The Prime Minister of Greenland cannot suppress a laugh. He knows the question all too well. “Let me make one thing clear,” he says to the journalist who wants to know whether Greenland will be swallowed up by the US – or by the EU. “We will not become part of another country.”
It is a question that Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has been asked many times since he took office this spring. Greenland has been in the spotlight since US President Donald Trump openly stated that he was targeting the largest island in the world because of its strategic location and access to a wealth of raw materials. Trump did not rule out military intervention.
Since then, Greenland has been seeking rapprochement with the European Union, but without the island having to give up its independence. “We have no intention of becoming a member of the EU,” Nielsen, a former badminton player, repeated to journalists who questioned him in Strasbourg. And if the US wants to talk about cooperation, “respect” is a requirement.
The EU has been a steadfast friend when we needed it most
Shortly before that he addressed the European Parliament. Unique: a Greenlandic prime minister has never done that before. It is a sign of the changing relations between Greenland and the EU: the island is part of Denmark, but has self-government and left the European Community in the 1980s. “The world is changing,” says Nielsen in his speech, “and fast.”
Anorak
There is a lot at stake for the 55,000 residents of Greenland. Without mentioning the US by name and without wanting to provoke Trump, Nielsen takes the opportunity to thank his audience in the European Parliament in detail. The EU has been “a steadfast friend when we needed it most,” he says, dressed in a traditional blue anorak. “We will never forget that.”
After Trump’s threats, European politicians rushed to Greenland’s aid. In the new EU budget, the money going to Greenland must be doubled, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced. At the invitation of Denmark, Greenland was given a seat at the table last week at the European Political Community, an alliance in which the EU meets with neighboring countries such as Armenia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
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Because good ties with Greenland are also crucial for the EU. Just like the US, Europe is looking hard for raw materials and the reliable partners who can supply them. It was not without reason that Von der Leyen traveled to the Greenland capital Nuuk to open an EU office in March 2024, long before Trump’s war language.
Prime Minister Nielsen knows that. He sums up: Greenland has 24 of the 34 raw materials classified by Brussels as ‘critical raw materials’, mineral resources for which Europe should not have to depend on fickle or unreliable countries. To further develop private mining on the island, help from Brussels would come in handy.
There is great support for this rapprochement among MEPs. Time and again Nielsen receives applause during his speech. The applause only dies down when he raises another request. The islanders and the export sector are suffering greatly from the strict EU rules against seal hunting, according to Nielsen. He would like to see those rules relaxed.
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