He added that there is currently no Chinese presence in Greenland and dismissed concerns that “that could be the case in 10 or 20 years,” reports the BBC.
Denmark is certainly on the right side of history, Rasmussen said at the press conference he held in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greenland, Vivian Mocfelt, at the Danish Embassy in Washington.
Greenlanders “wake up every morning to different threats,” said the Danish foreign minister.
“It is not easy to come up with innovative solutions when you are faced with new threats every morning,” he pointed out.
Rasmussen stated that it is in everyone’s interest, regardless of position, to explore the possibility of resolving “some of the concerns, while respecting the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of Greenlanders to self-determination.”
Rasmussen emphasized that Denmark and Greenland are considered the closest allies of the US and recalled the participation of Danish troops in Afghanistan together with American forces in the 2000s.
He said that although their vision for Greenland is different from America’s, they have the same security concerns.
As he stated, US President Donald Trump clearly wants to “conquer” Greenland, but that is not in the interests of the island and added that he believes that the meeting succeeded in “changing the American attitude”.
“We have made it very, very clear that this is not in Greenland’s interest,” Rasmussen stressed.
He said that Denmark is “ready to do more”, and the US already has broad military access to Greenland and could request an increase in its military presence, and any such request will be considered constructively.
Rasmussen said today’s meeting with US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed a series of “striking public statements on Greenland”.
As Rasmussen pointed out, Greenland is covered by Article 5 of NATO, which defines collective defense when any member of the Alliance is attacked.
He added that the goal of the meeting was to find a common way to strengthen security in the Arctic.
Rasmussen described the conversation with senior US officials as “honest but constructive”. He stated that they discussed “how to ensure long-term security in Greenland”, Gardinjan reports.
Rasmunsen also said that the positions “still differ”, that US President Donald Trump “clearly stated his position”, and that Denmark and Greenland “have a different position”.
According to him, Denmark “still believes that the long-term security of Greenland can be ensured within the current framework”.
He added that Denmark and Greenland consider “any idea that would not respect the territorial integrity of Denmark and the right to self-determination of the Greenlandic people” to be completely unacceptable.
“So we still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree,” Rasmussen said.
He also stated that a high-level working group will be formed to investigate whether these two positions can be reconciled.
The Danish minister said the group would focus on US security concerns in the Arctic, while respecting Denmark’s red lines, and would meet for the first time “in a few weeks”.
Today, Rasmussen and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greenland Vivian Mockfelt met with US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The meeting lasted 50 minutes. It was moved from the White House and held in the nearby Eisenhower Building.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within Denmark, but in recent months it has been in the focus of attention of Trump and the US administration due to its strategic importance for the Arctic and US security.
(Vijesti.ba)
