Nielsen says discussions must remain focused on the joint U.S.-Denmark-Greenland working group.

After a meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Jeff Landry on Monday, Greenland Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen said any discussions on cooperation with the Danish autonomous territory must focus on the joint working group created several months ago.

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“The various things that have been said from the beginning were repeated: that we seek good cooperation based on mutual respect and that we must respect the work of the group between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland,” Nielsen said.

Previously, on Sunday, Landry arrived in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, to attend a business conference on Tuesday and Wednesday as an observer and to inaugurate the new U.S. consulate headquarters on Thursday.

“I am here only to build relationships, listen, learn and see whether there are opportunities to expand the relationship among the U.S., Greenland and Denmark,” he told Danish public television.

Over the past year, the Danish kingdom has faced unusual pressure due to President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that the United States needs Greenland for reasons of “national security.”

At the end of February, he announced a preliminary agreement with NATO to strengthen security in the Arctic. Tensions eased somewhat following the start of meetings by the high-level working group agreed upon by the United States, Denmark and Greenland.

That group has held several meetings, the contents of which have not been disclosed, although media outlets have reported that the United States could open additional military bases on the island under a defense agreement signed with Denmark several decades ago.

On Monday, Greenland Foreign Minister Mute B. Egede said a working foundation “more promising than before” is beginning to be built within that group, without providing further details.

Courtesy Meeting

The Greenland premier described the meeting with Landry — which also included U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Ken Howery — as a “courtesy” meeting held in a “good atmosphere,” during which he reiterated Greenland’s position regarding its right to self-determination and “the repeated threats against our country and our people.”

“This meeting showed no indications that anything has changed, but it did show a willingness to listen,” Nielsen said.

Several weeks ago, the Confederation of Greenland Employers reported that Landry was among the nearly 500 attendees at “Future Greenland,” a business conference on the island, but that he had not received an official invitation and had simply registered as an observer.

The trip is Landry’s first known visit to Greenland since he was appointed special envoy to the island six months ago.

Landry had been invited by a private individual to attend a traditional dogsled race on the island last March, an event that has received U.S. financial support for the past year, but the invitation was ultimately withdrawn following criticism from the organization.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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