Denmark summons US envoy over ‘outside attempts to influence’ in Greenland
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The Danish government reportedly believes at least three US citizens with ties to the Trump administration have been involved in covert influence operations in Greenland.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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COPENHAGEN – Denmark’s Foreign Minister has summoned the top US diplomat in Copenhagen over Danish intelligence reports that US citizens have been conducting covert influence operations in Greenland, the ministry said on Aug 27.
Public broadcaster DR cited unnamed sources as saying the Danish government believed at least three US nationals with ties to US President Donald Trump’s administration had been involved in influence operations aimed at promoting Greenland’s secession from Denmark to the US.
“We are aware that foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement.
“It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the kingdom in the time ahead,” Mr Rasmussen said.
Neither the broadcaster nor the ministry named the individuals flagged in the intelligence reports.
The US Embassy in Copenhagen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Trump has said he wants the US to take over
His proposal has been firmly rejected in both Copenhagen and Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. While Mr Trump also has since expressed respect for Greenland’s right to determine its own future, his comments about potentially taking the territory by force have fuelled uncertainty among its 57,000 inhabitants.
At the same time, Denmark has sought to bolster its relations with Greenland, a former colony but now a self-governing territory within the kingdom of Denmark, rallying European allies to counterbalance US ambitions in the region.
In a show of solidarity, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in June and was greeted by hundreds of locals. That contrasted with the reception received by US Vice-President J.D. Vance in March, when protests forced him to visit a remote US airbase and scrap plans for his wife to attend a dog sled race.
Denmark’s national security and intelligence service, PET, said in a statement it considers “that Greenland, especially in the current situation, is a target for influence campaigns of various kinds”.
“This could be done by exploiting existing or invented disagreements, for example, in connection with known single issues or by promoting or reinforcing certain views in Greenland regarding the kingdom of Denmark and the United States or other countries with a special interest in Greenland,” it said.
Mr Trump has picked PayPal co-founder Ken Howery as the new US ambassador to Denmark, but the US mission in Copenhagen is currently led by charge d’affaires Mark Stroh, it said on its website. REUTERS
