Denmark summons US envoy over alleged American influence campaign in Greenland

On Wednesday, August 27, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen summoned the US envoy to Denmark following reports that American citizens are allegedly running an influence campaign in Greenland.

“Any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom will, of course, be unacceptable. In light of this, I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the American charge d’affaires for a meeting at Asiatisk Plads,” Rasmussen told state broadcaster DR.

The summons follows DR’s revelation that at least three US citizens with connections to former President Donald Trump and the White House have been attempting to sow discord between Denmark and Greenland—an autonomous territory within the Danish realm that Trump has controversially suggested should be American soil.

“These are men who travel back and forth between the US and Greenland and who are working to create what you might call a Greenlandic secessionist movement,” explained Niels Fastrup, one of DR’s investigative journalists. He said the individuals in question have been building networks, infiltrating local circles, and compiling lists of people either supportive or opposed to Trump and his alleged ambitions regarding Greenland.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service in Greenland has also confirmed to DR that Greenland has been targeted by multiple influence campaigns in recent months.

While the White House has reportedly not responded directly to DR’s inquiries, the US Embassy in Copenhagen issued a statement from a government representative.

“The president, vice president, and secretary of state have all been clear: the US respects the Greenlandic people’s right to determine their own future,” the statement read, emphasising that the US government does not control the actions of private citizens with interests in Greenland.

By Tamilla Hasanova