The Minister of Foreign Affairs is particularly looking forward to Greenland being able to find peace after a turbulent period with an agreement.
That was it US President Donald Trump, who on Friday chose to reveal a negotiated agreement between the US, Greenland and Denmark, says Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M).
And that must be interpreted as an expression of American satisfaction with the content, the foreign minister believes.
– The president chose to go out himself, and that must be taken as a clear expression that he too thinks that a good agreement has been negotiated in this high-level group, says Lars Løkke Rasmussen to Ritzau when he arrives in the USA on the night of Monday Danish time.
The Foreign Minister has meetings in New York from the beginning of the week in connection with the UN General Assembly.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen himself is satisfied with the agreement that has been negotiated over the past eight months, since he and the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Motzfeldt, agreed in January with the Americans to initiate a tripartite process with the participation of officials from the USA, Greenland and Denmark.
The diplomatic meetings were set in motion after Donald Trump repeated after the New Year that he wanted to take over Greenland.
– On the condition that we have an agreement, and we will only know that when it is signed, then of course I will be very satisfied with that. There is also reason for this to be the case throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. That is what I can say about it for now, says Løkke.
The agreement has not yet been signed, and therefore it has not yet fallen into place. But according to American media, it is expected to be signed on Tuesday in New York.
On Friday, the US president said that the US will build up a large military presence in Greenland as a result of the Greenland Agreement.
To that, the Danish foreign minister says:
– We do not comment on the agreement. But then, we have said from the beginning that we are open to meeting the legitimate security interests of the United States, just as the Kingdom has been for many, many years.
– At one point the USA had 17 military installations in Greenland. They currently only have one, so that has been our starting point. But then, I hope we have an agreement here in a few days, says Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
The threats from the President of the United States have affected Greenland. The Greenlandic head of government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in January that it was “difficult” when Greenlanders could hear threats of a takeover on a daily basis.
The Danish foreign minister is particularly looking forward to Greenland getting some much-needed peace.
– The agreement means that there can be some calm over this situation, which, not least in Greenland, has been the source of a great deal of concern, which I have also experienced myself on my trips to Greenland, and also when I have spoken to the Greenlandic politicians and Greenlanders in Denmark.
– That, I think, is almost the most important thing, i.e. in addition to the material content, which we can then return to, says the foreign minister.
RITZAU
