“Something has broken”: the relationship with the United States must be rebuilt, says the head of Greenland’s diplomacy

“Something has broken”: after months of tensions and the signing of an agreement last month, the relationship between Greenland and the United States must be rebuilt, the Greenlandic Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

“There was a serious breakdown of trust. When a friend acts in this way, with a lack of respect, you have to rebuild some trust,” Múte Egede told Danish television DR.

The Greenlandic parliament begins on Monday to discuss the Greenland Agreement signed in New York in September. This agreement puts an end to several months of conflicts which culminated in January when President Donald Trump raised the possibility of “using force” to seize the autonomous Danish territory of 57,000 inhabitants, sowing concern within the EU and NATO. Greenlandic, Danish and American diplomats have been working on drafting a document since this winter.

Restoring trust, “a difficult exercise”

“There was some momentum after the summer holidays and the end of the summer, which made it possible to reach an agreement. There was a spirit in which we worked with respect and did things correctly,” explained the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the immense Arctic territory. The agreement notably provides for the construction of two American bases and investment bans targeting Beijing and Moscow.

It ends a long period of uncertainty in Greenland. “I completely understand that many people in our population have lost the trust they previously placed in a good friend,” said Múte Egede. It will now take time to restore confidence but “it will be a difficult exercise”, according to him. “For now, parliaments must first approve the agreement we have reached,” he said. If the first reading of the text is on the agenda of the Greenlandic parliament on Monday, it is not yet on the calendar of the Danish parliament.