“NO ONE INVITED THEM”
The outgoing Greenlandic government said in a post on Facebook it had not “sent out any invitations for visits, private or official”.
“The current government is a transitional government pending the formation of a new governing coalition, and we have asked all countries to respect this process,” it wrote.
Since returning to power in January, Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over Greenland for national security purposes and has even refused to rule out the use of force to achieve that aim.
A self-governing Danish territory which is seeking to emancipate itself from Copenhagen, Greenland holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, although oil and uranium exploration are banned.
It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up due to climate change.
Greenland’s location also puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the US.
According to opinion polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.
Greenland’s likely new prime minister – Jens-Frederik Nielsen of the centre-right Democrats, who won the election – has criticised Trump’s moves on Greenland as “inappropriate”.
Aaja Chemnitz, a lawmaker representing Greenland in the Danish parliament, insisted the US delegation had not been invited.
“No one from the Greenlandic official system has invited the so-called tourists. They’re coming, using soft power diplomacy and also focusing on security issues and this is totally unacceptable,” Chemnitz told AFP.
