The Greenland Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, was congratulatory following his first meeting with US Commissioner to Greenland, Jeff Landry. “It was a constructive meeting, where we were able to engage in a good spirit and with great mutual respect,” he said on Monday.
“We made it clear that the Greenlandic people are not for sale and that the Greenlanders have the right to self-determination. This is not a subject for negotiation,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen emphasized to the press.
However, he noted that the meeting did not show any signs of change in the American position. “Our starting point has not changed. We have our red line. The Americans’ starting point has not changed either,” added Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mote Egede.
Former governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, landed in Nuuk on Sunday to attend an economic forum in the Greenlandic capital on May 19 and 20, before participating in the inauguration of the new US consulate premises on the island.
After a year’s beginning marked by the ambitions of the American president to “take control” of the Arctic realm, a Danish autonomous territory, Copenhagen and Nuuk have formed a working group to discuss US concerns, especially regarding their military presence. “Discussions are taking place within the working group,” emphasized Mote Egede. “We will not have parallel discussions.”
“We have been ready from the beginning and we have said that we are ready to do more, to take on more responsibilities in terms of national or international security,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen reiterated last week. “Our only requirement is respect,” he stressed.
The talks on the American side are led by senior State Department official Michael Needham, while Jesper Moller Sorensen, Denmark’s ambassador to the US, and Jacob Isbosethsen, a Greenlandic diplomat, are leading negotiations in Washington for Denmark and Greenland, respectively. According to the BBC, five meetings have taken place since January.
