Greenlanders do not want to be part of Denmark, Rubio says
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to reporters at the Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on April 4.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BRUSSELS - Denmark should focus on the fact that Greenlanders do not want to be a part of the country, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on April 4.
"Greenlanders are going to make a decision," Mr Rubio told reporters at a press conference after meeting other Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.
Incoming Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on April 4 that Mr Rubio was not right.
“We are human beings up here; we are not a piece of property that can be bought. Partnerships and cooperation can always be discussed, but talk of annexation is unacceptable,” he said.
"He is not right that Greenland wants to secede tomorrow. He is right that Greenland does not want to be Danish, but Greenland certainly doesn't want to be American either," the prime minister, whose new coalition is expected to formally take office on April 7, told TV2.
“We work every day to build a foundation so that we can stand on our own in the future, but we are not there yet. What he (Rubio) says doesn’t hold water,” he said. REUTERS