OTTAWA, January 13. /TASS/. Greenland seeks to become a sovereign state and the matter is non-negotiable, Kuno Fencker, a member of Greenlandic parliament, told The Globe and Mail newspaper.
"It’s non-negotiable in regards to our aspirations to become a sovereign state. We are absolutely willing to make a compact or free association with Denmark and the US," he said.
According to the paper, the lawmaker believes that the first step is "weaning Greenland off its reliance on Denmark, which provides more than half of the local government’s budget." "That requires diversifying the local economy away from fishing and developing Greenland’s vast mineral wealth. The US, he argued, was better placed to provide that investment than Denmark or any other world power," The Globe and Mail writes.
"Greenland should be able to negotiate directly, without the middleman of Denmark, in regards to our foreign policies as a sovereign state," Fencker noted, as cited by the newspaper. He added that annexation by the US was not the issue.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, said on January 7 that Greenland should join the United States in order to ensure national security and protection against Chinese and Russian threats. Trump said during his first presidential term back in 2019 that the US could purchase Greenland, which is currently part of Denmark and has broad autonomy rights. The authorities in Greenland and Denmark dismissed the initiative as ridiculous. Besides, Trump has been actively promoting the idea of Canada joining the US as its 51st state.