The interest of the United States of Donald Trump for the control of Greenland “is not a joke”. This was clarified by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, according to which the island serves the interests of US national security to combat China’s expansionist aims, where Denmark would not be able to do it in its opinion. “It is not a question of acquiring territories just for the taste of doing it. It is in our national interests and the question must be resolved,” he said.
“Some of the most value of the most value in the world that are becoming more and more navigable with the dissolution of the ice go from the Arctic. We need to defend them,” he added, remembering that the region is already covered by the common defense pact of NATO, given his relationship with Denmark. A fact that “only strengthens the determination of the United States to control it”.
The expansionism of the Chinese
“The Chinese are not an arctic power, they must get a place to leave. And it is completely realistic to think that they will try to do in Greenland what they have done in the Panama channel and elsewhere: install infrastructures that offer them coverage towards the Arctic , under the coverage of Chinese companies, but which in reality can have a dual purpose when, in the moment of a conflict, they can send naval units to this infrastructure and operate from there. United States “, the Secretary of State also underlined.
“Denmark cannot stop them, it would rely on the United States to do it. So if the United States are still responsible, as we are now, we might as well be that we have more control over what happens,” said Rubio recognizing that the question is , for Denmark, delicate. “The certain thing is that from now on to four years our interest in the Arctic will have more solid foundations. The same for our interest in the Panama channel”.
For the Danes the threat is real
Almost half of the Danes now see the United States as a considerable threat to their country and the vast majority opposes the annexation. This was revealed by a recent YouGov survey cited by the Guardian, created after weeks of tension between Denmark, Greenland and the United States for the repeated statements of Trump to want to take control of the autonomous territory, which is part of the Danish kingdom.
The survey noted that 46 percent considered the United States “a very large threat” or “a quite large threat” for Denmark. And the percentage is also higher than that of those who have declared that they consider North Korea or Iran a threat, respectively 44 and 40 percent. Only the threat of Russia remains considerably higher: 86 percent of the interviewees said they consider Moscow a real problem for safety.
Of the interpellations, 78 percent said that it would oppose the sale of Greenland to the United States, but for 72 percent the final decision should be the citizens of the island.