Joint statement by all five political parties elected to Greenland’s parliament says island’s future must be decided by its people.
Published On 10 Jan 2026
Greenland’s political parties have rejected United States President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to take control of the Arctic island, saying that its future must be decided by its people.
Trump has suggested using force to seize the mineral-rich Danish autonomous territory to prevent Russia or China from occupying the strategically located island, raising concerns worldwide.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“We emphasise once again our desire for the US contempt for our country to end,” the leaders of all five political parties elected to Greenland’s parliament said in a joint statement late on Friday.
“We do not want to be Americans, we do not want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” they said in the statement, posted on social media by Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
“No other country can meddle in this. We must decide our country’s future ourselves – without pressure to make a hasty decision, without procrastination, and without interference from other countries,” the statement added.
A meeting of Greenland’s parliament, the Inatsisartut, will be brought forward to ensure that a fair and comprehensive political debate takes place and that the people’s rights are secured, the leaders said.
The date of the meeting has not yet been determined. Greenland’s parliament last met in November and had been scheduled to meet again on February 3, according to its website.
The statement by the political parties came hours after Trump on Friday said he would “do something on Greenland whether they like it or not”, and that the US military presence in the island under a 1951 agreement with fellow NATO member Denmark is not enough to guarantee the island’s defence.
European capitals have been scrambling to come up with a coordinated response after the White House said this week that Trump wanted to buy Greenland and refused to rule out military action.
Trump’s renewed push for Greenland, after US military intervention in Venezuela, worries many of the island’s 57,000 inhabitants, whose widely held goal is to eventually become an independent nation.
A 2009 agreement between Greenland and Denmark explicitly recognised Greenlanders’ right to independence if they choose, but while all five parties say they want independence, they differ on how and when to achieve it.
The coalition currently in power in Greenland is not in favour of hasty independence. The only opposition party, Naleraq, which won 24.5 percent of the vote in the 2025 legislative election, wants to cut ties as quickly as possible.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet next week with Denmark’s foreign minister and representatives from Greenland. Trump had offered to buy Greenland in 2019 during his first presidential term, but was rebuffed.