Secretary of State Burken said today that the United States wants to strengthen relations with Greenland, especially on the commercial side. But he stressed that unlike former President Trump, they don’t want to buy Greenland.
Bulken’s visit to Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, wraps up a four-day tour of countries around the Arctic Circle, including a meeting of eight Arctic Circle foreign ministers in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
“Because the United States places a high priority on a cooperative relationship with Greenland and wants to strengthen that relationship, I am now visiting Greenland,” Buerken told the media at the last stop of his Arctic Circle trip.
During the press conference, Burken, who was seated next to Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede and Greenlandic Foreign Affairs Chief Pele Broberg, confirmed to reporters that it was “correct” that the U.S. did not want to buy Greenland. “.
Last year, the U.S. reopened its consulate in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, and pledged $12 million in economic aid.
Speaking of the possibility of increased financial assistance, Bulken was vague about the new U.S. plan, even though Greenland’s local government had floated the idea of a free trade agreement earlier this week.
“We want to figure out ways to strengthen the relationship and even have more of a commercial relationship,” Bulken said.
The 2019 proposal by then-U.S. President Donald Trump to buy Greenland was dismissed as “ridiculous” by the Danish government and caused a diplomatic uproar, but Trump’s assertion was also a clear indication of a renewed U.S. focus on strategic interests in the Arctic.
Greenland’s young Prime Minister Aigid, who took office in April, said he believes the next 10 years will be the beginning of a new era in relations between the two countries.
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