Denmark to host meeting on Arctic security
COPENHAGEN, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leaders of Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway will meet Monday for talks on Arctic security, Denmark’s government said, as US President Donald Trump’s vies to gain control of Greenland.
Trump has repeatedly said the US needs the strategically-located resource-rich Arctic island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.
Trump’s comments have sparked concern in other Arctic regions as well, including Iceland and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.
The remarks have also angered Danish and Greenlandic leaders, who have insisted that the island will decide its own future and the US “will not get Greenland.”
“Even though our countries meet in different parts of the world, it is natural that we, in this circle of countries, meet to discuss the current security situation in the Arctic and the North Atlantic,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement issued on Sunday.
Monday’s talks will be held in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, and be attended by Frederiksen as well as Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir and Faroe Islands Prime Minister Aksel Johannesen.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store will participate via video link.
— NNN-AGENCIES
