Greenland PM Slams U.S. Officials’ Upcoming Visit Amid Trump Annexation Talk | EUROtoday

The prime minister of Greenland on Thursday criticized the upcoming go to of second girl Usha Vance to the semiautonomous Danish territory, saying the journey “can no longer be described as an innocent visit from a politician’s spouse” amid President Donald Trump’s annexation discuss.

National safety adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are additionally anticipated to be among the many senior members of the Trump administration to journey to Greenland this week.

In an interview with native newspaper Sermitsiaq, Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede stated of the journey, “We are now at a point where it can no longer be described as an innocent visit from a politician’s spouse,” based on a translation by The New York Times.

Egede additionally raised specific objections about Waltz’s go to.

“What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us,” Egede stated, based on the Times. “His mere presence in Greenland will no doubt fuel American belief in Trump’s mission — and the pressure will increase.”

The White House introduced the second girl and her son would journey to Greenland with a U.S. delegation on Thursday as a part of a brief journey to “visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.”

Waltz and Wright are anticipated to go to the Pituffik area base, a U.S. navy base, earlier than becoming a member of Vance for the dogsled race, Reuters reported.

Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, stated the U.S. “has a vested security interest in the Arctic region, and it should not be a surprise the national security adviser and secretary of energy are visiting a U.S. space base to get firsthand briefings from our service members on the ground,” in a press release reported by the Times.

Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who’s broadly anticipated to be Greenland’s subsequent prime minister, criticized the timing of the Trump officers’ go to, telling Sermitsiaq the transfer “once again shows a lack of respect for the Greenlandic people,” based on CNN. Greenland has but to kind a brand new authorities after Nielsen’s get together received the final election earlier this month.

In a video posted on Instagram, Vance stated she’s “coming to celebrate the long history of mutual respect and cooperation between our nations and to express hope that our relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years.”

“I look forward to meeting many of you soon and to learning from you about your beautiful land, culture and traditions,” she added.

Trump has repeatedly talked about the necessity to purchase Greenland.

“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” he stated throughout his joint deal with to Congress. “But we need it, really, for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it.”

“One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” he added.

Trump’s obvious plan shouldn’t be standard with Greenlanders, based on a ballot that exhibits 85% of the nation opposes the prospect.

Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland in January, forward of his father’s inauguration, however didn’t meet with any Greenlandic representatives on the time, based on The Associated Press.