Greenland rebuffs US delegation's 'deceitful' visit plans
Greenlandic and Danish authorities have criticised the planned visit to Greenland this week by Usha Vance, the wife of the US Vice president, Mike Waltz, the US president's national security advisor, and Chris Wright, the Secretary of Energy.
The acting Prime Minister of Greenland, Mute B. Egede, stated in a Facebook post that the visit by the American delegation cannot be viewed solely as private. "Our honesty and democracy must be respected without external interference," he emphasised.
Egede added that the US delegation will not meet until a new government is formed in Greenland. At the beginning of March, elections were held in this Danish-dependent autonomous territory, and the new authorities have yet to be established.
The Prime Minister of Greenland called on the island's residents to "unite in defence of the country," referring to an anti-American demonstration in mid-March in front of the US consulate in the capital, Nuuk, that involved nearly 1,000 Greenlanders.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed similar sentiments, stating that the US delegation's visit "cannot be seen in isolation from the public statements that have been made." In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has expressed interest multiple times in acquiring Greenland.
In the Kingdom (of Denmark), we want to cooperate with the Americans. But it must be a cooperation that rests on the fundamental values of sovereignty and respect between countries and peoples, Frederiksen emphasised.
Claus Mathisen, an expert from the Royal Danish Defence College, compared the visit of US government representatives to Greenland to the situation in Crimea before the Russian annexation of this Ukrainian territory.
American politicians will arrive in droves and will attempt to make Greenland American. They promise that (then) everything will be much better, Mathisen wrote on Facebook.
"Calling the trip a private delegation is deceitful"
Drude Dahlerup, a retired political science professor from Stockholm University, asserts that calling the American delegation's trip private is deceitful.
Dahlerup stressed in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that it would be like the visit of the US President's son, Donald Trump Jr., at the beginning of January. Although it appeared to be just a trip, it later turned out that everything was organised to show that Greenlanders love Donald Trump.
The Vice President's wife will watch dog sled races
According to local media, a plane with American security services landed in Greenland, and the authorities dispatched additional police forces to Copenhagen.
The Greenlandic newspaper "Sermitsiaq" revealed on Saturday that Vance's wife will arrive on the island in the middle of next week and will visit the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, as well as the town of Sisimiut. In this town, on 29th March, Vance is expected to watch the Avannaata Qimussersua dog sled race, a significant event for the identity of Greenlanders. The newspaper claims that the event organisers received a grant from the United States through the US consulate in Nuuk.
