Ankara, Turkey, July 8 - Denmark has made clear it will defend all territory covered by NATO obligations, including the Kingdom of Denmark, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday in Ankara. Her remarks followed renewed comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that suggested Greenland should be under greater U.S. control.
Frederiksen said Copenhagen would protect every inch of NATO territory, explicitly including Danish lands, and reiterated that Greenland is not for sale. "We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory... Of course we will defend the Kingdom of Denmark," she said, adding: "One of the reasons why we have built NATO many, many years ago, is if anything happens to one of us, then everybody should stand up for each other."
The U.S. president's repeated suggestions that the United States must acquire or control Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory within the Danish realm, have created tension between Washington and Copenhagen. The remarks have strained relations between the two NATO founding members and have broader implications for transatlantic ties.
Greenland's premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, publicly dismissed the U.S. assertions on social media, writing: "Repeated calls for the takeover or control of our country do not change this." He also restated that Greenland is not for sale.
Separately, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Ankara that Denmark remains engaged in diplomatic discussions with both Greenland and the United States. He said the outcome of those negotiations has not yet been presented.
"We have an agreement with the U.S. administration that, within the framework of the kingdom's red lines, we will try to see if we can find a solution that also addresses the U.S.' legitimate security interests," Rasmussen said. "Because those interests exist, and we share them, and we are also responding to them," he added.
Rasmussen said he "firmly" believed a deal could be reached that would be acceptable to Greenland, Denmark and the United States. He pointed to the potential of expanding a 1951 U.S.-Danish defence agreement, which currently provides Washington with broad military access to the Arctic island, as a way to reconcile the parties' positions.
Nielsen has previously indicated that increasing U.S. military presence in Greenland is part of the ongoing discussions. At this stage, the talks remain under negotiation and no final resolution has been presented by the negotiating parties.
Context and next steps
Denmark's public reaffirmation of its commitment to NATO mutual defence and its firm stance that Greenland is not for sale frame the diplomatic negotiation now underway. Officials in Copenhagen have signaled willingness to seek arrangements that address U.S. security concerns while respecting Denmark's sovereign red lines, but outcomes and details remain to be agreed and disclosed.