Greenland’s opposition leader said Sunday he does not believe the United States will invade the Arctic territory, urging calm after President Donald Trump was quoted threatening to take over the island “the easy way or the hard way.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week program, Naleraq party leader Pele Broberg said “people have nothing to fear” and argued an invasion “would not make any sense” from the U.S. or any other power. “I believe that diplomacy and dialogue will win in the end,” he said.
- Advertisement -
His comments followed a rare joint statement by all five parties in Greenland’s parliament rejecting what they called U.S. threats to take over the region. The party leaders, including the prime minister, said they “strongly oppose” any American takeover and condemned recent statements as “extremely disrespectful.”
Trump on Friday suggested the use of force to secure the island, saying Washington could reach a deal “the easy way” or “the hard way,” and added, “We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.” He later argued the U.S. needed to own the territory to deter Russia and China and said existing military arrangements were inadequate.
Broberg challenged the premise of an imminent security threat. He said the areas vulnerable to outside influence are largely unpopulated stretches of Greenland’s east coast, not towns and settlements in the west. “I don’t believe anyone has anything to fear in Greenland,” he said, adding that even NATO allies have questioned “the lack of realism in having paratroopers in Greenland because it doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t think in the end this hysteria will prevail,” Broberg said. “I actually believe that diplomacy and dialogue will win in the end.”
Broberg said no one from the Trump administration had contacted him despite his call for direct talks. Days earlier, he had urged Greenland to bypass Copenhagen and negotiate directly with Washington. He also repeated that “Greenlanders want to be Greenlanders,” saying, “We are currently Danish but none of us wants to be a U.S. or Danish citizen.”
All parties in Greenland support negotiating a new security arrangement with the United States to replace the current framework, which dates to a 1951 U.S.-Denmark defense agreement, Broberg said. “Why not just let us have a defense agreement or a security arrangement with the U.S.?” he asked.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. A 2009 agreement between Greenland and Denmark recognizes Greenlanders’ right to independence if they choose, though the parties differ on how and when to achieve it. Broberg reiterated his long-standing position that he wants Greenland “set free from the Danish annexation and [to] become Greenlandic citizens.”
The Greenlandic leaders said any dialogue with major powers must be grounded in “mutual respect,” calling for “equality and partnership” and warning that “no countries, big or small, can change” Greenland’s right to determine its future.
Broberg dismissed talk of a crisis. “Here we go again,” he said of the uproar over Trump’s remarks, accusing media of amplifying heated rhetoric before “proper diplomatic channels” can clarify whether statements are literal or “just posturing or negotiation tactics.”
Amid heightened U.S.-Russia-China competition in the Arctic, Broberg maintained his core message: diplomacy over force, and self-determination for Greenland. “I don’t think in the end this hysteria will prevail,” he said.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
