-determination."

Similarly, the Arctic Institute's Chuffart said

We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America."

He said in a speech on March 25