The message was pretty clear — “Greenland is not for sale.”
That’s the message representatives from Greenland and Denmark took to Capitol Hill Thursday as President Donald Trump repeats his intention to take over the territory, per The Hill.
Jacob Isbosethsen, head of representation of Greenland to the U.S. and Canada, and Denmark’s Ambassador to the U.S., Jesper Møller Sørensen met with lawmakers to plead their case.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Denmark and Greenland can refuse negotiations with the United States over Greenland.
“That’s their prerogative, and they’re right, and they’ve made that very clear to us,” he said after meeting Isbosethsen and Sørensen.
Wicker added his message to Trump is there are more important issues to focus on. This includes aggression from Russia, China and Iran.
“That’s my message to the President of the United States: I think our intention should be on those very, very serious issues. And when we have a discussion with allies, and they’ve made their position very, very clear, as friends, I think it is incumbent on us to honor the wishes of our very, very close allies.”
Isbosethsen made his stance clear — Greenland, a Danish territory, can’t be bought.
“Greenland is not for sale. I think our Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and our Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, have made it very, very clear. Our country belongs to the Greenlandic people,” Isbosethsen said.
“Greenland is a very proud people. It’s a very, very proud country, and we are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and we are very proud of that, and we are very proud to contribute to the Western Alliance and to be a NATO alliance partner, together with our friends from Denmark and the United States,” he added.
Sørensen said Copenhagen is willing to cooperate with Washington on security issues, but there is no negotiation over Greenland’s status.
“The core of what we have discussed is that we have ample opportunities to strengthen our relationship within the existing structures, and we intend to work on that,” he said.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virg.) has said a War Powers resolution — to block the president from taking military action against Greenland without congressional approval — would soon be filed for Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Nigeria.
A separate war powers resolution for Venezuela was advanced by the Senate on Thursday.
“I’m really expecting, after the dust settles on this particular portion of the issue, I think there will be some agreements that will be mutually beneficial to not only to our people, but also to NATO, and the people of the world who believe in honoring international law, and living peacefully under democracies,” Wicker said.
